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Rabat – Soaring food prices are becoming a top concern for Morocans, with 93% of respondents in a recent survey identifying food prices and drought as the two “top crises” facing the country.
Published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the survey report concludes that income and livelihood losses are “the biggest challenges.”
Because of the increasingly frequent droughts, farmers’ reliance on agriculture as a source of income is steadily declining and is triggering a wave of urban migration, the report finds.
It further indicates that the rising cost of production coupled with drought is pushing farmers to abandon cultivating, with farmers and livestock herders in mountain areas being the most vulnerable to income reduction and inflation.
The effect of drought on agriculture is causing a compound effect down the food supply chain, with food price inflation hiking by 15% year-on-year in 2022, the report points out.
According to the report, the rising cost of production is equally affecting the quality of livestock as the rise in veterinary services is pushing herders to make checks less frequent. Drought further aggravated the price shock in the livestock market, as low supply pushed prices even higher.
Noting the effect of drought on Morocco’s ecosystem, the report explains that drought caused farmers to reduce water consumption, leading to smaller yields amid the high cost of irrigation.
Meanwhile, other farmers are resorting to underground water resources, and in the case of available solutions, farmers tend to pump more water than they need to cultivate crops. But the overuse of underground water resources could further exhaust Morocco’s already dwindling water resources, the report concludes.
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