Drought and Crop Failure in Souss-Massa, Morocco

In Morocco’s Souss-Massa region, drought has stopped being news. It is simply how life works now. Another weak rainy season. Another year of watching the well sink lower. Another harvest that barely covers the cost of seed, labour and diesel. For thousands of small farmers, climate stress is no longer a future threat. It is the daily arithmetic of survival.

The numbers are stark. Rainfall across the Souss-Massa basin fell by 58% in 2024. Groundwater levels dropped by 3.72 metres the same year. Nationally, Morocco’s wheat harvest slumped 40% to 2.47 million tonnes, the worst result in more than 15 years.

But statistics do not show the harder truth: what prolonged scarcity does to households trying to hold everything together.

Souss-Massa is one of Morocco’s economic powerhouses. Agriculture, fishing, tourism and food processing all matter here. Farming alone contributes 15.3% of regional GDP. Around 250,000 hectares are cultivated, with nearly 150,000 hectares irrigated. The region feeds domestic markets and fills trucks bound for Europe.

Yet the model depends on water that is running out.

That depletion has been decades in the making. Mr Moussa Ait el Kadi, a researcher at Ibn Zohr University in Agadir who studies agricultural policy and environmental sustainability, explains that since the 1960s and 70s, pumping from the Souss aquifer accelerated as irrigated agriculture expanded. Wells multiplied. Extraction outpaced recharge. In some parts of the basin, groundwater is now effectively exhausted. Elsewhere, farmers keep drilling deeper, often with little success.

For larger commercial operators, deeper drilling can be expensive but possible. For smallholders, it can be ruinous. A farmer with a few hectares cannot endlessly finance new boreholes, pumps or rising electricity costs. If water weakens, land may be left fallow. Livestock is sold. Family savings disappear. Young men seek work elsewhere. A bad season becomes a chain reaction.

The contradiction is visible in the crops themselves. Morocco supplies around 25% of tomatoes consumed in the UK, much of it produced in water-stressed zones around Souss-Massa. Tomatoes are profitable. They are also thirsty.

‘There is a contradiction between what we want with agriculture and what we do with water,’ Mr Ait el Kadi says.

Citrus has long been woven into the economy of Souss-Massa, but the sector is clearly under strain. National orchard area has dropped from 128,000 hectares in 2016 to 91,000 hectares in 2024. Production has fallen from 2.3 million tonnes to 1.8 million, and exports are down 29%.

The obvious reason is drought. The less obvious one is waste. Producers say close to 30% of the crop is lost each year because of poor storage and weak transport infrastructure. In a water-stressed region, that is more than a commercial problem. The state’s answer was Plan Maroc Vert: modernise farms, raise exports, install drip irrigation. It increased production and exports, but also increased vulnerability to climate shock. If farmers save water per hectare, many use that margin to plant more land or switch to higher-value crops, which are often more water intensive.

Mr Ait el Kadi explained that this is where inequality quietly enters the picture. Officially, subsidies exist for smaller farmers too. In reality, bigger farms often have better access to information, consultants and administrative support. Smallholders may not know what schemes are available, or how to navigate them.

‘The issue is communication,’ Mr Ait el Kadi says. ‘Technical assistance is essential.’

Desalination has become the new flagship solution. During the acute shortages of 2022, the desalination network serving Agadir and Chtouka became essential. Without it, officials feared serious disruption to household supply. Farmers largely welcomed the project: 92% approved it, while 61% were willing to invest.

But desalination has limits. It comes at a high financial and energy cost, and it does not automatically reduce wasteful consumption. More supply without tighter controls can simply encourage the same habits. ‘The risk is a vicious cycle of augmenting supply without controlling demand,’ Mr Ait el Kadi clarified.

The aquifer is the region’s most strategic asset, especially if mountain recharge zones are restored and protected. Local schemes using small dams and cooperative water management offer a more durable path. On the ground, many farmers are already changing direction, replacing citrus with cactus, olives or carob. Others are investing in argan, a native tree naturally suited to dry conditions. Argan roots run deep, stabilise soils and support mixed farming systems. The crop also has export value, though much of the profit is captured beyond the villages where it is grown.

That matters because migration is rarely about climate alone. People leave when there is no viable economy left to stay for.

Morocco’s unemployment rate rose to 13.3% in 2024 as drought hit rural work. Across Souss-Massa, movement to Agadir, Casablanca or abroad is increasingly a livelihood strategy, not a last resort. Roads and schools in rural areas have improved. NGOs and state programmes are trying to slow the exodus. But unless farming communities can earn stable incomes, departures will continue.

Souss-Massa does not need another miracle solution. It needs groundwater rules that are enforced, support that reaches small farmers, crops matched to climate realities, and more local control over local wealth. Without that, the wells will keep falling, and so will the number of people willing to farm beside them.

Further information and opportunities to engage with organisations working in this area are listed below:
https://highatlasfoundation.org/
https://britishmoroccansociety.org/association-inna-hna/
https://www.ifrc.org/national-societies-directory/moroccan-red-crescent

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