{"id":48805,"date":"2023-06-30T11:58:10","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T10:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=48805"},"modified":"2023-06-30T11:58:15","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T10:58:15","slug":"morocco-climate-change-adaptation-berber-khettara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2023\/06\/30\/morocco-climate-change-adaptation-berber-khettara\/","title":{"rendered":"Morocco’s centuries-old irrigation system under threat from climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

For tourists, a trip to Morocco\u2019s southeast most likely involves taking a coach bus or rented SUV to the Merzouga Desert. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The journey is equal parts dramatic and harrowing\u2014with canyon-like views of the Atlas Mountains via treacherous switchbacks, and a vast landscape of desert beyond Ouarzazate.<\/p>\n

Along the way\u2014some 330 kilometers from Marrakech\u2014the commune of Imider sits nestled on Morocco\u2019s National Route 10 (N10). Hardly registering to passing tourists, Imider is one of the poorest and most-water stressed communities in Morocco. The climate is semi-arid\u2014it rains only a few times a year\u2014and poverty levels are nearly triple the national average.<\/p>\n

Indigenous adaptation<\/h3>\n

Despite general disregard from passersby and neglect from Morocco\u2019s central government in the northwest, Imider\u2019s residents are proud members of the indigenous Amazigh Ait-Atta tribal confederation (otherwise known as \u201cBerber\u201d to western audiences).<\/p>\n

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For centuries, Amazigh communities have populated much of the country\u2019s southeast, adapting to the harsh and semi-arid climate that comes with being east of the mountains and isolated from the seaside. Despite the unforgiving landscape, these groups are agropastoral\u2014herding sheep and goats and farming a variety of crops like olives, almonds dates, and vegetables. In Imider, most people live on less than a dollar a day.<\/p>\n

In a region where annual precipitation can range from a few inches to less than an inch, water is life\u2014or \u201caman iman,\u201d as residents say.<\/p>\n

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Drought-affected fields in the Tinghir province. Photo: Rachel Santarsiero<\/p><\/div>\n

To adapt to such low rainfall levels, Amazigh groups have long depended on a traditional system of water storage and distribution, known as ‘khettara’<\/em>. This system relies on a series of underground canals to source water for farming fields and is incredibly efficient in arid and semi-arid climates. To the Amazigh, the\u00a0khettara<\/em> is sacred.<\/p>\n

But as higher temperatures and drought conditions become the norm in Morocco, and as privatized companies continue to mine the south and southeast for phosphate and silver\u2014as has been done<\/a> in Imider\u2014the centuries-old irrigation system is under threat.<\/p>\n

The khettara<\/em> irrigation<\/h3>\n

Among those affected is Mohammed Boumnir, a farmer in Imider who maintains his family\u2019s plot of land, and harvests olives, dates, figs, grass, buckthorn, pomegranates, and radishes. The hand-dug canals of the khettara<\/em> separate each set of crops like a lattice, but today they are bone dry. \u201cThis drought, the mining, it\u2019s all affecting the farm. It\u2019s cut off more than 80% of our water”, he told me.<\/p>\n

In place of the dried-out khettara<\/em> system, Boumnir has had to install irrigation pipes to help source water. Other farmers on adjacent plots have installed solar panels and mechanized wells to pump water from deeper beneath the ground. Those are costly endeavors that not all farmers in the area can afford.<\/p>\n\n\t\t