Clean Drinking Water for 1250 Villagers in Morocco

The global water crisis is caused by a scarcity of clean water available to people all around the world. Only 3% of the Earth’s water is freshwater, and much of that is frozen in glaciers and icebergs. Globally, one in nine people lack access to potable water. This crisis will worsen as climate change intensifies droughts and population increases further stress the water supply. Clean, potable water is essential to the development of Morocco and other countries because water scarcity exacerbates economic inequalities, hinders female empowerment, endangers the health of citizens, and decreases agricultural productivity.

Morocco has a sparse water supply due to infrequent precipitation and overused groundwater reserves. Climate change is predicted to exacerbate droughts in Morocco, further decreasing the water supply and straining the rain-fed agriculture that employs much of the Moroccan population. Rainfall in Morocco is expected to decrease by half in 2050. However, water demand in Moroccan urban areas is supposed to increase in coming years by as much as 60 to 100%.

Water insecurity disproportionately impacts the rural people. They lack the resources to purchase potable drinking water, pay for irrigation systems, or dig private wells to access consumable water. In Morocco, water is more accessible in urban areas than it is in rural communities which exacerbates the inequalities between those regions. This disparity is due to a lack of significant water transport infrastructure to the remote regions of Morocco. In 2004, 99% of urban Moroccans had access to potable drinking water while only 56% of rural Moroccans did. Today, 87% of rural Moroccans have access to a source of drinking water. Many rural villages are supplied by water tankers that overcharge for their water and further strain the impoverished rural population.  Some villages use reservoirs to catch rainwater, but then they consume the water without treatment.

Female empowerment in Morocco is undermined by water scarcity. On average women in Morocco spend3.5 hours a day searching for and carrying water to their homes to boil and consume. Water collection falls unduly onto the shoulders of women due to societal expectations of domesticity that are pervasive in Moroccan society. The time devoted to water collection can be a barrier to Moroccan women entering the workforce and pursuing higher education, both of which increase economic productivity and growth and reduce child and maternal mortality. Additionally, on their treks to get water, women are vulnerable to physical assault, which creates unnecessary stress and insecurity.

Water insecurity can also lead to the consumption of unsafe water. Water can be contaminated in transport or if from an unreliable source. Water contamination can cause health issues like diarrheal diseases, which are a leading cause of death for children under the age of five. Additionally, the collection of water can cause health problems for pregnant women as that level of exertion can put strain on the mother and baby. Unsafe water consumption can also endanger the life of the mother and the child. The health of citizens is crucial to developing countries because burgeoning economies need an effective and efficient labor force to be globally competitive.

Moreover, water scarcity decreases crop productivity and complicates irrigation measures. Agriculture employs 40%of the Moroccan population and low crop yield can have problematic effects on farm profitability. 70% of Moroccan farmers struggle when Morocco has a drought because Moroccan agriculture is heavily dependent on rain. As droughts increase and intensify, precipitation will decrease and the productivity of those crops will decrease as well. Only 15% of the agricultural land in Morocco is irrigated. Irrigated crops have a higher yield and greater productivity; however, the water source for many communities is used for both irrigation and consumption. The balance between consumption and irrigation will become more problematic as droughts make Moroccan agriculture more irrigation-dependent.

Many groups in Morocco are attempting to mitigate the effects of the water crisis and find creative ways to source water. Dar Si Hmad is a female-founded NGO that turns fog into water. Morocco has an abundance of fog in its mountains, and Dar Si Hmad uses cloud-fishing technology to collect fog and sustainably filter it. Additionally, programs like USAID provide Moroccan farmers with specific irrigation advice and reinforce water well retaining walls in order to reduce water waste. Morocco has also constructed several desalination plants to make potable water from the abundant seawater along the Moroccan coast.

The water crisis in Morocco can significantly impact the path of its development. Water insecurity is a barrier to economic equality, female empowerment, health, and agricultural productivity. Morocco must find creative solutions to the water crisis in order to reduce the impacts of water insecurity on its path to development.

