Problematising Expert Knowledge in North Africa

Geoforum 36 (2005) 509–524 www.elsevier.com/locate/geoforum

Indigenous knowledge and the desertiﬁcation debate: problematising expert knowledge in North Africa

Diana K. Davis

Department of Geography, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA

Received 18 November 2003; received in revised form 29 June 2004

Abstract

In Morocco the crisis narrative of desertification has been invoked for decades to facilitate and justify policy and legal changes that have systematically disadvantaged pastoralists and damaged the environment. The existing data from southern Morocco, however, do not support the claims of widespread desertification due to overgrazing or other pastoral activities. Furthermore, many anti-desertification and range improvement projects in southern Morocco have not succeeded. In an effort to rethink desertification and range ecology in Morocco, this paper presents an overview of the indigenous knowledge of range ecology among the Aarib, a group of camel pastoralists in southern Morocco, and compares it to the ‘‘expert’’ knowledge of Moroccan range managers. It suggests that this expert knowledge is based on questionable evidence and that it has been privileged over local knowledge primarily for political, economic and administrative reasons. The discrepancies between expert and indigenous knowledges of range ecology presented here underscore the need to reconsider range ecology in Morocco, taking indigenous ecological knowledge into account. Doing so may point the way to more successful development and conservation projects which are more environmentally appropriate and socially just. Not doing so will likely exacerbate environmental degradation in the region. Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Desertiﬁcation; Indigenous knowledge; North Africa; Range ecology; Pastoralism; Morocco

La de´sertification au Maroc, une catastrophe researchers have explored indigenous knowledge in the ećologique. 1 search for alternatives to conventional development. Much of this work has been of a practical nature, simply searching for different techniques based on indigenous 1. Introduction knowledges (Brokensha et al., 1980; DeWalt, 1994; Mar- tello, 2001). Other research has sought to problematize It has become increasingly apparent that many envi- indigenous knowledge(s) and to explore them in their his- ronment and development projects around the world have torical, social, economic and political contexts (Agrawal, failed in their objectives. Indeed, over the last decade, 1995; Bebbington, 1996; Escobar, 1995; Gray and Mor- more than 50 countries in the world have experienced a de- ant, 2003; Robbins, 2001; Turner and Hiernaux, 2002). cline in living standards, among which the UNDP reports Within the sectors of range and livestock development, previously rare reversals in quality of life and survival the failures of conventional development approaches (UNDP, 2003). As these failures have become clear, many have been particularly striking. Decades of work to ’’improve’’ pastures and livestock rearing practices, often E-mail address: [email protected] 1 This quote, ‘‘desertification in Morocco, an ecological catastro- linked with projects to halt perceived desertification, have phe’’ is from the Moroccan newspaper LÕOpinion, 16 February, 1996, failed in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia pp. 10–11. (Chatty, 2001; de Haan, 1994; Goldschmidt, 1981;

