IMISCOE Research Series Lore Van Praag Loubna Ou-Salah Elodie Hut Caroline Zickgraf Migration and Environmental Change in Morocco In search for Linkages Between Migration Aspirations and (Perceived) Environmental Changes IMISCOE Research Series This series is the official book series of IMISCOE, the largest network of excellence on migration and diversity in the world. It comprises publications which present empirical and theoretical research on different aspects of international migration. The authors are all specialists, and the publications a rich source of information for researchers and others involved in international migration studies. The series is published under the editorial supervision of the IMISCOE Editorial Committee which includes leading scholars from all over Europe. 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More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13502 Lore Van Praag • Loubna Ou-Salah Elodie Hut • Caroline Zickgraf Migration and Environmental Change in Morocco In search for Linkages Between Migration Aspirations and (Perceived) Environmental Changes Lore Van Praag Loubna Ou-Salah Centre for Migration and Intercultural Centre for Migration and Intercultural Studies Studies University of Antwerp University of Antwerp Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp, Belgium Elodie Hut Caroline Zickgraf The Hugo Observatory The Hugo Observatory University of Liège University of Liège Liège, Belgium Liège, Belgium ISSN 2364-4087 ISSN 2364-4095 (electronic) IMISCOE Research Series ISBN 978-3-030-61389-1 ISBN 978-3-030-61390-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61390-7 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2021. This book is an open access publication. 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This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland This book is dedicated to Dr Christiane Timmerman who passed away during the writing process of this book. She was the founder and driving force behind the Centre for Migration and Intercultural Studies at the University of Antwerp and among the first who put migration on the research agenda in Belgium and abroad. Her previous work on migration aspirations and cultures of migration and her insightful comments on the preliminary outline of this book have largely contributed to the empirical insights presented in its pages. Preface This book is based on the insights derived from the MIGRADAPT project. For this project, I conducted qualitative research in Tinghir and Tangier (Morocco). This fieldwork, which is described in Chap. 4, provided the main empirical evidence for the book and resulted in the writing of Chaps. 5, 6 and 7. I was also very happy to have the support of Loubna Ou-Salah in the writing of Chap. 3 on environmental changes and migration patterns in Morocco over the last decades. As part of the MIGRADAPT project and main rationale of the book, I also invited Elodie Hut and Caroline Zickgraf to write a chapter on how environmental changes, migration causality and transnational practices were linked for Moroccan migrants living in Belgium (Chap. 8). In the introduction chapter (Chap. 1), the theoretical framework (Chap. 2) and the concluding chapter (Chap. 9), I aim to frame and connect the empirical findings with existing theories and demonstrate how these findings add to the existing literature and further our insights in both migration studies and, espe- cially, research on environmental migration. Antwerp, Belgium Lore Van Praag vii Contents 1 Introduction ........................................... 1 1.1 Environmental Migration .............................. 2 1.2 The Moroccan Context . ............................. 5 1.3 The Book’s Objectives . 6 1.4 How this Book Is Structured . 7 References ............................................. 11 2 Applying Insights of Theories of Migration to the Study of Environmental Migration Aspirations ........................ 17 2.1 Theories on Migration Applied to Environmental Migration . 19 2.2 The Study of Environmental Migration . ............... 23 2.3 The Focus on Migration Aspirations Due to Environmental Change . 25 2.4 Conclusions . ....................................... 29 References ............................................. 30 3 Environmental Change and Migration in Morocco: What Has Been Done So Far? .............................. 35 3.1 Morocco’s Migration History ........................... 36 3.1.1 The Start of Migration from Morocco to Europe . ....... 36 3.1.2 The Vision and Strategic Use of Migration by the Moroccan Government ........................... 38 3.1.3 Specific Migration History from Morocco to Belgium .... 39 3.2 Environmental Changes in Morocco ...................... 42 3.2.1 Current and Future Climate and Environmental Changes . 42 3.2.2 Moroccan Adaptation Strategies to Deal with Climate Change...................................... 46 3.2.3 Individual and Household Adaptation Strategies to Deal with Climate Change . ................ 51 3.2.4 Environmental Migration and Displacement in Morocco . 52 3.3 Conclusions . ....................................... 54 ix x Contents References ............................................. 56 4 Research Context and Methods ............................. 61 4.1 The MIGRADAPT Project . ........................... 61 4.2 Research Context in Morocco ........................... 62 4.2.1 Tangier, the Gateway to Europe .................... 64 4.2.2 Tinghir, in the Foothills of the Atlas Mountains . ...... 65 4.3 Research Context in Belgium ........................... 67 4.4 Research Methods in Morocco . 67 4.4.1 Data Collection and Analysis ...................... 68 4.4.2 Research Difficulties and Researcher Positionality in the Moroccan Fieldwork ........................ 72 4.5 Research Methods in Belgium . .......................... 77 4.5.1 Data Collection and Material . 77 4.5.2 Research Difficulties and Researcher Positionality in Belgium . 78 4.6 Conclusions . ....................................... 80 References ............................................. 81 5 Perceptions and Explanations of Environmental Change in Morocco ............................................ 85 5.1 Perceived Environmental Changes ........................ 86 5.2 The Moroccan Context . ............................. 87 5.3 Results ............................................ 89 5.3.1 Perceived Environmental Changes in Tangier and Tinghir . .................................. 90 5.3.2 Explaining Environmental Changes .................. 97 5.4 Conclusions . ....................................... 100 References ............................................. 102 6 How Environmental Change Relates to the Development of Adaptation Strategies and Migration Aspirations ............. 105 6.1 Perceptions of Environmental Risks . .................. 107 6.2 Linking Environmental Changes and Risks with Migration . 108 6.3 Results ............................................ 110 6.3.1 Perceived Environmental Risks and the Development of Adaptation Strategies .......................... 111 6.3.2 The Link with Migration? . ....................... 114 6.4 Conclusion ......................................... 120 References ............................................. 122 7 The Nexus Between Environmental Changes, Culture of Migration, and Migration Aspirations ...................... 125 7.1 Migration Aspirations and Vulnerability to Environmental Change . 126 7.2 Cultures of Migration . 128 Contents xi 7.3 Results ............................................ 128 7.3.1 The Development of Distinct Cultures of Migration ...... 128 7.3.2 Transnational Social Capital Reduces the Need for (Environmental) Migration .......................