Abderrahim Boutaleb 1 & Ilaria Firmian 2

Community governance of natural resources and rangelands:the case of the eastern highlands of Morocco

Abderrahim Boutaleb [1] & Ilaria Firmian [2]

[1] Coordinateur National du PLPCDRP.HPO.

[2] International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Rome

briefing

Human activity, specifically overgrazing and cropping, and climate change are driving Moroccan rangelands in the Eastern Highlands to degradation and inability to maintain livestock anymore. This dreadful condition is becoming permanent and irreversible. To face this situation the Government of Morocco in collaboration with IFAD is runningthe PDPEO (Livestock and Pastoral Development Projectin the Eastern region), now in its second phase, to improve rangeland management throughtemporary protection, plantation of fodder shrubs, reseeding, scarification, improvement of health services or fattening.

This paper shows how the success of this project lays in the recognition of the collective rights of local tribes and the organization of herders into ethno-lineage cooperatives. The assessment of this initiative shows how common management and restoration of traditional social systems may be a successful path toenhancegovernance and sustainable management of natural resources.

Keywords: Governance, Rangelands, Land management, Pastoralism,CommunityGovernance, Pastoral cooperatives, Participatory approach

Environmental profile of the zone[JMD1]

The zone concerned by this case study stretches across Morocco’s Eastern Region from the provinces of Jerada in the north and Taourirt in the west to the province of Figuig in the south. It covers more than 3.5million hectares, most of it highlands. This vast area is a major pastoral region, carrying some 2million head of small ruminant animals. The climate is mainly arid to desert in type, so that the area has a well adapted steppe-type vegetation. This vegetation supports the generations-old activity of livestock production, which represents the backbone of the economy for the whole zone. It is still for the most part carried out extensively to enable the livestock to obtain most of their sustenance from the pastures.

The rangelands are no longer in a good enough condition to meet the food requirements of the livestock. Even worse, in most cases the degradation of these rangelands has become an irreversible process, leaving desert landscapes.The region experienced a climate change in the 1970s, leading to a reduction in annual rainfall. The decline in rainfall caused by climate changes affected specifically and severely the spring season in Ain BeniMathar and Tendrara, while it affected all the seasons in Figuig. These changes in the distribution of rainfall probably accelerated the degradation of rangelands that was observed in the zone. One of the main consequences of the reduction in springtime rainfall is a decrease in rangeland productivity, inasmuch as spring is a period of active growth for most plants and any water deficit in this period will have a negative effect on rangeland production, even with favourable climatic conditions the following year. The reduction is seen in a slowing down in growth in the case of perennial species and in the exhaustion of seed stocks in the soil in the case of annual species.

Moreover, agro-climatological studies carried out by Morocco’s National Institute for Agricultural Research show two agro-climatic zones in the study region: one prior to and the other after the change in rainfall (1946-1975 and 1976-2002). The two zones are linked to the climatic requirements of certain pastoral species. During the earlier period, the climatic conditions seemed favourable to the growth of pastoral species, especially esparto (alfa grass) and artemisia (white wormwood). During the second period, the zones favourable to these species stretched over the northern part of the region, and the central and northern part of the region remained favourable to the growth of pastoral species. Thus, even if the climatic conditions are sometimes less than optimal for growth, they remain sufficient.

The cause of rangeland degradation in these zones must therefore be attributed mainly to human activity. The factors that have led to a major reduction in the area of pasture and acceleration in the reduction in ground cover are:

•The expansion of rangeland clearing beyond the usual mhareth[1], combined with the settling of families, which curtails flock movements and limits the choice of camp sites;

•The holding of numbers of livestock exceeding the rangeland carrying capacity, thus reducing the regeneration potential in all the various ecological sectors;

•The occupation of large pastoral zones by the attardaphenomenon[2], thus restricting the area of mobility and in turn increasing grazing pressure on the rangelands available for all users;

•The reduction – or even disappearance – of shrub and dwarf shrub plant species, which give way to herbaceous species, thus reducing the times spent in transhumance sites, which in turn jeopardizes the viability of the whole operation;

•Transport difficulties, particularly the loading and unloading of livestock and equipment;

•The creation of certain rested range areas or grazing bans, which some herders have reported as hampering movement;

•The replacement of transhumance by feed intensification in periods of drought or pre-drought.

This state of degradation meant that studies and surveys carried out on the ground observed the following facts between 1975 and 2001:

-Major expansion of degraded artemisia and esparto grasslands, with the area of these lands increasing from 638,700 to 890,068hectares (an increase of about 40percent);

-A considerable reduction in areas of artemisia, which shrank from 394,770 to 35,482hectares between 1975/76 and 2000/01;

-A similarly large reduction in areas of really vigorous esparto, which dwindled from 1,326,918 to a mere 353,255hectares.