Niamir-Fuller, 1999; Pratt et al., 1997; Sanford, 1983; ent range management projects in the future. Although a Scoones, 1995; Warren, 1995). Most of these projects vigorous literature has emerged from scholars over these is- have operated on the widespread assumption that the sues of grazing, pastoralism, and desertification in sub- ecological knowledges and practices of the local pastoral- Saharan Africa (Scoones, 1995; Thomas and Middleton, ists are flawed and that they damage the environment by, 1994; Turner, 2003), there has been very little discussion for example, overgrazing. These conventional livestock or debate of these issues with respect to North Africa. 3 and range development projects themselves, however, This paper explores indigenous ecological knowledge were (and are) often based on dubious ecological assump- in an attempt to problematize the significant differences tions and partial ecological data (Swift, 1996; Thomas, in ecological understanding apparent between the Aarib 1997). The primary motivations for many of these pro- (a local group of pastoralists in southern Morocco), and jects have often been economic, political and ideological range management experts in the country. 4 Analysis of rather than ecological, especially in nomadic areas. these differences in light of recent ecological theories and Research has shown, though, that contrary to the political economy in Morocco suggests that although assumption of herder irrationality and destructiveness local indigenous knowledge of range ecology is likely inherent in most conventional range development pro- accurate, it has not been incorporated into range policy jects, many indigenous pastoral management systems for largely political, administrative, and economic rea- are rational, efficient, and sustainable (Behnke et al., sons. The paper, based on three yearÕs research in Mor- 1993; Coughenour et al., 1985; McCabe, 1990; Niamir- occo and France, begins with an overview of the official, Fuller, 1999; Scoones, 1995; Turner, 1992). In part as government assessment of the rangelands in southern a result of these new understandings of pastoral systems, Morocco and its prescriptions for improvement. 5 This several researchers have sought to understand indigenous pastoral knowledges in order to try to develop 3 alternative, and hopefully more successful, range and Although some very good work has been done on pastoralism in Morocco, nearly all of it focuses on the mountainous areas and the livestock development projects (Briggs et al., 1999; coastal plains (Bencherifa and Johnson, 1993; Bencherifa and Johnson, Draz, 1978; Fernandez-Gimenez, 2000; Schareika, 1990; Bourbouze, 1999; Johnson, 1996). Very little has been written on 2001). Operationalisation of indigenous knowledges in the arid areas of the south with the exception of Hart (1984). None to pastoral management projects, however, remains negli- date has explored the recent non-equilibrium debates in arid lands gible in many parts of the world today. ecology and pastoral studies. 4 The term ‘‘expert’’ is used here to denote those with the power to Range development and improvement projects have prescribe policy and implement projects, therefore those closely been implemented in independent MoroccoÕs pastoral re- associated with the Moroccan government. This includes many gions for nearly 50 years. The majority of them have been Moroccan scientists and academics, government range extension premised on an assumed crisis of rangeland degradation agents, international development personnel, and NGO personnel and alleged desertification of large areas of the country. working in cooperation with the government. This interpretation draws on the work of several scholars of expert discourse and A majority of these projects, however, have been deemed acknowledges that not infrequently such expert knowledge is based on unsuccessful (de Haan, 1994; El Harizi, 1998; Gow et al., outdated or questionable ‘‘scientific knowledge.’’ (See in particular 2 1985; USAID et al., 1986). The checkered history of Robbins, 2001; Said, 1996; Warren, 1995.) unsuccessful range improvement suggests the need to 5 Field work in Morocco over two (non-consecutive) years included reconsider the standard assessment of extensive rangelands documentary and archival research, participant observation, informal interviews, life histories, guided field walks and 40 formal interviews and desertification in Morocco, as well as the need to reori- with range and veterinary personnel (15) and Aarib pastoralists (25). The questionnaire used in the formal interviews with the Aarib contained 56 questions, the first half of which dealt with veterinary 2 An exception to this is the ‘‘Livestock and Pasture Development topics. The fact that I am a veterinarian, a geographer, and a woman, Project’’ in eastern Morocco, roughly between Ain Beni Mathar and allowed me to access both men and women quite easily and helped me Bouarfa, which is claimed by many, especially the Moroccan govern- to establish a rapport more quickly than might otherwise have been ment, to be a success (El Harizi, 1998). At a cost of over 45 million possible. Although the majority of the research employed qualitative dollars, this project was supposed to improve the livelihoods of the methods, some answers to key interview questions were so consistent poorest herders of the region and ‘‘reverse rangeland degradation’’ as to allow for some basic quantitative assessment. The sample size, 40 (Msika, 1997). Although touted as an ecological success, project formal respondants, compares favorably with other research on evaluations concluded that it is difficult to distinguish between the indigenous knowledge and ethnoveterinary medicine (Abbas et al., effects of climate on pasture improvement and the effects of the 2002; Briggs et al., 1999; Davis et al., 1995; Schareika, 2001). projectÕs techniques (Msika, 1997, p. 41). The project benefited from Discussions and interviews were conducted in Moroccan Arabic with several rainy years which followed a previous period of drought. most of the Aarib and in French with most of the range personnel. One Contrary to the projectÕs stated goals, the wealthiest herders benefited of the detailed life histories was conducted with the help of an assistant most from the project as the poorest 60% were further marginalized by and the rest were conducted by me. Interviews with the Aarib were the imposition of new cooperatives, the effective enclosure of common conducted primarily in Zagora and in and around MÕhamid. Inter- land, and reductions in mobility (El Harizi, 1998; Steinmann, 2001). views with range and veterinary personnel were conducted in Despite its documented ambiguities and lack of success, this project is Ouarzazate, Zagora, and MÕhamid. Ethnoveterinary data not pre- being promoted as a model for future range management projects in sented here was also collected. A final year in France allowed extensive Morocco. archival and documentary research in several locations. D.K. Davis / Geoforum 36 (2005) 509–524 511 is followed by a discussion of the indigenous knowledge stocked at two to five times their carrying capacity (El and practice of range ecology and management by the Gharbaoui, 1985, p. 59). Based on these estimates, no- Aarib and a comparison with Moroccan state range mads and other pastoralists have been strongly encour- managersÕ knowledge. The available data on rangelands aged to sedentarise and reduce herd numbers, and desertification for southern Morocco is then pre- communal land has been privatised and put into agricul- sented and analyzed. Finally, the implications of the dif- tural production, and many anti-desertification pro- ferences in ecological knowledge between the locals and grams including range improvement projects, planting the experts is discussed and policy implications are ex- ‘‘green belts’’ and stabilising sand dunes have been plored. The conclusion is presented that the privileging implemented throughout the country. of ‘‘expert’’ knowledge over the knowledge of local As the descriptions of desertification have become groups of pastoralists such as the Aarib risks furthering increasingly dire over the years, the amount of money environmental degradation in southern Morocco. spent to ‘‘fight’’ desertification in Morocco has in- creased. During the period 1999–2001, 7.5 billion dirhams (750 million US dollars) were spent to fight 2. The ‘‘catastrophe of desertification’’ in Morocco drought and desertification in Morocco (Maroc, 2002, p. 25). 7 In Morocco the crisis narratives of desertification and As of 2002, the European Union was providing 72 deforestation have been proclaimed for decades and million dollars and the World Bank was providing longer, stretching back to the colonial period. 6 Not 10.5 million dollars to fight desertification in Morocco infrequently, such crisis narratives have been used to (Maroc, 2002, p. 26). Several other organisations such facilitate and justify policy changes as well as legal as the UNÕs International Fund for Agricultural Devel- changes which have systematically marginalized indige- opment (IFAD), the Global Mechanism, the UNDP, nous pastoralists. Especially evident in the official gov- and the German government are also providing substan- ernment literature after the United Nations tial funding for these efforts. Anti-desertification pro- Conference on Desertification (UNCOD) in 1977, over- jects nearly all include range management components grazing of Moroccan rangelands has been persistently to halt perceived overgrazing. The Moroccan govern- blamed as the principal cause of their assumed degrada- ment itself plans to spend 1.7 billion dollars over the tion. This belief in the widespread destruction of the period 2000–2004 to fight desertification in several dif- environment by overgrazing is common in Morocco ferent government sectors (Maroc, 2002, p. 26). These and is found throughout the popular press and aca- sums of money are very significant given the relatively demic/scientific research, as well as in official govern- constrained financial resources of this underdeveloped ment documents. The Grand Encyclopedia of Morocco, and deeply indebted country. for example, states that Moroccan pastures are perma- Some of the worst overgrazing and desertification is nently overstocked and overgrazed, that this overstock- said to be occurring in the southern, pre-Saharan re- ing ‘‘...represents the principal cause of their gions of Morocco. The province of Ouarzazate is identi- degradation ...[and that] the denudation of soils results fied as one of these regions. 8 Ouarzazate province is one in launching the processes of desertification’’ (Vaxelaire, of the most southern provinces in Morocco, excluding 1987, vol. 3, p. 180). Overgrazing is listed first among the the Western Sahara. ‘‘The grazing lands in the zone suf- causes of desertification by the Minister of Agriculture fer an intense degradation caused by overgrazing ...’’ of Morocco, who also blames overgrazing for deforesta- according to the government agricultural extension of- tion (Korachi, 1995, p. 28). fice in the region (ORMVAO, 1993, p. 1). Another gov- The estimates of ‘‘desertified’’ and soon to be deserti- ernment report adds, ‘‘the degradation of pastures at all fied land in Morocco have grown consistently since the levels continues in a manner more intense and more 1970s. Some of the most recent government statements severe ...’’ and ‘‘the number of animals utilising the pas- on the gravity of the desertification problem in Morocco tures widely exceeds the capacity of pastoral produc- state that up to 90% of the country is at high risk of tion’’ (ORMVAO, 1990, p. 14). These claims are made desertification (Anon, 2002; Bendaanoun, 1994, p. 15). Moreover, Moroccan pastures are nearly always described as being irrationally overstocked (Benabid, 7 The value of Moroccan currency, the Dirham, is controlled by the 2000). The director of Range Management for the government; the exchange rate is 10 dirhams to the US dollar at the Moroccan government states that pastures are over- time of writing. 8 Ourzazate province was divided in the 1990s into two different provinces, Ourzazate province and Zagora province. More recently a further bureaucratic reshuffling created a new, larger province, Sous– 6 For a discussion of the deep historical roots of the desertification Massa–Draa. Ouarzazate province will be used in this paper to narrative in Morocco and the rest of formerly French North Africa see indicate the entire region of what is now known as Ouarzazate and (Davis, 2004). Zagora provinces, but not the Sous–Massa region. 512 D.K. Davis / Geoforum 36 (2005) 509–524 despite evidence of greater productivity (more weight lieve their environment is degraded and desertified. In gain per animal) in the mobile pastoralist systems in fact, most Aarib, especially the elders, claim that their the region compared to the sedentary systems (Darfa- physical environment has not changed much if at all oui, 1995, p. 64). Moreover, it is commonly claimed that during their life times. These pastoralists also have a ‘‘the pastures are exploited in an irrational manner’’ by wealth of ecological knowledge which contrasts starkly the local pastoralists (ORMVAO, 1992, p. 4). Little with the ecological knowledge of government range offi- physical evidence is given in support of these claims, cials. The vast differences in these two perceptions of the as very few medium or long-term studies have been environment and in these two knowledge sets, given the completed. AaribÕs long and successful exploitation of this region is Despite the significant lack of physical evidence striking, and potentially problematic. regarding the state of these southern pastures, the vast The Aarib raise half or more of the camels in the majority of expert government, NGO and academic re- south of Ouarzazate province, with their activity center- ports repeat these same claims of herder irrationality, ing around MÕhamid. MÕhamid is a small village located overgrazing and serious desertification (Bendaanoun, 260km to the south and west of Ouarzazate and 1994; Darfaoui, 1995; El Gharbaoui, 1985; Habib, 40km north of the Algerian border (see Fig. 1). 1982; Korachi, 1995; ORMVAO, 1983a, 1986, 1991; According to various government estimates made in Outabiht et al., 1990; PROLUDRA, 1997; Thiault, the 1990s, there are between 5000 and 6500 camels in 1994). Furthermore, these claims of worsening desertifi- the southern part of the province, almost all of which cation due to overgrazing have been used to justify are owned and cared for by the Aarib (Idriss, 1991; numerous projects in the region which have disrupted Ouchtou, 1994). The number of Aarib is estimated at traditional pastoralistsÕ livelihoods, often further mar- somewhere over 3000 people, 60% of whom are seden- ginalising them economically, ecologically, and socially. tarized and settled mainly in the town of Zagora, to the These projects have included the establishment of large- north of MÕhamid. The Aarib who herd camels also gen- scale range ‘‘improvement’’ projects which entail plant- erally keep small herds of goats. By various estimates, ing thousands of hectares of exotic forage plants such both the number of camels and the population of the as Atriplex nummularia. In the case of the Ait Zekri, a Aarib have declined precipitously in the last quarter local group of pastoralists, a government range century. 9 improvement project disrupted the native vegetation Before the decline of the trans-Saharan caravan by planting a large atriplex plantation which failed to trade, many of the Aarib were long distance caravan grow. It further alienated the group from its traditional traders who transported goods back and forth across pastures by excluding them and charging them a fee to the Sahara from Morocco to Mali. Around 1930, the graze their animals on the ‘‘improved’’ pastures (ORM- French estimated that the Aarib had just under 5000 VAO, 1993). The Ait Zekri were forced to seek pastures camels, 8000 goats and sheep and a population of elsewhere. 5000–6000 people. 10 The traditional pasture areas of The crisis narrative of desertification in southern the Aarib are to the south of MÕhamid, occupying most Morocco is not limited to books, reports and articles. of the southwest corner of the Algerian Sahara and the Interviews and discussions with government range and lower Draa region of southern Morocco. According to livestock experts, veterinarians, and technicians in the French colonial sources, the traditional migration pat- province of Ouarzazate revealed that the majority of terns were variable according to weather patterns, but these people believe there is a serious problem of over- generally followed a roughly predictable pattern which grazing and desertification that requires immediate ac- included spending the autumn and winter in and near tion. Although a majority of these government agents report success with their anti-desertification and range improvement projects, the local people tell a different story. Many local people, from farmers to shop keepers 9 See Idriss (1991) and ORMVAO (1983a) for documentation of to pastoralists, are eager to share their point of view. camel numbers. For the population numbers of the Aarib and The situation as explained by one group, the Aarib sedentarisation rates, see Ouchtou (1994) and Zainabi (1989). 10 camel nomads, is particularly illuminating. This population estimate is based on figures provided in ‘‘Etude sur la Tribu des Arib,’’ by an anonymous French officer, undated but after 1929, Center des Archives dÕOutre-Mer (Aix-en-Provence), hereafter CAOM, GGA 31/H/12, p. 8. This gives the population in 3. A local counter narrative numbers of households, called tents, which are estimated to have had 10 to 20 people per tent. Using 15 people per tent, this results in an The Aarib, who have raised camels and goats in estimate of 5880 Aarib. This number is very interesting given the governmentÕs estimate in the 1990s of only 3000 Aarib. Either there is a southern Morocco since well before the French colonial large error in the governmentÕs estimate or a large proportion of the period, tell a story very different from the official degra- Aarib are currently on the Algerian side of the border, probably living dation narrative described above. The Aarib do not be- as refugees. D.K. Davis / Geoforum 36 (2005) 509–524 513

