Nurturing resilience: Local civil society advocacy for equitable access to water resources in Moroccan Draa Oasis

• Ahmed El Khattabi ^[1]
  1. [1] Moulay Ismail University
• Localización: Socioecos 2024. Conference Proceedings June 6-7, 2024: climate change, sustainability and socio-ecological practices / Benjamín Tejerina Montaña (ed. lit.), Cristina Miranda de Almeida De Barros (ed. lit.), Clara Acuña Rodríguez (ed. lit.), 2024, ISBN 978-84-9082-680-5, págs. 223-232
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto Completo Libro
• Resumen

  • To address the current water scarcity situation in the Draa Oasis in southeastern Morocco, civil society plays a crucial role in advocating for equitable access to water resources, especially in the context of climate change affecting the country in the last years. This situation caused difficulties in accessing water for traditional farmers engaged in subsistence agriculture. Based on an interdisciplinary approach, the study uses “ecological rift” to examine the role of local civil society in defending the rights to water at the oasis level.

    The collected qualitative data revealed that awareness of water scarcity in the oasis region led civil society and small-scale farmers to challenge the environmental destruction caused by the expansion of watermelon agriculture and the growth of desert tourism. Each of these sections points to the fact that the role of local civil society is to protect the oasis area from socio-spatial destructions.