Morocco’s Water-Intensive Crops Industry Faces Questions Amid Water Shortages

Morocco has been facing its worst drought in over three decades, but still the country continues to overproduce and export water-demanding crops.

Ahead of the summer months, when even less rainfall is expected, the coming dry season may lead to an increase in water stress in the country. And, Morocco is not alone. Across the Maghreb region there have already been reports of severe dry conditions in early 2023.

The increase in frequency and intensity of drought periods in Morocco is due largely to climate change and water shortages, according to a “Drought Assessment Report” published at the end of last year.

Last summer, Moroccan authorities had to ration water as reserves hit lows of 28%, down from 46% in 2021.

As of February 20 this year, Morocco’s dams’ filling rate is at a similar level to last year’s at about 33%.

The severe drought across the Maghreb region, and in Morocco, raises questions about potential impacts on agriculture and water availability.

The agriculture industry is uniquely affected by water scarcities.

Agriculture accounts for 88% of water consumption in Morocco, according to data from the World Bank. Comparatively, the sector accounts for 80% of water consumption in the United States, and about 70% of freshwater use globally, according to the World Bank.

That means when water availability goes down, crop yield goes down — affecting the livelihoods of farmers.

Agriculture is a key part of Morocco’s economy. The sector, combined with fishing and forestry, encompasses 31% of the workforce in Morocco, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration. It plays the largest role in the incomes and livelihoods of Moroccans living in rural areas.

According to data from the World Bank, agriculture also contributes to nearly 12% of Morocco’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

With water shortages last year, the value of the agriculture sector dropped by about 14%.

One area that has been particularly hit is cereal production. In 2022, cereal production went down 60% from average, due largely to the drought.

This has led to Morocco relying on imports for the majority of its cereal needs. Last year, the country imported over 8.8 million tons of cereals, a 23.2% increase from the year before. The country is one of the largest worldwide importers of cereals.

It’s not all bad, though. For wheat production, results are looking up this year. Projections are now saying that wheat production may increase 41% from 2022, according to the US Department of Agriculture forecast.

This recovery would allow Morocco to decrease imports of the crop by about 7%. Morocco imports most of its wheat from France, who is the EU’s leading wheat exporter.

The Moroccan government is set to impose a 135% tariff on wheat imports starting May 31, according to a report from S&P Global. The tariff is supposed to protect local farmers from international competition and encourage domestic production of wheat.

Additionally, Morocco’s citrus exports have decreased 40-50% this season because of the drought, according to a report by FreshPlaza. This surpasses the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Dec. 2022 projections of a 35% drop in citrus production due to pressures to reroute water resources

But, rainfall in February and March this year has helped revitalize the industry and is set to help the citrus sector recover.

Recently, Morocco has hit record numbers of avocado, cucumber, and watermelon production — all of which are water-intensive crops.

As the country continues to face severe droughts, however,  some environmental groups like Morocco Environment 2050 are calling on the government to cease production of these crops and focus the limited groundwater resources elsewhere.

Avocados are a highly water-demanding crop. A single avocado requires about 320 liters of water to produce. But still this season Morocco produced 40,000 tons of avocado — almost reaching an all-time record.

And, it doesn’t look like major cutbacks to production will be coming anytime soon. CEO of Moroccan exporter Export Optimum Abdellah Elyamlahi said that the production of avocados is on track to triple to 100,000 tons by 2027.

Avocados are able to continue growing, despite the drought, because they are cultivated in some of the water-rich areas of Morocco like the Gherb and Lokous regions. These areas have large groundwater reserves and aren’t affected by water scarcity, Elmalyahi said.

As for cucumbers, in 2022 Morocco exported 20,000 tons of the vegetable to foreign markets, with over 80% of those exports going to countries within the European Union. While not as water-consuming as avocados, cucumbers take double the amount of water than other crops like tomatoes, peppers, and corn.

Morocco also doubled its exportation of watermelons to the EU from about 149,000 kilograms in 2019 to 270,000 kilograms in 2022. That set Morocco as the second leading exporter of watermelon to the EU, surpassed only by Spain.

In September 2022, Moroccan authorities ended their subsidy on avocado, watermelon, and citrus cultivation with the aim of rationing the water used for these crops.

“I can live without avocado, but I cannot live without water,” Abdelghani Chehbouni, a professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, told Morocco World News in an interview last year.

For many Moroccans, especially in rural areas, water access is key to ensuring their livelihoods.

Farmers who rely on agriculture as a main income source have had to consider migrating to urban areas or finding temporary jobs in order to make up for the income loss.

“I’m not even sure I will sow wheat this year because the rainfall has been so late,” said Zakaria Khatabi, who lives north of Rabat, in the Drought Assessment Report published in December 2022.

Additionally, issues of water scarcity disproportionately affect women during the drought season, according to the report.

Accessing water under drought conditions can be challenging for women who are the one’s primarily responsible for fetching water. And, as men are forced to migrate to urban areas to ensure an income source, women are taking on more responsibilities, the report said.

Geographically, the drought is not spread equally across Morocco.

Areas like the Sharq region, which has a dam filling rate of 25%, faces more water scarcity than regions like the Loukous dam which is about 55%.

Moroccan authorities have put in place certain measures to combat these droughts.

Morocco has 152 large dams and is constructing 16 additional ones to increase the country’s storage capacity for water.

To reach its water goals, Morocco is looking towards conventional and non-conventional water resources to manage water demand and development, Equipment and Water Minister Nizar Baraka said in March at the UN 2023 Water Conference.

Morocco is developing a project to improve water supply to Rabat and Casablanca by connecting the Sebou and Bouregreg basins, he said.

Desalination projects are another option for the country, Baraka said.

Although desalination is an energy-intensive process, renewable energies can help reduce that stress on resources. Already, the desalination plant in Dakhla has used wind energy to reduce the cost of its water production.

Additionally, Morocco is continuing to implement its National Program for Water Saving Irrigation that aims to protect water resources and improve living conditions in rural areas.

Tags: Production, wheat, drought, imports, Morocco, cereal, water-demanding crops, water shortages, export, rainfall