Tangier Atlantic Mediterranean Sea

R i Ocean f M tns. 400 Oujda

Fes RABAT Casablanca

tlas Mtns. 200 A iddle Figuig M MOROCCO Marrakech s. Essaouira tn Tafilelt M tlas 100 High A Ouarzazate 400 Agadir Zagora . tns M M'hamid ALGERIA ti-Atlas An

ndary bou ed cat undemar N 0 200 D. K. Davis Kilometres

Fig. 1. Map of Morocco showing the study site and the 100mm, 200mm, and 400mm rainfall contour lines (isohyets). the Draa around MÕhamid where the nomads supervised can–Algerian border. In 1970, there were 25,680 camels their date harvest by the village dwellers. 11 This is the in the province of Ouarzazate and by 1982, there were period of the heaviest rains and the periodic flooding only 5,348, a decline of 78% (ORMVAO, 1983a, p. 16 of the Draa river would create conditions for ephemeral of annex). This decline parallels a decline seen nationally pastures to appear which provided good grazing for the in the camel population during this same period (see Fig. camels. The rest of the year, the Aarib would traverse 2). The number of camels in the Ouarzazate region fluc- other sections of their traditional territory guided by tuated from 1982 to 1989 between roughly 5000 and the availability of pastures which were largely reliant 8000; no official population numbers are available for on the unpredictable rainfall. 12 camels after 1989. Despite the troubles of independence and the skir- Moroccan troops and civilians marched into the Wes- mishes with Algeria during the 1960s, the Aarib contin- tern Sahara in 1975. Military activity has been high ued to migrate throughout their Saharan territories, along the Moroccan–Algerian border since then and utilising their traditional pastures and raising large num- borders have been sealed. The Aarib report that it is bers of camels until the mid 1970s. Although exact sta- now impossible to access their pastures in Algeria due tistics for the camels of the Aarib are not available, to the armed border guards. Due to these border clo- the trends in the province of Ouarzazate illustrate the sures and the construction of the land-mined ‘‘sand changes caused by the occupation of the Western Sahara wall’’ which stretches 1600 miles down the eastern edge by Morocco and the subsequent political crisis with of the Western Sahara (directly in the path of one of the Algeria, which resulted in the sealing of the Moroc- previously most heavily used caravan routes), the Aarib are no longer able to migrate with their herds in their traditionally very large territory. Since the early 1980s, 11 The material on the history of the Aarib, unless otherwise cited, the Aarib have sold many of their camels and many have draws from French colonial manuscripts including, ‘‘Notice Mono- sedentarized, although exact numbers are not available graphique de la Tribu Arabe Saharienne, Les Arib’’ by French officer (Zainabi, 1989). Some have gone into business providing Denoun, Dećembre 1924, CAOM, GGA 31/H/13; and ‘‘Etude sur la camel treks for tourists. Tribu des Arib’’ undated but after 1929, CAOM, GGA 31/H/12. 12 See ‘‘Etude sur la Tribu des Arib,’’ CAOM, GGA 31/H/12, pp. The large traditional territory of the Aarib is located 17–18. in a region of very low average annual rainfall, less than 514 D.K. Davis / Geoforum 36 (2005) 509–524

Camel Pop. (1000's head) Morocco 1938-1998 250

200

150

camels 100

0 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 year

Fig. 2. Evolution of the Camel Population in Morocco, 1938–1998, measured in thousands of camels (i.e. thousands of head of livestock). Source: FAOSTAT, lÕAnnuaire Statistique du Maroc, various years.

