Livestock producers in northeastern Morocco face tremendous challenges due to overgrazing and encroachment of rangelands for crop production. It is essential that stakeholders share experiences and research findings if the land degradation and the rural exodus it has spurred are to be reversed. To this end, ICARDA, national institutions, development agencies, farmers, and non-governmental organizations are working together to add value to the ambitious programs launched by the Moroccan government aimed at sustainable development of rangelands in the country.

An important resource threatened

In northeastern Morocco, rangelands and livestock have important environmental and socioeconomic roles. Small ruminants number over 2 million head (12% of total small ruminants in Morocco) and are a main source of income in the region. The 'Beni Guil' is the predominant breed of sheep, which is well adapted to the harsh environment and famous for its meat and wool. The region used to supply meat to other parts of the country and for export.
     Rangelands cover about 5 million ha in northeastern Morocco. These are placed in four categories depending on dominant vegetation: Stipa 2,230,000 ha, Artemisia 957,100 ha, Chenopodiacea 1,302,000 ha, and 233,000 ha of desert steppes. Mean annual rainfall is around 210 mm, with high variablility, ranging from 80 to 320 mm. Maximum temperature is around 40ºC (July-August). January is the coldest month, with a minimum temperature of 0ºC. Frost is frequent in February, March, and April, often causing death of newly born small ruminants. The area also suffers from frequent strong winds and sand storms. Soils are generally shallow and poor.
     For a long time, rangelands in northeastern Morocco were managed in an efficient and sustainable way. Grazing pressure was monitored to allow maintenance of range species diversity and a high turnover of biomass to meet animal needs. But, today, throughout the region, degradation of the rangelands has reached an alarming level, calling for prompt action. The capacity of rangelands to provide a sustainable livelihood for herders has been drastically reduced due to a combination of factors, including degradation due to overgrazing and expansion of cultivation. Rangelands now meet only a small proportion of the feed needs of grazing animals.

     The disempowerment of traditional institutions has led to the disruption of management of rangelands. Transhumance has practically disappeared. Settling within rangelands has become the rule, and cultivation and privatization of the rangeland is expanding. And what remains of the original rangeland is exposed to fierce overexploitation. Rangeland rehabilitation, therefore, is a high priority for the Moroccan government, which has initiated activities aimed at halting degradation, increasing farmers' income, and stemming the rural exodus.

Involving stakeholders

Several collaborative research and development projects ('Multipurpose Fodder shrubs and Trees', 'Sustainable Management of the Agro-Pastoral Resource Base in the Oujda Region', the 'Mashreq/Maghreb' project, the 'Taourirt-Tafoghalt' project, and the 'Pastoral and Herding Development' project) are operating in the region. ICARDA and the Moroccan national program are key participants. A common feature of these projects is the use of a participatory approach involving all stakeholders concerned with sustainable development of agropastoral resources. Involvement of pastoral communities within the 'Sustainable Management of the Agro-Pastoral Resource Base in the Oujda Region' project, supported by the Swiss government, is described below to illustrate this participatory approach.
     Many meetings were organized with local authorities, representatives of different ethnic groups, herders, and local extension centers. A workshop was organized with the local communities to involve them in the project, to identify their problems and preoccupations, and to build trust. Local communities expressed four major concerns that they felt the project could address:
   • The problem of the extension of crop production into rangeland
   • Water point durability and functioning
   • Urban encroachment of rangeland area
   • Extension of the irrigated zone
    Another workshop was organized to determine, with local communities, the limits of sub-tribes and rangeland by sub-tribe. Interviews were held with breeders, heads of sub-tribes, and presidents and members of pastoral cooperatives. The team explained to herders how to use and read cartographic maps of 1/100,000 scale, and then herders themselves drew maps of the rangeland.
     The participants agreed on boundaries, rangeland membership, and other matters. Boundaries of sub-tribes and of different rangeland areas of the rural commune of Ain Beni Mathar were delimited on a map.
For example, the map reproduced here, showing the location of the different rangelands, was drawn based on information provided by local communities.

An evolving pastoral system

A socioeconomic study was conducted to understand the changes in the pastoral practices in the Ain Beni Mathar rural community. The study showed that livestock remains the main source of income, but that the pastoral system has evolved during the last decades:
   - The ancestral grazing practices, based on tribal organization and using large areas for grazing, are disappearing and rangeland is degrading at a quicker pace.
   - The system is evolving towards an agropastoral one, characterized by the intensification of livestock production.
   - Pastoral cooperatives are replacing the traditional mode of organization based on tribes.
   - There is less transhumance. The best sites are cleared for cultivation.
   - Pastoralists with small flocks are more sedentary and, therefore, contribute to rangeland degradation.
   - More farmers are raising the Ouled Djellal breed of sheep.
   - The contribution of concentrate to livestock feeding is increasing.
   - The rural exodus is increasing due to a decline in livestock productivity and the high cost of feed concentrates.

