A Moroccan Case Study

View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by IDS OpenDocs WOMEN, ENVIRONMENT AND POPULATION: A MOROCCAN CASE STUDY Cherifa Alaoui EI Mdaghri 1 INTRODUCTION production, industry and construction work. The This Moroccan case study' set out to look at the expansion of cultivated land at the expense of forest impact of environmental degradation (chiefly dimin- and pasture destabilizes the environment without ishing water supply and deforestation) on the rural actually providing the agricultural production needed population, and particularly women. In general,by the community. Out-migration is increasingly women play a key role in the management of natural resorted to. resources in the Rif mountains of Northern Morocco. They carry out all domestic tasks, participate in The second area is in the province of Al Hoceima, livestock rearing and handicraft production and located about 150 miles to the east of Tétouan in the are responsible for the supply of water and wood. high central Rif mountains. Here, on the Mediterra- On top of this they take care of the young and nean coast, micro-climates are heavily influenced the old. These roles have taken on a new impor-by altitude, the extent to which a site is closed in, tance because environmental problems have im- and the direction in which the slopes face.The pacted on agricultural activity and livestock rearing, winters are cold with frequent, heavy rainstorms and and men have been forced to leave their villages to a considerable amount of snow. The summers are try and make up livelihood shortages. The research dry, but tempered by the altitude. There are stands looked at the extent to which women, whose daily of oak or cedar forests, but these cover a smaller area tasks and responsibilities confer on them a than scrub (matorral). In places, even this has disap- degree of natural resource dependence, are the peared altogether as a result of intensive clearing. most deeply affected by environmental degradation. The exceptionally heavy pressure exerted on the It also examined whether all women were affected hinterland of Al Hoceima and Nador contrasts starkly equally. with the poor quality of the resources. The peasants seek to supplement these resources by growing can- nabis, a practice which dates back several decades, 2 CHOICE OF STUDY AREA mainly in the central mountainous area, and brings The area covered by the study has suffered severely in substantial amounts of revenue, especially for from deforestation, erosion and dwindling water middle men. supplies. The research studied two different socio- spatial environments, which provide comparative The limited nature of economic activity (agriculture material for an analysis of the relationships and remains on a subsistence basis because agricultural interactions between women, population and the holdings have been fragmented into small plots and environment. The two areas are both rural with long- the soil is often poor, while coastal fishing is not established sedentary peasant populations, but they very profitable), together with the difficulty of differ in terms of their relationship with the urban communication in this area, explain the low level of environment and economy, and the amount ofcommercial activity and the small scale of the money coming in from outside. markets (souks).Paradoxically, in this part of Al Hoceima are found some exclusively female souks The first area is in that part of the north westerly (currently eight in number), the only ones in Mo- province of Tétouan where the mountainous (Jbala) rocco. These souks are reserved for single women terrain juts into it from the east. Rainfall is heavy, (unmarried, widowed or divorced). Men and concentrated and fierce and is a serious cause of married women cannot participate. erosion. Population density is relatively high, lead- ing both to land clearance for cultivation and There appears to be a long history of emigration in intensive collection of wood for domestic handicraft the region, going back to the second half of the This study was part of a four country research project into 'Women, Environment and Population' implemented by UNRISD, Geneva tod funded by UNFPA, New York. 61 ids bulletin vol 26 no 11995 19th century when the inhabitants of the Rif left to Our comparison of the two villages will concentrate work on settlers' farms around Oran in Algeria. This on the varied consequences of out-migration. process was accelerated by the growing imbalance between population and resources. Independence, and particularly the 1960s, marked a massive 3 SUPPLEMENTARY INCOMES departure for Western Europe, chiefly Germany and The two villages differ in their sources of off-farm the Netherlands, from the hinterland of Al Hoceima income. In Al Haoud village the main source com- and Nador.This trend gradually spread to the prises the proceeds of sales of dwarf palm