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Prosper, survive or exit: Contrasted fortunes of farmers in the groundwater economy in the Saiss plain (Morocco)

Ameur Fatah, Kuper Marcel, Lejars Caroline, Dugué Patrick. 2017. Prosper, survive or exit: Contrasted fortunes of farmers in the groundwater economy in the Saiss plain (Morocco). Agricultural Water Management, 191 : 207-217.

Article de revue ; Article de recherche ; Article de revue à facteur d'impact
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Quartile : Q1, Sujet : AGRONOMY / Quartile : Q1, Sujet : WATER RESOURCES

Résumé : In North Africa, the development of groundwater-based irrigation enabled agricultural intensification and market-oriented production. Groundwater use was also often said to alleviate smallholder poverty. However, there is growing evidence linking the expansion of groundwater-based agriculture with increasing socioeconomic inequalities in a context of declining water tables and rapid agrarian change. This paper analyzes the contrasted fortunes of different categories of farmers participating in the groundwater economy, depending on access to other resources including land, capital and labor. The study was conducted in a 3910 ha area in the Saiss plain (Morocco), where rapid agrarian transformations took place with the arrival of investors attracted by state subsidies and the possibility to carry out intensive groundwater-based agriculture. The study began with interviews with key informants to determine the role of groundwater use in farm trajectories. Then, an inventory was undertaken of all farms and of all wells and tube-wells in the study area. Next, the groundwater use per farm type was determined on a sample of 24 farms. Finally, the socioeconomic differentiation of farms was determined, based on the inequalities in access to groundwater, land, labor and financial capital. The results revealed contrasted fortunes of farmers involved in the groundwater economy. The boom in the groundwater economy benefitted entrepreneurial and well-endowed farmers who made intensive use of groundwater, while the effects of their overexploitation of groundwater fed the marginalization of family farmers. The results show that capital has replaced landownership as the dominant production factor, thereby re-qualifying what is a 'small' farmer. Capital is not only required to obtain access to groundwater, but also to deal with the more risky agriculture frequently conducted in the groundwater economy. This leads to the exclusion of small family farmers who may quit the groundwater economy poorer than they entered it. The urgent need to control access to and use of groundwater in the face of declining water tables has little chance of producing results if socioeconomic inequalities remain unaddressed.

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Maroc

Mots-clés libres : Groundwater overexploitation, Socioeconomic differentiation, Inequalities, Capital, Farmers, Morocco

Classification Agris : P10 - Ressources en eau et leur gestion
F01 - Culture des plantes
E80 - Économie familiale et artisanale

Champ stratégique Cirad : Axe 1 (2014-2018) - Agriculture écologiquement intensive

Auteurs et affiliations

  • Ameur Fatah, CIRAD-ES-UMR G-EAU (FRA)
  • Kuper Marcel, CIRAD-ES-UMR G-EAU (MAR) ORCID: 0000-0002-1240-0592
  • Lejars Caroline, CIRAD-ES-UMR G-EAU (NCL)
  • Dugué Patrick, CIRAD-ES-UMR INNOVATION (FRA)

Source : Cirad-Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/584723/)

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