In the south (Bouarfa, AbbouLakhal), where climatic conditions are no longer sufficient for the optimal growth of these species, any adverse action, especially overgrazing, can bring about irreversible degradation. Very severely degraded rangelands account for more than 650,000hectares in the study area, presenting the most advanced forms of degradation. They comprise mainly areas of sand encroachment and bare ground. The intensified degradation of these steppes results in a major reduction in biological productivity. Sand encroachment, one of the most typical forms of rangeland degradation, is found mainly in the southeast of the zone.

Bare ground is another component of the very severe type of degradation. It is a result of the total disappearance of vegetation due to overgrazing and the abandonment of cultivated rangeland. Such areas are slopes that are particularly vulnerable to erosion. Bare ground composed of rocky desert is found in the mountainous zones of the south.

Figure 1: Various types of rangeland degradation in the highlands of the Eastern Region. Legend: State of degradation. Green: Slight; Yellow: Medium to Severe; red: Very Severe[JMD2]

Socio-economic profile of the zone

The population of the zone (including the Tendrara, Bouarfa and Ain BeniMathar urban centres) is estimated at roughly 100,000, with an average of seven people per household. The growth rate in the project zone is higher than in the Eastern Region as a whole (0.2 as against −0.8percent), although it is considerably lower than the national figure (0.6percent). More than half the inhabitants are under 24 years of age – 44.4percent in Figuig province, 54percent in Jerada and 53.9percent in Taourirt – while the national figure for this age group is 47.8percent. The predominant type of housing in the region is rural (65percent). The Eastern Region is fifth in terms of its poverty rate. According to the 2004 census, the poverty rate in the region is roughly 17.9percent, although it is higher than this regional average in rural areas, reaching about 25percent.

In terms of socio-economic activities, the vast majority of the region’s population obtains almost all its income directly or indirectly from livestock production, mainly sheep. Thus, 67percent of the population practise livestock rearing, while 28percent practise it as a sideline with agriculture. The remaining 5percent are engaged in trading activities in the urban centres of Tendrara, Bouarfa and Ain BeniMathar (SCET[JMD3]-SCOM, 2008[FI4]). The zone is generally known for its predominant rearing of sheep and goats on large expanses of steppe rangelands: about 1,344,000 head of small ruminant animals (1,095,000 sheep and 249,000 goats).

Livestock production systems are generally pastoral and extensive to semi-extensive in type, with the following features:

•Major variations in the numbers of sheep, depending on variations in climate;

•Very low productivity of the livestock;

•Major dependence of livestock on purchased feed;

•Variations in the roles attributed to the livestock (a source of wealth and/or social prestige etc.);

•Most of the herders in the region are considered poor: 77.5percent have a low to very low income, 19.2percent have a modest to medium income, and 3.3percent have an income that can be described as comfortable.

The sheep rearing systems distinguished on the basis of variables regarding the activity and its environment vary among zones as follows:

Livestock system 1. This system is found in the far northeast and is marked by the small size of rangelands, providing insufficient food for the livestock, partly due to the increasing loss of rangeland vigour, particularly toward the south. This leads to major recourse to supplementary feed to meet the needs of flocks, and it is estimated that this supplementary feed covers roughly 50percent of these needs.

Livestock system 2. This system is found in the centre-north, where rangelands are of medium size, with degraded pastoral resources. Relatively little supplementary feed is used in comparison with other regions, covering more than 45percent of needs. However, the percentage is constantly growing as a result of the inadequacy of rangelands and the stable or growing size of flocks.

Livestock system 3. This system is found in the northwest, where rangelands are small to medium in size and in an advanced state of degradation. Inputs of supplementary feed are relatively low, due to the existence of sylvopastoral resources in the north and the low socio-economic level of farms.

Livestock system 4. Rangelands are larger under this system, covering communes in the centre, and the food for flocks, which are purely breeding in type, is based essentially on pastoral resources. Parallel with pastoral resources under constant use, supplementary feed is currently based on purchases, due to the very low local production.

Livestock system 5. Rangelands are very large under this system, but are in a mediocre state in almost all the southern and southeastern zones, and sheep rearing has been seriously affected by the sub-Saharan drought. Unlike the forms of adaptation found elsewhere, these herders do not take advantage of supplementary feed to cover the needs of their livestock, so that such additions remain relatively low.

Right of use and natural resource management methods

Rangelands in the highlands are divided between esparto grasslands, which are part of state forest land, and collectively-owned land. Collective rangelands – land belonging to the community of origin, which cannot be divided up and which all the descendants of the community can use – accounts for about 2millionhectares and falls under the charge of the Ministry of the Interior.

In the past, collective status supported a tribal type of organization based on collective ownership of pastoral resources recognized by the various tribes and marked by customary grazing areas used and respected by each tribe. These areas are already recognized in terms of demarcated collective lands.

