Vulnerability of Oasis Agriculture to Climate Change in Morocco

Introduction

Arid and semi-arid Mediterranean regions, including Morocco, are among the most affected area by climate change's deleterious effects (Rochdane et al., 2014). It is expected that rainfall will decrease and temperature will increase in the entire Mediterranean region; in particular, in Morocco, which is considered as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change (Simonneaux et al., 2015). In fact, in recent decades Morocco has experienced precipitation deficits, significant increase in temperatures and devastating flood especially in the south of the country (Driouech, 2010; Ait El Mokhtar et al., 2019b). The oasis is a specific ecological landscape that characterizes the south of Morocco. It is a complex and fragile agro-ecosystem which sustains agriculture under drastic climatic conditions (El Khoumsi et al., 2014). This traditional system proved to be sustainable and productive for centuries as a result of effective management for plants, soil and water (Pegna et al., 2017). Many components of oasis ecosystems are affected by climate change especially water availability and soil quality (Karmaoui et al., 2014; Ait Houssa et al., 2017) which hamper oasian agriculture production. The main factors related to climate variation and affecting agriculture are water scarcity and soil salinization. Furthermore, traditional oasis agriculture is in critical situation because of migration, socio-economic and political mutations leading to entirely abandoned fields and the collapsing of the agricultural infrastructure (De Haas, 2001; Pegna et al., 2017).

To cope with adverse effects of climate change on oasian agriculture, Morocco has initiated several strategies, such as the Green Moroccan Plan and other programs with international organizations to improve the agricultural production under changing climate (Akesbi, 2012, Pegna et al., 2017). Otherwise, Morocco supported a lot of initiatives dealing with climate change at the 22^nd COP United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP22) organized in Marrakech in November 2016. One of the main initiatives being communicated by Morocco for the COP22 is Sustainable Oasis program designed to hinder oasis abandon and degradation, to promote adaptation to the climate change by reducing the vulnerability of natural and human oasis systems and provide support by helping this fragile ecosystem to implement resilient practices climate change mitigation. In addition, the use of agriculture biotechnology such as symbiotic microorganisms, organic amendments and plant tolerant varieties could be a promising way for mitigating the negative impacts of water and salt stress, induced partially by climate change, on agriculture in oasis area.

In this chapter, the authors will give an overview of climate trends in Morocco especially in oasis area and will assess the different adverse effects of climate change on oasian agriculture and related component. Given the importance of adaptation strategies to changing climate, the chapter also presents promising solutions to cope with the negative impacts of climate change on agriculture in oasis ecosystem.