Encroachment of traditional rangeland
for crop production

With financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), a study was conducted on the extent of encroachment of cultivation into traditional rangeland in the Ain Beni Mathar area. Participatory approaches were used that involved all rangeland stakeholders.
     The local population was asked to identify on a map different characteristics of their sub-tribe's areas, such as rivers, tracks, habitations, etc. Assisted by scientists, the respondents learned easily to read maps. Then they indicated boundaries of their fractions as well as rangeland boundaries. Collected data were put into a database, including, in particular, the characteristics of each rangeland area: name of the rangeland, land tenure, type of soil, topography, estimated area, rangeland cultivated area, number of people cultivating crops on the rangeland, type of crops, and the existing infrastructure and its type.
     Geographical information systems and remote sensing were then used to assess encroachment. A comparison of 1988 and 2000 showed that::

- The Stipa tenacissima steppe in good condition decreased from 22,457 ha to 15,929 ha.
- Degraded S. tenacissima steppe increased from 54,149 ha to 56,188 ha.
- Overall degraded area increased from 53,541 ha to 72,228 ha due to the clearing of S. tenacissima and Artemisia herba-alba steppes.
- Degraded A. herba-alba steppe decreased from 5,674 ha to 1,354 ha, mainly due to its conversion to cropland.
    The overall state of the non-cultivated vegetation cover diminished between the two dates. The study showed a major increase in cultivation in the northern sector of the study area, which has more favorable conditions for agricultural production due to slightly higher rainfall and lower soil salinity.
    A better understanding has been gained into the causes of encroachment of cultivation. A database was created on rangeland management systems, and the maps and documents it contains, including transcriptions of interviews with farmers. This will be useful in coming up with strategies to control rangeland cultivation.

Win/win technologies

Due to human and animal population growth, cropping has expanded into low rainfall areas and into very fragile environments to the detriment of rangeland, resulting in increased feed deficit and soil erosion. To reverse the situation, ICARDA and its Moroccan partners are testing the suitability of shrubs as an intercrop (alley cropping) with barley and other common crops, such as oats, and mixtures of barley and fodder pea, and barley and vetch.
     On-station and on-farm testing suggests that alley cropping with Atriplex (saltbush) could greatly increase crop and animal production, and at the same time help to protect fragile soils from wind and water erosion.
   Total biomass and grain yield were higher in alley cropped systems. Energy and crude protein yields also increased by 11-93% and 16-196%, respectively. Alley cropping increased land-equivalent ratios from 1 (barley or weedy fallow) to 1.20-1.46, suggesting that this technology will be particularly useful in areas where farm size is small. (A land-equivalent ratio of more than one indicates that growing an intercrop gives higher total output per unit area than a single crop.)
    The technology is taking off. Indeed, a total of 6000 ha of alley cropping systems have already been established on private farms within the Taourirt-Tafoghalt project. This was a result of collaboration between different research and development projects, such as the CGIAR System-wide Livestock Programme's Multipurpose Fodder Shrubs and Trees project led by ICARDA, ICARDA's Mashreq/Maghreb project, and the Taourirt-Tafoghalt project. A further 8000 ha are to be alley cropped in the next two years.

Collecting native rangeland species

The ranges of northeastern Morocco are home to a diversity of range species. They are an invaluable resource to rehabilitate fragile, dry environments. Due to over-exploitation of these native plants and their habitat, however, many are endangered and some are close to extinction. To this end, ICARDA and national research institutions undertook a mission to assess rangeland biodiversity and collect native rangeland species.
     The collection covered 43 sites over an area of 2200 km and rainfall zones of 180 to 500 mm. Samples were collected at intervals of 10-15 km along the collection route. Over 385 accessions of 60 species were collected. Stipa spp. were most frequent (51 accessions of four species). Artemisia spp. were also frequent. Other species collected included Heliantheum spp., Herniaria spp., Paronychia argentea, Schismus barbatus, and Thymus spp. Vetch and medic species were found in areas protected from grazing.

Sensitizing donors and decision-makers

ICARDA and the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) of Morocco organized a regional workshop on 'Sustainable Management of Agro-Pastoral Resources' on 20-22 February 2001 in Oujda.
     Fifty-six participants attended, among them were: His Excellency Mr Daniel von Muralt, Swiss Ambassador to Morocco; Mr Hans Schellenberg, responsible for the Middle East and North Africa Division of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); Mr Abdelaziz Arifi, Director General, INRA; and Mr El Gharbaoui Abdelwahed, Head of the Rangelands Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Morocco. Pastoralists participated actively throughout the workshop, as did representatives from the national agricultural research systems (NARS) of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, and Tunisia.

     The workshop was an opportunity to present results obtained within the 'Sustainable Management of the Agro-Pastoral Resource Base in the Oujda Region' project. Seven papers were presented, and representatives from the Maghreb countries presented progress made in their work on sustainable rangeland management.
     Stakeholders and Maghrebian colleagues agreed to join efforts in a regional project on the 'Sustainable Management of the Agro-Pastoral Resource Base in the Maghreb.' This project aims at developing decision-making tools and strengthening the capacities of Maghrebian NARS in sustainable management of the agro-pastoral base, by building on the methodologies developed and the results obtained in the Oujda project. The SDC representatives agreed to consider funding this project.