“Worst drought in 30 years”

The drought observed this year in Morocco is exceptional by “its intensity, scale and duration”, reports Info Atlas who quotes the president of the National Observatory for Studies and Research on Risks (ONERR), Mohamed Mastere. The country is experiencing its worst drought in thirty years, with rainfall representing only 13% of the average recorded during this period. The level of the filling rate of the dams has never been so low. “The drought has spared neither the palm groves of the pre-Saharan zones, nor the steppes of the East, nor even the plains favored by good rainfall in normal times”, notes Medias24.

The drought is damaging the country’s economy. “Drought has a significant impact on the Moroccan population globally, as 80% of rural people suffer the effects in terms of livelihoods dependent on agricultural activity, which represents no less than 15% of GDP and employs 40% of the active population”, regrets Mohamed Mastere. Some 3.8 billion dirhams (over $400 million) are needed for flour subsidies alone in 2022, according to an economy ministry official. Despite an improvement in harvests in 2021, an alarming drought is considerably affecting agriculture at the start of the year. This water stress affects the entire rural economy.

Morocco has an aid program for the agricultural sector of nearly one billion euros to deal with this exceptional drought. This contingency plan “aims to mitigate the effects of delayed rainfall, alleviate the impact on agricultural activity and provide assistance to affected farmers and herders”, underlines the Palace in a press release. Objective: to protect animal and plant capital and to manage water shortages, as well as to finance operations to supply the market with wheat and fodder and to relieve farmers of their financial burdens. The Moroccan Agricultural Mutual Insurance Company (MAMDA) has announced the implementation of a specific system to accompany and support farmers in the face of drought in the 2021-2022 agricultural campaign. The first measure concerns the postponement of payment deadlines for agricultural insurance premiums due for 2021, reports the MAP agency.

Drought is expected to gradually increase in this country until 2050 under the effect of a drop in rainfall (-11%) and an increase in temperatures (+1.3°C), according to the Ministry of Agriculture. It will cause a “decrease in the availability of irrigation water by more than 25%”, predicted a ministry report.