100mm. It is also in a region of very high interannual the primary factor in making herd movements. 13 All variability of rainfall with a coefficient of variation respondents, however, explained that they would change (CV) of 75% or greater (Nicholson and Jeeyoung, this decision and take a different route or go to different 1988). The soils are generally sandy and many are saline pastures in order to avoid sick herds or contaminated to varying degrees. There is variation in relief from 500 pastures. The AaribÕs knowledge of animal health and to 1000m above sea level, with lower elevations having disease is extensive and is an integral part of their range more loose sand. The Hammada du Draa, which is and herd management decisions. When discussing good higher in elevation than much of the surrounding area pastures and how to make herd movements, the Aarib and dominated by stony plateau, is a pronounced focus on the annual grasses and other ephemeral plants feature of the area just south of the Draa river. There (forbs, legumes) that grow only after rain has fallen. are numerous areas which become ephemeral lakes They differentiate between trees and shrubs which grow and ponds after rainfall, called ‘‘maaders.’’ The vegeta- all year round, every year, and those plants, mostly tion of the region is usually described as steppe with annuals and biennials, which sprout and grow dramati- some thorny trees and shrubs such as acacias and zizy- cally after rain. They consider these ephemeral plants to phus as well as many perennial and annual grasses and be some of the most nutritious grazing for the camels. other ephemeral herbaceous vegetation (Duret, 1953; The Aarib also consider perennial bunch grasses such Idriss, 1991). as Aristida pungens and Stipa tenacissima to be more like Especially important in these Saharan pastures are the trees and shrubs given their ability to withstand the microclimates created by the various land forms, many years of drought. Other plants they classify as from sand dunes to stony relief, which harbor a sur- being able to survive many years of drought include prisingly rich flora. Pastures which grow in ephemeral Acacia raddiana, Haloxylon scoparium, Traganum nuda- lakes and ponds, when dry, can be especially rich and tum,andSalsola tetragona. The Aarib described these important sources for grazing following rain events drought resistant plants as ‘‘evergreen’’. ‘‘Ever alive’’ and camels may receive up to half of their forage from would be a better translation because they explained ephemeral sources such as these at certain times of that these plants, although able to withstand drought, year (Idriss, 1991). Although this region is difficult would dry up without rain whereas they would grow for small stock, especially sheep, camels can and do better and faster with rain. In explaining how decisions thrive here. Camels are especially well adapted to were made about where to move the herd, the Aarib drought and, unlike small stock or cattle, can go for counted on the presence and availability of perennial many days or weeks without drinking fresh water browse such as trees, shrubs and perennial grasses. This depending on the moisture levels of available forage is likely why they focus more on where the ephemeral plants. forage appears following rain because the perennial The predominant range and herd management strat- egy of the Aarib is and was movement. Most migrations are multi-family events and when the rains are particu- 13 The sample size for statistics cited varies from 20 to 25 depending larly good, nearly all of the members of the sub-tribe on who completed the entire questionnaire, under what conditions, etc. Much of the information for this section was also obtained through would move together. The presence of grass or good qualitative methods including informal discussions, participant obser- pastures was said by 90% of Aarib interviewed to be vation, field walks, etc. D.K. Davis / Geoforum 36 (2005) 509–524 515 browse is fairly well distributed throughout their range. following rain and later the ‘‘sweet’’ grasses would grow. The perennial plants are described as ‘‘always there’’ or Included in the group of sweet grasses they mentioned ‘‘always present.’’ All of the Aarib said that grazing con- Diplotaxis acris, Farsetia species, Phalaris minor among ditions were never the same every year, that they always others. When asked how these plants were able to grow change according to rainfall. All of the Aarib asked also again after drought, 70% explained that they grew from reported that even during a long drought, the trees and seeds but only after rain. One older man explained that shrubs, the ‘‘evergreen’’ plants would survive and that ‘‘the seeds of the grass are taken by the wind and they camels could survive on these plants. wait for the rain and then they grow.’’ A few people ex- The Aarib describe the rainfall in their area as ‘‘com- plained further in these discussions that it could take ing and going.’’ That is, 80% said that the rain did not from two weeks to one month for the grass to grow from come every year, and 100% said that all of Morocco seed after rain and that these plants grew faster in warm does not get rain at the same time. All of those asked weather than in cold. The grass was said to not grow said that most rain fell in winter and spring when it much in summer because it was very hot and because came. Most (90%) explained that drought did come the rain usually did not fall then. every few years (six or seven years was the most com- When discussing herd movements and timing of these mon period described) but that there was no way to tell movements, the Aarib explained that this largely de- when there would be a drought or how long it would pended on the state of the pastures (the grass) and last. One elder described the rainfall to me saying, how much rain had fallen. Usually they reported staying ‘‘the rain always falls in lines here in the desert’’. Follow- relatively short periods of time, around 20 days, and ing this, many of the people volunteered to explain that then moving to a new spot. Several people said that if in the desert, the rain will sometimes fall only in small the rains were very good, they could stay up to several areas and that even what looks like a big storm may months in one camp and have plenty of grass for the only give a little rain in a few places. Importantly, most camels. Interestingly, some of the men explained that Aarib do not think that drought is increasing or that the for certain grasses, it was necessary to wait a certain state of the plants has become worse than in the past. number of days after the grasses had started growing be- They explain that the plants look different depending fore the camels should eat them. For certain pastures, on the rain and that the grass does not grow unless there the Aarib allow the camels to graze until the stage of is rain but that it will grow again even after a long flowering is reached and then leave, only to return later drought. 14 Several of the Aarib also said they did not in the season when the plant is through the life cycle and know if the plants had changed or how the pastures dried out to graze the camels again (Idriss, 1991, p. 94). were since they could no longer go across the Algerian In order to try to better understand how the Aarib con- border. This discussion would sometimes provoke state- ceptualize the effects of grazing, the question was asked, ments of frustration because the Aarib feel that the pas- ‘‘can livestock eat too much and harm the plants or the tures on the other side of the border are going to waste. earth?’’ The answer, from 90% of those asked, was All of the respondents said that even after a long and emphatically no, that camels can not kill plants by eat- very bad drought, the grass (and other plants) would ing too much of them. 16 Many of those asked volun- come back and grow again but that it was only with rain teered that it is imperative to move frequently. 17 The that this would happen. 15 This does not include the majority explained that moving frequently was the best trees, shrubs and perennials which survive drought well thing to do to make the animals and the plants healthy according to the Aarib. Grasses only live for one year but that it really depended on the rain. One of the men according to most people, as contrasted to these peren- recited a saying among the Aarib which expresses this: nial plants. Thus, grasses were said to not be able to sur- ‘‘If you move every seven days, the camels are happy vive a drought. Nearly all of these people explained that and the plants are happy’’. 18 In deciding herd move- first the ‘‘bitter’’ plants such as Diplotaxis harra (a bien- ments, the Aarib all said that they regularly discuss nial cruciferous plant palatable to camels) would appear