In the past fifty years, Morocco’s population has nearly tripled. Mass migrations and urbanization have pushed more than half of the growing population into cities, producing huge shanty towns. Residents lack access to clean water and sanitation services. Such barriers can lead to higher risk of waterborne diseases, such as malaria and typhoid. Although cities are undoubtedly struggling with an unprecedented influx of migrants, the worst inequities exist in the gap between rural and urban populations. Lack of infrastructure and inexcusably high rates of poverty have left rural Morocco feeling distrustful towards the civic sector and struggling to maintain social order.

Agriculture makes up 19 percent  of Morocco’s GDP but only 15 percent of agricultural land is properly irrigated. Severe lack of sanitation services and wastewater treatment often means that the little water that can be used for irrigation is contaminated, further inhibiting rural farmers. Due to climate change, rainfall is predicted to decrease by approximately 50 percent by 2050, threatening Morocco with droughts and less access to water for an already struggling population.

The most vulnerable of populations (women and children) are hit the hardest in context of water scarcity. In a paper analyzing the impact of sustainable drinking water on women’s empowerment in rural Kyrgyzstan, it was found that lack of access to clean water imparts the largest burden on young women. Generally speaking, women are responsible for traveling to water pumps, waiting in long queues, manually pumping water, carrying water, and doing hand-washing chores. This can lead to chronic pain and overall impaired health. It was found that back pain was rampant among rural women because many were expected to carry up two 10L loads of water at a time. Traveling to water pumping areas, toilets, or open defecation sites also leaves women and girls vulnerable to disease, harassment, abuse, and sexual violence.

The responsibility for water collection does not only pose physical and health risks for women. The previously mentioned study noted that many subjects had strong feelings of guilt for not being able to protect their children from contracting diseases through contaminated water sources. Loss of freedom, personal time, and socialization due to the time-consuming and arduous task of carrying water made young women feel isolated. They are unable to be active in their communities or participate in decision-making processes, which can also lead to feelings of inferiority and disempowerment. If there is a lack of water in a household or a high water bill, it is often perceived as the woman’s fault, which can cause conflict and sometimes even violence against women. These worrying conclusions are not specific to Kyrgyz women. Their struggles mirror the struggles faced by rural Moroccan women in areas with similar levels of water scarcity. The responsibility for collecting water imparts a huge physical and emotional burden on Moroccan women and can make them vulnerable to the health risks, isolation, and abuse discussed above.

All those hours traveling and collecting water take away time in school for Moroccan girls. Children may be forced to work up to 32 hours a week, which keeps them out of school and repeats the vicious cycle of poverty. Morocco has high gender inequality when it comes to primary and secondary education, especially in rural areas. In addition to their responsibilities around water collection, girls are often forced to work for their impoverished families and enter early marriages, further hindering their development. There is little backlash against this, as Moroccan tradition tends to favor boys’ education. As such, gender role expectations and limited access to clean water continue to cause a disheartening drop in education for girls. The water scarcity burden bars a significant number of women from being able to directly contribute to the economy—which collectively and negatively impacts all Moroccans.

It is important to note that there are efforts to counteract the issue of inaccessible clean water and its subsequent social implications. International investments (from development banks, such as KfW in Germany) into the northern region of Morocco can bolster infrastructure to connect unsecured village water sources. There are efforts to construct transport pipelines with pumping stations, clean water reservoirs, distribution systems, and direct connection of water into homes.

The High Atlas Foundation has constructed 19 clean drinking water systems in Morocco’s remote villages, including wells, gravity flow systems, water towers, and solar pumps. Over 9,000 people benefited and now have easier access to clean drinking water. Efforts such as these make a significant contribution towards the UN’s SDG6 (clean water and sanitation). Village residents can experience better health and economic development, conceivably decreasing the socio-economic gap between urban and rural areas and thereby helping to serve SDG3 (health and wellbeing). Furthermore, provision of safe drinking water frees up time and decreases emotional and physical labor for women, potentially allowing girls to further pursue education and thus serving SDG10 (decreased inequality).

Inaccessible water is an issue that affects all Moroccans, regardless of gender or class. Although rural women bear the greatest and most direct burden of water scarcity, its precipitating social consequences impact the entire nation’s economy and development. Clearly, there are many stakeholders in this issue, and thus there should be widespread support to continue the effort of providing accessible water to Moroccan villages. In doing so, Moroccan citizens (especially women and children) can look forward to enjoying better overall health, safety, and empowerment.