Morocco’s agricultural sector faces severe challenges amid prolonged drought conditions.
In a village north of Rabat, Mustapha Loubaoui and other itinerant workers find themselves struggling for work due to a devastating six-year drought. Loubaoui, who traveled 280 km with his combine harvester, arrived in the once-thriving agricultural village of Dar Bel Amri, only to find that work has become scarce.
Morocco’s agriculture sector, which employs around a third of the working-age population and contributes to 14 percent of the country’s exports, is under significant threat. Over a third of the nation’s cultivated land is now fallow, with around 2.5 million hectares lying unused due to water scarcity, compared to 4 million hectares prior to the drought.
As a result, the country has witnessed the loss of about 159,000 agricultural jobs since early 2023, and Morocco’s unemployment rate surged to a record 13.7 percent in the first quarter of 2024. This ongoing drought is taking a severe toll on the livelihoods of many and has worsened the country’s labor market challenges.