16 One respondent did say that if livestock eat too many of the 14 One man explained to me that he thought perhaps there were plants that it can cause a drought. fewer trees right around MÕhamid and along this lower section of the 17 The AaribsÕ comments should be considered within the context of Draa river than there once were due to the dam that was built in the what they consider ‘‘normal’’ management practices, that is, under 1970s which resulted in much less water reaching as far south as conditions of high mobility. Overstocking under confined conditions MÕhamid. He thought these changes had made less water available to with limited mobility is recognized as a potential problem by the Aarib some of these trees and that they had died. He said this had only as evidenced by the number of them who voluntarily lowered their happened in and around MÕhamid and not out in the desert grazing stocking rates when the borders with Algeria were firmly sealed in the grounds. early 1980s. 15 The Aarib used the word usually translated as grass (‘‘al rbeea’’) 18 Moving frequently from pasture to pasture prevents the pro- to describe not only annual grasses according to western classification gressive accumulation of parasite eggs and larvae, thereby lowering systems but also annual and biennial plants such as Diplotaxis harra. livestock morbidity. 516 D.K. Davis / Geoforum 36 (2005) 509–524 conditions with other herders and share news about pas- (ORMVA) offices in Ouarzazate, Zagora, and MÕhamid tures, rainfall, and disease outbreaks. This is done when consider desertification due to overpopulation and over- they meet outside the towns in the countryside while grazing to be a grave problem in the region. 20 Despite a pasturing their camels and also when they do go to lack of strong evidence, the most common opinion town, especially at the suqs (markets). among these officials is that the ranges are overgrazed The Aarib, then, have an intricate understanding of and that the ‘‘ecological equilibrium’’ needs to be re- their environment and how the different plants, espe- stored. Plant cover is more important than species diver- cially annuals and perennials, react differently to the sity or other parameters, and the value of ephemeral, unpredictable and highly variable rainfall regime. They annual and biennial vegetation seems largely to be ig- appreciate and act on the fact that recurrent drought nored by range officials. and variable rainfall are the most important factors This was illustrated well during plant identification affecting vegetation in the region. Their movements interviews conducted with range personnel. In these ses- and migrations tend to encourage grazing at the early sions, photographs taken in Ouarzazate province of a stages of grass growth, which has been found to be ben- variety of range plants including trees, shrubs and eficial (promoting tillering and often overall plant grasses and other ephemeral vegetation were used. growth (Crawley, 1983, p. 42; Turner, 1992, p. 407), When asked to identify and name these plants, the and then they move to a new pasture. They value diver- majority of range personnel named most of the trees, sity of species composition in addition simply to plant shrubs, and perennial grasses, but they had trouble nam- cover. Their understanding and appreciation of seed ing the ephemeral vegetation. Most Aarib, by contrast, banks of annual and biennial grasses, and other plants could name most of the ephemeral vegetation. The focus is complex and correlates highly with the importance of government range personnel is clearly on protecting of seed banks reported in recent research in arid lands and restoring perennial and woody range vegetation to ecology (Thomas and Middleton, 1994, p. 129). The ef- its proper or ‘‘climax’’ state, and obtaining more fects of grazing on many plants in their territory are ex- above-ground biomass. 21 For these experts, this nearly plained by the Aarib in ways very similar to those used always necessitates reducing both stock numbers and by ecologists to describe grazing-adapted plants. Their pastoral mobility. Here, as in most of Morocco, pastoral emphatic insistence on the importance of movement migration patterns are generally seen as anarchic and both for the herds and for the plants also reflects the irrational and the goal is to limit and control herdersÕ most recent research in range ecology and pastoral soci- movements. This is achieved, for example, by requiring eties in arid lands (Behnke et al., 1993; Niamir-Fuller, that for the Aarib, ‘‘movements towards the markets of 1999; Reynolds and Stafford Smith, 2002; Scoones, Guelmim and Rachidia must be preceded by a request 1995). Importantly, the Aarib do not appear to hold for authorisation, which is not easy for these herders’’ any notions of ‘‘climax’’ vegetation since they insist that (Idriss, 1991, p. 85). Mobility is hindered and restricted the plant cover is always different depending on the rain. as well by range improvement projects which plant exo- They do not perceive their environment as deforested, tic browse plantations, enforce exclosures and pasture desertified, or degraded as do so many ‘‘experts,’’ in rotation, and charge entry fees to graze livestock. Morocco. Given these two widely divergent views of the state of This contrasts with the dominant view of the range the environment and its ecological dynamics in southern experts, Moroccan and foreign, working in Ouarzazate Morocco, it is enlightening to evaluate the available eco- province. Moroccan bureaucracy, which is very hierar- logical evidence. The subsequent section attempts to an- chical and top–down in organisation, operates largely swer the following questions: Is the environment in within the conventional, successional model of range ecology. 19 This is abundantly evidenced in official pub- 20 Perhaps because of the rigid hierarchy and lack of opportunity to lications and also in talking and working with range per- work elsewhere, most officials I spoke with said remarkably similar, sonnel (Bendaanoun, 1994; Darfaoui, 1995; El conventional, things on these topics. However, among a few of the Gharbaoui, 1985; Habib, 1982; Korachi, 1995; ORM- younger personnel who worked out in the countryside with the VAO, 1983a, 1986, 1991; Outabiht et al., 1990; PROLU- herders, there is some difference of opinion with the predominant DRA, 1997; Thiault, 1994). The majority of the officials conventional view. A couple of these men doubted if desertification was really a problem and thought the situation was really one of trying at the regional branch of the agricultural ministry to live in a very arid climate. These same two officials also admitted that overgrazing was not actually a problem in the region except in a few discrete places near settlements or towns. They were reluctant to 19 The conventional, successional, equilibrial model of pastoral have these conversations in public and it was only over time that these ecology has dominated range management institutions, especially in points of view were revealed. underdeveloped countries, for most of the twentieth century (Warren, 21 See Robbins (2001, p. 173) for an excellent discussion of the 1995, p. 198). Although this model has been ‘‘scientifically outdated’’ effects on vegetation of the need to see permanent ‘‘greenness’’ in the since at least the late 1980s, officials who disagree with it often fail to landscape as testimony of success in environmental management in a advance in their careers (Warren, 1995, p. 198). similarly arid part of India. D.K. Davis / Geoforum 36 (2005) 509–524 517 southern Morocco overgrazed and desertified? What is his first visit in 1982, ‘‘the composition of the vegetation the available evidence and how has it been interpreted? has remained stable’’ and he ‘‘found practically all the species collected at that time’’ (Schoenenberger, 1994, p. 3). These results suggest that despite heavy grazing 4. Overgrazing and desertification: the evidence pressure, no permanent degradation of the vegetation has taken place. Rather, most species, most of which Morocco is unique among North African countries are well adapted to drought and grazing, are surviving. due to the magnitude and extent of its rivers and moun- Indeed, Schoenenberger discovered that one of the pri- tains. Due in part to the extensive Atlas mountain mary indigenous halophytic browse plants, Atriplex hal- chains, Morocco also has widely variable precipitation imus, requires clipping or grazing to remain robust patterns ranging from up to 2000mm average annual (Schoenenberger, 1994, p. 10), and is therefore very well rainfall in the northern Rif mountains to 50mm and less adapted to grazing pressure, as is the local Artemisia average annual rainfall in the extreme southern parts of herba alba. the country (Despois and Raynal, 1967; Maroc, 1995; In this Middle Draa region, reports which contain no Martin et al., 1967). Except for the northern Rif moun- supporting data have blamed overgrazing for causing tains, the majority of Morocco is arid and semi-arid. land degradation during much of the last two decades Approximately 70% of the country receives 400mm or (ORMVAO, 1991; ORMVAO, 1994; PROLUDRA, less average annual rainfall and 50% receives less than 1995). These expert reports are accompanied by statis- 100mm (this includes the Western Sahara). Nearly all tics which argue that the number of livestock exceeds of MoroccoÕs extensive rangelands are located east and the theoretical carrying capacity of the regional range- south of the Atlas mountain chain, in areas receiving land. Some studies by other botanists and range ecolo- less than 400mm average annual precipitation, with gists, however, show that when good rainfall occurs, the majority of these rangelands receiving 200mm per ‘‘a dense vegetation composed of young grass seedlings’’ year or less (see Fig. 1). appears (Hammoudou, 1994, p. 22). This range ecolo- Environmental data, primarily in the form of floristic gist concluded moreover that grazing ’’plays a minor inventories and exclosure studies, are available for some role in the degradation of pastures’’ (Hammoudou, of the extensive rangelands in the southern part of the 1994, p. 8). A botanist obtained similar results in his country, in the province of Ouarzazate, over the last sev- study, finding that throughout the region, during wet eral decades. 