Desertification and Its Control in Morocco - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 87

and innovative actions of intervention and implementations will require the
mobilization of all available energies.

• Proven practices to arrest and reverse land degradation in all of its forms have

been implemented in every region of the country. These include developement
of systems of livestock/rangeland integration that provide additional forage and
fodder and at the same time increase then cover of plants that can protect the soil,
increase carbon sequestration. Several soil conservation technologies have been
developed in Morocco and are available for large diffusion but in many cases
these technologies have not been permanently adopted. It seems that a large-scale
dissemination of these new practices requires some financial incentives that must
be sufficiently high to stimulate farmers to adopt the technologies.

Keywords Morocco • Desert control • Afforestation • Deforestation • Clear
felling • UNCCD • Atlas mountain • Steppe • Rainfed agriculture • Livestock •
Overgrazing • Fuel wood • Barley • Opportunistic cropping • Atriplex alley
cropping • Algeria • Mauritania • Sahara desert

1 Introduction

In Morocco, the process of desertification affects large areas and over 90 % of
the land area is classified as desertified to a greater or lesser extent. It is more
pronounced because the climate is dry and highly variable and soils are vulnerable
to erosion. The arid and semi-arid high plateau areas of Morocco are fragile
environments with weakly structured soils, sporadic and unreliable precipitation,
and low productivity. Land degradation is prevalent in the region. Deterioration of
rangeland resources and the consequent increase in rural poverty are exacerbated
by prolonged and sometimes severe periods of drought. A significant part of the
south and southeast is desert extending southward to the northern edge of the Sahara
desert.

1.1 General Context

The Kingdom of Morocco is situated in the north west of the continent of Africa,
between latitudes 21 ı -36 ı N and longitudes 1 ı -17 ı W. The country is bordered
by the Atlantic Ocean on the West (2,934 km from Cap Spartel in the North to
Lagwira in the South), the Mediterranean Sea on the North (512 km from Saidia in
the East to Cap Spartel in the West). It is bordered in the East and South by Algeria
and Mauritania, respectively (see Fig. 5.1 ). The total land area is 710,850 km 2 of
which arable land is less than 12 % according to the Ministere de l'Agriculture et
du Developpement Rural.