Agriculture, water grabbing and the environmental question in Southern Morocco

Fayrouz Yousfi

This talk explores the connection between agricultural extraction and water dispossession in Southern Morocco. Demonstrating the impact of water-intensive crops on the agrarian social structure and rural communities in Morocco’s neoliberal conjuncture. The agricultural strategies have been directed toward exporting agricultural products to European markets in the past decades. This talk situates the historical origins of intensive agricultural production from the colonial to the post-colonial frames imposed during the French protectorate, modern Moroccan State structures, and influences of transnational capital. This development of high-value-added crops has increased exports, which has impacted the southern region’s water table. This talk illustrates and examines water governance during booming export-agricultural water extraction.

This event was live at LE 18 Thursday 2nd Feburary, 7.30pm (Morocco), captions are available for the recording.