22 The data come from experiments and years ‘‘there develops a thick carpet of shrubs and studies conducted in these pre-Saharan rangelands grasses’’ (Waibel et al., 1993, p. 14) as well as the growth which receive 250mm of average annual precipitation of numerous annuals and biennials (Waibel et al., 1993, or less and which are located in a region which has a pp. 12–13). Waibel also concluded that with respect to CV of 50% and greater. These pre-Saharan pastures land degradation, ‘‘overgrazing seems to have a minor cover 2.2 million hectares the vegetation of which is role’’ (Waibel et al., 1993, p. 19). What may be contrib- usually described as woody and spiny although, impor- uting to localized land degradation in this region is over- tantly, ‘‘in rainy years, annuals dominate’’ (ORMVAO, collecting of perennial grass species for fuel for the local 1990, p. 2). General findings for the region show that pottery kilns, over-irrigation, and the politically moti- exclosures quickly produce very good regeneration of vated spread of cereal cultivation into marginal lands. palatable species such as Stipa parviflora, Artemesia her- In the eastern part of Ouarzazate province, in a re- ba alba, and Stipa tenacissima (ORMVAO, 1990). This gion known as the Dades, studies and trials have been same study documents moreover, that during rainy sea- carried out over the last two decades on pastoral re- sons, the perennials and woody shrubs such as the atri- sources. The vegetation in this region is composed of plexes also regenerate very well. As detailed below, these perennials such as Haloxyon scoparium, Stipa parviflora data support the interpretation that these extensive and Aristida obtusa, although in wet years annuals dom- rangelands are resilient but heavily used. inate, and there is an ‘‘...extraordinary increase in an- In the Middle Draa valley, just south of Zagora, nual species such as Medicago polymorpha which is a inventories and studies of the pastoral vegetation have very desirable species’’ (ORMVAO, 1984, p. 6). As for been conducted since the early 1980s. Despite continued most of this province, much has been written claiming claims of overstocking and overgrazing causing land that the ‘‘rangelands of the zone have suffered an intense degradation in the region (PROLUDRA, 1998), a bota- degradation due to overgrazing’’ (ORMVAO, 1993, p. nist who conducted a recent study concluded that since 1). As early as 1983, however, exclosure experiments in this area were demonstrating that after only two years of protection, ‘‘the natural vegetation was reconstituted 22 Very little other data, for example erosion studies, grazing studies over gradients, or seed bank germination research, are available for in a remarkable manner’’ (ORMVAO, 1983b, p. 29). southern Morocco as very few studies other than exclosures and Regeneration is often reported for the annual species inventories have been conducted. in the region but the forage shrubs such as atriplex have 518 D.K. Davis / Geoforum 36 (2005) 509–524 also been shown to ‘‘regenerate in good conditions after The author of this study concluded that protecting this rainfall’’ (ORMVAO, 1990, p. 12). rangeland from grazing for too long was detrimental One of the most recent and detailed studies of pasto- to the overall rangeland health (Ouaskioud, 1999, p. ral vegetation in Morocco was carried out in April/May 55). He found the intermediate zone with moderate 1998 in this region at a pastoral experimental station grazing to be the most robust and diverse of the three called Anbad (Ouaskioud, 1999). This range experiment zones. Importantly, the study failed to provide informa- station was created in 1979 on 1000 hectares. Although tion on soil types and moisture for the three different not fenced, the station has an area of ‘‘high protection’’ zones which precludes a firm conclusion that vegetation from grazing and an area of ‘‘intermediate protection’’ differences are due primarily to grazing pressure. from grazing. These areas are protected primarily by What these ecological studies over nearly 25 years the presence of guards who prevent unauthorized graz- show is that there are few ‘‘hard’’ data demonstrating ing. 23 The station itself keeps a herd of livestock which permanent overgrazing or a significant decline in vegeta- does graze within the station perimeter. Adjacent to the tion over time for southern MoroccoÕs extensive range- station is a large area with no protection and relatively lands. Rather they suggest that vegetation cover high use by pastoralists and agro-pastoralists living in changes dramatically over time and that these changes the region. A preliminary study of vegetation in this area are generally correlated with rainfall more than any was conducted in 1981 and permits a useful comparison other factors. Long-term remotely sensed data over the over a nearly 20 year period (Lahraoui, 1981). The last 20 years corroborate the findings of the ecological author of the 1998 study concludes that the state of experiments and studies discussed above. NDVI (nor- range vegetation in the unprotected area is very similar malized difference vegetation index) data are available to that measured in the 1981 study, suggesting that there from FAO/ARTEMIS, derived from NOAA AVHRR has not been significant range degradation or desertifica- images, from 1983 to 2002. 24 NDVI is a measure of tion due to overgrazing in the area during this period ‘‘greenness’’ and is used to estimate plant cover. A re- (Ouaskioud, 1999). view of these data from 1983 to 2002 for the areas of The inventory of floristic composition for the 1998 extensive rangelands in southern Morocco reveals no Anbad study shows that of the total species present, long term declines in the NDVI values, but instead de- 45% are perennials and 55% are annuals (Ouaskioud, tails fluctuations over the 20 year period. These fluctua- 1999, p. 67). Normal average annual rainfall at the sta- tions in NDVI correlate with recorded fluctuations in tion is 135mm whereas in the study year it was only rainfall over the same period (see Fig. 3). 25 The most re- 50mm (Ouaskioud, 1999). The year of this study, cent data available in this series, in fact, show that over 1997/1998 was one of the worst drought years in a dec- the 18 month period from September 2001 to March ade (see Fig. 3). Previous studies in the area attest to the 2003 the NDVI has been consistently well above the much higher numbers of annuals present during wet long-term mean. 26 Unfortunately very few studies have years (ORMVAO, 1984). Comparison between the area incorporated remotely sensed data in research on vege- of high protection and the area of no protection revealed tation change over the long-term in Morocco. 27 that the total biomass and the foliar cover are three In sum, the available data suggest that MoroccoÕs times greater in the protected area. Other experiments extensive southern rangelands are composed of species in the region have shown similar results with only a well adapted to survive drought and grazing. The mag- few years of protection (ORMVAO, 1990). The seedling nitude and speed of recovery after disturbance of this density in the two zones was remarkably similar, 23seedlings/m2 in the zone of high protection versus 20seedlings/m2 in the unprotected zone. The intermediate zone with moderate grazing had the highest number 24 Available on-line at: http://metart.fao.org. Based on GAC data, of seedlings with 38seedlings/m2. These findings suggest at 4km resolution. Last accessed 1 August 2003. Data from zone 7 a persistent and viable soil seed bank even under high are utilized here. grazing pressure. Although the zone of high protection 25 Overall, small stock population numbers in Morocco have also had the highest species diversity with 38 species versus fluctuated during the last 75 years, largely correlated with precipita- 18 species in the unprotected zone, the protected zone tion, with significant population crashes accompanying severe droughts. Sheep have never exceeded 18 million head, goats have also had the highest number of senescent individuals 2 2 never exceeded 10 million head, and no discernible trend in direction is with 34.5/m versus 7.7/m in the unprotected zone. evident over the long-term. 26 See http://www.cip.ogp.noaa.gov/rcp/a/fao/ranet/mor/GACVIN. htm. Last accessed 1 August 2003. 27 For a good discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of using 23 Fences are rare in Morocco for exclosure experiments; most such remotely sensed data to evaluate the environment, see (Turner, 2003). experiments rely on delimiting a grazing perimeter with stones or some See (Saltz et al., 1999) for a discussion of the particular weaknesses of other marking device and subsequent guarding. This process results in using remote sensing in hyper-arid environments for short term variable levels of effectiveness at preventing grazing. studies. D.K. Davis / Geoforum 36 (2005) 509–524 519