Today, however, this status seems to be in contradiction with changes in the main components of pastoral society: the creation of administrative divisions, and a strong trend toward sedentarization and individualization in the use of resources and inputs. In the absence of a demarcation of collective lands, it is hard for the collective ownership of rangelands to withstand individual styles of behaviour marked by the private appropriation of land, clearing and conversion to agriculture. The project is based on the traditional collective structure in order to create cooperatives with an ethnic link, and thus a structure that will make the assumption of responsibility for the sustainable development of rangelands easier.

Intervention under the Livestock and Pastoral Development Project in the Eastern Region (PDPEO)

Aware of this state of affairs, the government departments in charge of the sector established various development programmes and projects for the zone, such as the PDPEO (phase I).[3]In collaboration with the Government of Morocco and the African Development Bank, IFAD financed the Livestock and Pastoral Development Project in the Eastern Region for US$45.2million. The Fund played a major role in the design, implementation and monitoring of the project. When the project was being designed, its team carried out an in-depth study of the communities and their social organization. Then, on the basis of this study, the project team selected the following approaches to rangeland improvement: periodic temporary grazing bans, planting of fodder shrubs, reseeding and scarifying, all intended to increase the productivity of rangelands and the availability of fodder. With a view to improving livestock quality, the project team decided on improved health services for land races, fattening, and more flexible livestock management systems. Lastly, in order to ensure greater availability of water, the project decided to install or rehabilitate livestock watering points.The various monitoring and evaluation reports prepared by IFAD have proved vital in identifying the problems inherent in the project and formulating recommendations regarding support activities.

The importance of recognizing the collective rights of tribes has played a major role in the success of this model. Since 1919, Morocco has been the only country in western Asia and northern Africa to recognize the collective rights of tribes. The decentralization policies of the 1980s reorganized rural areas into communes, which were defined on the basis of tribal lands. These conditions facilitated the introduction of community-based range management (CBRM), an innovative approach, with the support of the local population, who saw the project as an opportunity to regain control of their resources. The PDPEO I demonstrated the existence of major potential to reverse the degradation process by implementing large-scale schemes for the institutional and administrative organization of herders, rehabilitation and improvement of rangeland and livestock productivity, and the training of herders and implementing officers.The organization of herders into ethno-lineage cooperatives created a space for training, consultation and negotiation in all the fields of rural activities, apart from the activities of planning, execution and supervision of grazing bans and plantations of fodder shrubs, and the improvement of livestock production.

Formation of pastoral cooperatives under the PDPEO I

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Moroccan Government established pastoral improvement perimeters (PIPs), an institutional reform intended to improve rangeland management. PIPs were based on ecological and technological imperatives, with very little attention thus being given to existing tribal management systems, which had a very strong social, cultural and institutional dimension.Government technical bodies carried out the process without the participation of the communities concerned. In 1995, the World Bank estimated that 12.5percent of Moroccan rangelands were degraded[JMD5][FI6]. There was general recognition that the PIP approach had failed and that if nothing appropriate was done, the trend to rangeland degradation would jeopardize the livelihood of millions of pastoral households for which livestock production was the main source of income and rangelands the main source of food for their livestock. It is in this context that IFAD intervened to develop the CBRM approach.

The CBRM approach is an innovative one based on five key principles:

(1)rural communes and tribal affiliation provide the basis for the creation of pastoral cooperatives;

(2)tribal institutions are reorganized into pastoral management cooperatives responsible for making technical decisions and administering resources;

(3)tribal members are required to purchase “shares” in the cooperatives in order to become members and gain access to cooperative services and to better-quality pastures;

(4)the project does not seek to settle herders, but promotes their mobility through new, more flexible livestock management systems;

(5)the project promotes consensual decision-making processes with beneficiaries.

The risks and stakes were very high because of three major difficulties that could endanger the whole process:

(1)the extent to which government technical bodies would support a process that reduced their control over rangeland development;

(2)the communities’ agreement to reorganize themselves into cooperatives and purchase shares to become members;

(3)the respect that non-cooperative tribal members would have for the new situation brought about by the cooperatives.

The second and third points were particularly critical, given their equity implications, especially the risk that an elite would“capture” project services and benefits, thus marginalizing poor households in cooperative decision-making processes.

The introduction of the idea of the participation of herders in the protection, conservation, improvement and sustainable management of the available resources led those designing the PDPEO I project to seek a form of organization for them that would, on the one hand, ensure their representation and, on the other, act as a dialogue partner for the government.

The selected form of organization for herders was that of “pastoral cooperatives”, which were established in application of law 1-83-226 of 9 Moharrem 1405 (5October 1984[JMD7][FI8]), promulgating law 24-83 that established the general status of cooperatives and the mandate of the Office of Cooperation Development. The socio-tribal nature of pastoral society in the Eastern Region and the collective status of rangelands led to the constitution of ethno-lineage cooperatives on the basis of affinity among groups.

Ethno-lineage cooperatives were thus established, with the following as their main objectives:

•To be dialogue partners for the government with regard to rangeland rehabilitation and management (choice of pastoral improvement perimeters and zones to be rested, reporting of infringements and identification of those responsible etc.);