produce. southern and western parts of the mountains, and the In the past, the village had been surrounded by cork range of destinations widened to include Belgium, woods and the cork oak was made into charcoal and Spain and France, Libya and the Gulf. sold to raise cash for the purchase of essential items. In Iatmanène, households live off the money sent or These few, incomplete details are enough to indicate brought back by migrant workers. Iatmanène is also the vast differences that exist between the eastern the only village where girls sew, either for members and western parts of the Rif region, one of the most of the family or for others. Because of the existence of highly populated mountainous areas of the Medi- a women's market nearby, children here are in- terranean basin, where 70 per cent of the population volved in petty trading. is rural. In this article we shall be comparing two villages (douars), one from each province2: 4 HOUSING AND LIVING CONDITIONS Al Haoud (87 households), located in the Four per cent of the housing in Al Haoud is of modem commune of Jouamaa in the westerly province of design, as opposed to 38 per cent in Iatmanène, Tétouan, where the main issue affecting the local While there are no houses of four or more rooms in population is migration for work. Reafforestation Al Haoud, 75 per cent of those in Iatmanène fall into and enclosure are forcing both young and older this category. This certainly reflects the higher stand- men to leave the village in search of work in the ard of living in Iatmanène, and the high expenditure nearest town, Tangier. These men tend to return out of remittances on housing, but it is also a function home in the evening or at weekends. of the greater number of extended families in Al Hoceima province and the greater preponderance of Al Haoud is a Jbala settlement. Female labour forms nuclear families in the province of Tétouart: 91 per the basis of the Jbtzla economy. The prevailing sexual cent of households live on their own in Al Haoud division of labour dates back to the time when men (the young leave the paternal home when they get were mobilised by the political authorities for long married), as opposed to 71 per cent in Iatmanène. periods to serve as border guards, leaving women to do all the work including that traditionally reserved Iatmanène is the only village of the twelve studied in for men. this project which has water and electricity. A major difference between the two villages compared here 'Economize and recycle' is the slogan of the Jbala is that in Iatmanèrte two thirds of the households peasants, and it provides the key to their survival. To have toilets and a third have septic tanks.The save on wood five or six families bake their bread availability of water together with a system of puri- together in one oven, each bringing their own dough fication means that the villagers consume relatively and an armful of wood. Afterwards, the embers are large amounts of water, something they are fully shared out between them.3 aware of. Knowledge about hygiene is particularly good in this village, reflecting not only the presence Iatmanène (69 households), in the commune of running water but the standard of education and of Imrabtenè in the province of Al Hoceima, is the degree of openness towards the outside world sharply affected by emigration.In a third of (an issue to which we will return). households surveyed one member is working abroad and, in a fifth of all households, two or The relatively high socioeconomic standing of the more individuals are absent. inhabitants of Iatmanène is also reflected in the 2 In total, 12 villages were studied in the course of the research. The same pattern has been observed in the province of Errachidia (in Southern Morocco), as an attempt by women to cope with the shortage of natural resources in that area. 62 Table 1: IlliteracyIlliteracy and and Quranic Quranic school school attendance, attendance northernnorthern MoroccoMorocco Heads of Households j Other Household members (male,(maIe %) (%) liliteracyIlliteracy OuranicQuranic Primary IlliteracyUliteracy Quranic Primary School*Schoo* SchooltSchool* SchooI*School* SchooI*School* j AtAl Haoud 52.5 47$47.8 n.a 63.1 36.9 n.a (Tétouan) latmanène 37.5 33.3 29.2 13.93.9 01.0 76.2 (Al(AI Hoc&ma)Hoceima) No1eNote: The average age of household heads Isis relatively high Inin lamianènelatmanène, given given the the greater greater prevalence prevalence of of extended extended familiesfamilles there,there. This means that disparity inIn educationaleducational attainmentattainment onon anan intra-villagein*ra.vlllage levellevel isis evenoven moremore markedmarked forfor primeprime ageage males,males. * Ever attended school. system of lighting since 79 per cent use gas compared provisioning trips in summer and 78 per cent in to 44 per cent in Al Haoud.

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