Ouarzazate Precipitation, 1933-2002, mm., ave = 124mm 300

250

200

150 Rain-mm 100

0 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Year

Fig. 3. Long-term precipitation in Ouarzazate from 1933 to 2002, in mm. The annual average precipitation is 124mm. Sources: lÕAnnuaire Statistique du Maroc, various years. range vegetation is significant. 28 Further, much of the only drought but also fire and grazing. This research vegetation, especially annuals and biennials, exists for comes from the Middle East (Batanouny, 2001; Blumler, a majority of the year as below ground/potential bio- 1993; Blumler, 1998), the Mediterranean (Dell et al., mass in the form of soil seed banks which appear to 1986; Figueroa and Davy, 1991; Haase et al., 1995; be persistent and viable. 29 There is little evidence of per- Perevolotsky and Seligman, 1998; Tsiouvaras and manent degradation on the majority of these range- Noitsakis, 1986), and other regions (Huntsinger, 1996; lands. 30 This suggests strongly that these are heavily Oba et al., 2000). Grazing not only promotes tillering used but healthy and resilient rangelands. It suggests of many plants, especially grasses (Crawley, 1983), it further that desertification is not a large and growing also increases the protein content of several shrubs problem in the region. The claims that ‘‘desertification found in southern Morocco such as atriplex which often in Morocco [is] an ecological catastrophe’’ are simply increases the quality and quantity of palatable browse not well documented and probably not true (see Foot- (Bouzid and Papanastis, 1996; Tsiouvaras and Noitsa- note 1), at least for this part of the country. kis, 1986). Due to the many adaptations of a multitude of plants to these conditions, it is important to distinguish between overgrazing and heavy sustained use of 5. Discussion forage resources (Perevolotsky and Seligman, 1998). It is equally necessary to distinguish between drought Recent research has highlighted the resilience of and desertification (Thomas, 1997). Indeed, scholars many arid and semi-arid ecosystems to withstand not now regularly and rigorously question the claim that desertification in arid and semi-arid lands is a large and growing problem (Nicholson et al., 1998; Reynolds and Stafford Smith, 2002; Swift, 1996; Thomas and Mid- 28 A recent overview concluded that significant recovery of vegetation regularly takes place after only a few years of protection in dleton, 1994). many areas of North Africa and the Middle East (Le Houe´rou, 2000). Related in part to growing doubts about widespread See also Milchunas and Lauenroth (1993) for a good global overview desertification, a change has taken place over the last of the effects of grazing on vegetation and soils which concludes that several years within pastoral and arid lands studies that grazing is significantly less damaging than generally claimed and some describe as a paradigm shift (Niamir-Fuller, reviews a wide array of exclosure experiments. 31 29 The importance of annuals in these environments has been 1999). A growing number of scholars and researchers persistently overlooked in the literature and in policy guidelines despite are questioning equilibrial ecological models and the the fact that for large areas of these pre-Saharan environments they accuracy of climax vegetation states, taking non-equilib- compose more than 50% of the total species (Ouaskioud, 1999, rium dynamics seriously and suggesting that mobility of Thomas et al., 1986). livestock is imperative in many arid and semi-arid 30 In what may be a hopeful sign of possible change, the government has admitted in its most recent report on the state of the environments (Blumler, 1998; Ellis and Swift, 1988; Nia- environment that ‘‘the real extent of pasture degradation is difficult to mir-Fuller, 1998; Niamir-Fuller, 1999; Scoones, 1995; measure ...at the national scale no quantitative estimation of the state of degradation of rangelands is available’’ (Maroc, 2001, p. 128). This same report, though, indicates that estimates made of pasture degradation at the national level (81% of pastures moderately degraded) have been generalized from a study of only 640 hectares 31 Range ecologists, on the other hand, do not widely agree that a (ibid). paradigm shift has occurred in their discipline (Briske et al., 2003). 520 D.K. Davis / Geoforum 36 (2005) 509–524

