Migration and resource management in the Drâa Valley, Southern Morocco

in: Peter Speth / Michael Christoph / Bernd Diekkrüger (eds.): Impacts of global change on the hydrological cycle in West and Northwest Africa, Heidelberg: Springer, 634-646

ISBN: 978-3-642-12956-8

This section hightlights some key elements of local social structures and societal processes that influence decision-making to secure peoples' livelihoods. Besides strategies related to natural resource management in the High Atlas region of Southern Morocco, particular stress is laid upon processes of socio-economic and demographic change in the Drâa catchment. These processes are directly influenced by the critical availability of water on a regional as well as a local scale. In this context, the process of urbanization, patterns of migration as well as ethnic affiliations, social status of individuals or groups and their effects on economic strategies are analyzed. Labor migration to the urban agglomerations in the north of the country, and also to regional urban centers, is continously growing, resulting in both relatively low population growth in rural areas and in increasing urbanization. Remittances from migrants, as the most important source of income for the population in the marginalized rural regions, are partly used to subsidize farming or pastoral activities and are therefore crucial for the continuity of the agricultural system.