Innovation without participation? Moroccan farmers' perspectives on Haouz Mejjat aquifer contract

Unsustainable groundwater extraction practices have led to a sharp deterioration of the water table, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. In Morocco, the government has implemented certain preventive measures, including Participatory Groundwater Management Contracts (PGMCs). This study aims to enhance our understanding of farmers’ decision-making in the context of participatory groundwater management. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with certain farmers in the Haouz-Mejjate aquifer. This study adopts a qualitative approach to shed light on the common challenges faced by farmers, notably water scarcity and climate change. The novelty of this study lies in assessing the effectiveness of PGMCs in North Africa. Most important, we provide new insights regarding the factors that seem to influence farmers' perspectives and behaviors. Another novelty lies in applying the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) framework to the analysis of perspective of farmers, enabling an improved understanding of the barriers to farmers collaboration with PGMCs.

The results highlight the importance of tackling these common challenges, including weak enforcement, insufficient data and information, and limited stakeholder engagement. Moreover, our findings suggest that the limited involvement of farmers in the design and implementation of PGMCs reflects a top-down governance model that undermines both trust in institutions and the effectiveness of PGMCs. Finally, our results underscore the need for targeted interventions to inform farmers clearly, give voice to them, and take into account their various perspectives as a first step to developing effective and agreeable solutions and to improving participatory groundwater governance.