Climate Change, Water, and Agriculture in Morocco’s Future

Place: Morocco • Dates: 2011-2013 • Partners: World Bank

Project Summary

Water scarcity presents a fundamental challenge to Moroccan agriculture. It is estimated that, over the coming decades, scarcity will increase significantly because of climate change, both on a seasonal and annual basis. Rainfall has been declining on a net annual basis for the last two decades, and this process is expected to continue, while seasonal variability rises sharply. Combined with significant expected population growth, particularly in urban areas, this will lead to considerable stress on the Morocco’s physical and institutional capacity for water storage and allocation. The potential costs of these climate impacts remain very uncertain, but will depend to a significant extent on how Morocco adapts to a future of water scarcity. Even if the earth’s climate is stabilized, major adjustments will need to be made in Morocco’s water sector to adapt to scarcity imposed by population and unavoidable climate damage. This report evaluates the prospects for Morocco’s agricultural sector as climate trends develop and policies evolve in response to this.