Sullivan and Rohde, 2002). 32 Parameters such as fre- mads (Bencherifa, 1996) and privatising common land. quent and long-term droughts, low annual average rain- There is good reason to suspect, given this historical fall and CVs of above 33% have been suggested as context, that ‘‘expert’’ knowledge has been privileged possibly indicating non-equilibrium environments (Ellis, over ‘‘local’’ knowledge for some of these political, 1995; Sullivan and Rohde, 2002). As detailed above, the administrative and economic reasons. In fact, it is quite Aarib live in a region with very low rainfall (100mm and likely that indigenous knowledge has been suppressed below), frequent droughts and a CV of 75% and above. and excluded from policy making during the post-colo- Recently it has been proposed that southern Morocco nial period as it was during the colonial period for sim- may be operating under non-equilibrium dynamics ilar reasons (Song and MÕGonigle, 2001). (Ilahiane, 1999). Interpreted in light of the new thinking One of the most insidious changes to result from the about range ecology in arid lands, the data outlined desertification crisis narrative in Morocco has been the above for southern Morocco indicate a heavily used expansion of dryland cereal cultivation into marginal but healthy range environment possibly operating under lands which receive less than 400mm average annual non-equilibrium dynamics at some level over certain precipitation. Based on the ‘‘tragedy of the commons’’ periods of time. This also indicates that the AaribÕs claim that only privately owned land will be ‘‘con- indigenous ecological knowledge and much of their tra- served,’’ and that communally managed lands are per- ditional range management system are sound and not petually overgrazed, the Moroccan government has anarchic, irrational, and destructive as so often claimed encouraged tribal members to stake private claims to in Morocco. Perhaps more importantly, this interpreta- communally owned/managed rangelands. 33 The legal tion raises serious questions about the range ‘‘experts’’ way this is implemented in Morocco is for tribal mem- knowledge and about policy guidelines, particularly in bers to delineate, plow and cultivate tracts of land to light of the failed projects of the past. claim ownership. The area under dryland cereal cultiva- Given the lack of convincing data in support of over- tion in Morocco has nearly doubled over the last grazing and desertification, and given the history of 30 years (from just over three million ha. to six million range improvement project failures in Morocco, why ha.), most of it in marginal, arid areas. 34 have the expertsÕ claims of degradation persisted so The majority of these efforts fail due to the fact that strongly and pervasively? In the past few years, research- dryland cereal cultivation (especially wheat, the most ers have begun to expose the degree to which desertifica- commonly planted cereal) is unreliable below the tion ‘‘data that were provisional or estimates may 400mm isohyet (Swearingen, 1992). Thus most fields become fact through repeated use’’ (Thomas, 1997, p. are abandoned quickly, leaving land on which the native 604). Others have pointed out that repeated claims of vegetation has been severely disrupted. Worse, plowing desertification, even when they lack any evidence, if these arid soils desiccates them, resulting in soils that made urgently enough, create ‘‘crisis narratives’’ which are in an effective state of drought whether there has can and do generate substantial attention and interna- been a recent drought or not (Swearingen, 1994). tional aid money (Swift, 1996). Crisis narratives also According to a geographer with over 20 years of experi- provide convenient justifications for policy changes at ence in Morocco, ‘‘farmers are destroying the grazing the national level. Such policy changes over the past cen- potential of these lands through clearing the natural veg- tury, and longer, have included the sedentarisation of etation, [and] unsuitably ÔminingÕ their fragile soils’’ nomadic pastoralists and the privatisation of communal (Swearingen and Bencherifa, 1996, p. 28). rangeland throughout the arid regions of the world The policy implications of this situation are signifi- (Swift, 1996). Similar crisis narratives also often justify cant. If the AaribÕs indigenous knowledge and practice legal changes which disadvantage pastoralists. of range management are sound and the environment Claims of desertification have been generating in southern Morocco is not significantly degraded and increasing amounts of international aid money for Mor- desertified due to overgrazing, current policy prescrip- occo over the last two decades, providing a possible tions are called into question. Rather than destock, motivation for the continuation and intensification of demobilize and highly regulate grazing with enclosures the degradation narrative. Moreover, the ‘‘ecological and rotation systems, there is growing evidence that need’’ to destock, reduce and regulate mobility, and to the best way to use these highly variable arid environ- enclose common land is very convenient for a govern- ments is to amplify and facilitate pastoralistsÕ mobility ment which has long-standing aims of controlling no-

33 See McCay and Acheson (1987) for an effective and well 32 A rather ferocious debate has broken out between those who documented rebuttal to the tragedy of the commons argument as support non-equilibrium dynamics and those who do not (Cowling, advocated by Hardin in which he conflates communal land tenure for 2000; Illius and OÕConnor, 1999; Sullivan and Rohde, 2002). See open access (Hardin, 1968). Scoones (1995) for an excellent overview of non-equilibrium dynamics 34 The data for the increase in dryland cereal cultivation can be and implications for pastoral societies. found in FAOSTAT, 1960–2003. D.K. Davis / Geoforum 36 (2005) 509–524 521 and to strengthen common property systems (Behnke narrative used by those in power to further their politi- et al., 1993; Niamir-Fuller, 1999; Roe et al., 1998; Sco- cal and economic goals. ones, 1996; Sullivan and Rohde, 2002; Turner, 1992; Agrawal has warned that the false dichotomies of Westoby and Walker, 1989). Urgency is added to the ‘‘western science’’ and ‘‘indigenous non-science’’ have need to rethink pastoral and agricultural management facilitated the marginalisation and oppression of indige- in southern Morocco given the environmental damage nous groups (Agrawal, 1995). The case study outlined in being done by plowing marginal soils and over-irriga- this paper provides support for this interpretation and tion in many oasis areas (Maroc, 2001; ORMVAO, further suggests that such false dichotomies between ex- 1983b; Thiault, 1994; World Bank, 1995). The evidence pert and local knowledge also have the capacity to set strongly suggests that pastoralism is better suited for the policies into motion that may degrade the environment. environment than agriculture in large sections of south- In this case, the expert claim of overgrazing has been ern Morocco. used to justify land privatisation, increases in irrigation, and the expansion of cereal cultivation on marginal lands, which has resulted in land degradation in many 6. Conclusion areas. 36 Local systems of pastoral management appropriate to the arid, stochastic environment have been Differences between ‘‘scientific’’ or ‘‘expert’’ and marginalized and suppressed. The implications of this ‘‘local’’ or ‘‘indigenous’’ knowledge have been the sub- study are that the government of Morocco should con- ject of discussion and debate for many years. Scholars, sider policy changes that encourage flexible and mobile and more recently policy makers, have wrestled with pastoralism, and discourage land privatisation and dry- definitions and with determining the validity, value land cereal cultivation in these marginal areas. A place and use of indigenous knowledges (Martello, 2001). to begin might be for the experts to rethink the ecology Taking a different approach, this paper has counterpo- of the region and reorient range improvement experi- ised what appear to be two very different ‘‘knowledges’’ ments and projects. Long term ecological studies are ur- about desertification and range ecology in southern gently needed on these rangelands. Future research is Morocco, one ‘‘expert’’ and one ‘‘local’’. 35 Expert also needed to promote understanding of the traditional knowledge claims widespread desertification due in large nomadic pastoral management systems and how they part to overgrazing, and prescribes destocking, privati- might be utilized as a base from which to develop, for sation, and enclosure. Local knowledge insists that the example, ‘‘high reliability pastoralism’’ as has been sug- environment is not significantly changed or degraded gested recently (Roe et al., 1998). Without rethinking and that local mobile pastoral grazing systems do not the policy and ecology of MoroccoÕs extensive range- harm the environment. Analysis of the available ecolog- lands, the government risks exacerbating the suffering ical data provides evidence that undermines the over- of the local people and the degradation of their grazing-desertification crisis narrative for MoroccoÕs environment. extensive southern pasture lands. It appears that these rangelands are heavily used but mostly healthy environments. When contextualized with this analysis of the Acknowledgments data on the regional ecology and with some regional history, however, it seems that instead of two different This article owes a great debt of gratitude to the kinds of knowledge there exists a privileged knowledge Aarib pastoralists who spent many hours patiently and a suppressed knowledge. The suppressed knowledge answering questions and explaining things to me. I am of a local, marginalized group of pastoralists, correlates likewise very grateful to the Moroccan officials who highly with the most recent advances in arid lands ecol- worked with me as well as to the Moroccan government ogy and pastoral studies. The expert knowledge, that of for kindly granting me research permission. This re- Moroccan range managers, is not well supported by search would not have been possible without generous available ecological evidence, appears to be based on funding from the Social Science Research CouncilÕs questionable scientific concepts, and may simply be a IPFP, IDRF, and NMEP fellowships, the US EPA STAR fellowship program, and the University of Cali- fornia at Berkeley. Edmund Burke, Louise Fortmann, 35 It is not my intention to romanticize ‘‘indigenous knowledge’’ as David Hooson, Lynn Huntsinger and Michael Watts, a panacea, nor to suggest that it is in any way monolithic or all provided inspiration and direction throughout this unchanging through time. Indigenous, or local, knowledge has long project for which I am extremely grateful. I would also been recognized to be dynamic, often hybrid, and contested within any given community (which is itself a controversial category). 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