Table 1 | 2 | 3a | 3b | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17a | 17b | 17c | 18
Table 1: Land use, Oujda Province
|
Rangeland |
Forest |
Cultivable |
Uncultivable |
|
44.7% |
20% |
18.7% (of which 5.8% irrigated) |
17% |
Table 2: Population and infrastructure
|
Elhouafi |
Taghilast |
Oulad Lfqir |
|
| Population (1994) | 94 (16 households) | 650 inhabitants (72 households) | 1 311 (173 households) |
| Distances | 20 km from the town of Berkane; 3 km from the rural commune of Taforalt | 33 km from the rural commune of Laayoune; 100 km from the town of Oujda | 2 km from Malqa Elouidane and 33 km from the commune of Taourirt |
| Electricity | No | No | No |
| Health centre | Taforalt (at 3 km) | Laayoune (at 33 km) | Taourirt (33 km) |
| Administrative offices | Taforalt | Laayoune | Taourirt |
| Souk | Once a week in Taforalt | Once a week in Laayoune | Once a week in Malqa Elouidane and once a week in Taourirt |
| School | None in village; primary school in Taforalt | Primary school in village (25 pupils) | Primary school in village (105 pupils) |
| Veterinary services | None within reasonable distance | None within reasonable distance | None within reasonable distance |
Table 3a: Natural resources Elhouafi
| Resources |
Forest |
Soil |
Trees: olive and almond |
Water |
| Type of change | - Trees are not as green as they once were
- Trees are not so leafy - Less edible grasses - Fewer wild animals |
- Fissures
- Soil is dry - Crops do not grow as quickly |
Improvement (saplings provided by the Ministry of Agriculture | - Scarce
- Some improvement recently (boreholes dug by the Ministry of Agriculture) |
| Causes | Drought | Drought | Saplings provided by the Ministry of Agriculture | Boreholes dug by the Ministry of Agriculture |
Table 3b: Natural resources Taghilast
| Resources |
Alfalfa grass |
Forest |
Rosemary |
Soil |
Mineral resources |
| Type of change | Alfalfa grass is no longer green; it is dry | - Forest is degraded
- Ground is bare - There are no more lions |
- It has become dry
- Distillery has been closed |
- Once it was more fertile, and yields were higher | - Iron mine used to employ several men from the village; it has now been closed |
| Causes | Drought (Jafaf) | Drought | - Drought
- Closure of distillery owing to lack of water |
- Drought, lack of wells/boreholes | - Mine closed owing to lack of water |
Table 4: Oulad Lfqir Pollution of the River Oued
| Causes |
Signs |
Consequences |
| Olive oil factories in Taourirt dump waste into city sewers, which then release the waste into the river (Oued za) | River water is frothy and has a bad smell
(the water is "rotten").
One can see olive pips floating on the river Water sources get clogged up by waste After irrigation the soil is covered by an acid froth and solid waste |
Crops have changed color; they are yellow,
not green as before
Yields have decreased Luzern doesnt grow as high as it used to There is less food because of the lower yields Animals that drink water from the canal fall ill Bathing or washing in the canal causes skin problems |
| Elhouafi |
Taghilast |
Oulad Lfqir |
|
| Water | Two wells: one for animals/laundry; one for humans (dug by Ministry of Agriculture); there used to be a river passing through the douar, which is now dry | Three wells: one is dry; one is for animals/laundry; one is for humans (little water); animals are also watered in Tanzert (3 km); men and women will "do the round of the wells" if necessary. | Wells and sources in village (polluted); animals have to be watered in Melqa El and Oued Maauluya |
| Fuel | Mainly wood, followed by butane gas, olive pips, almond husks, straw, cowdung, charcoal | Mainly wood, followed by butane gas and alfalfa grass | Olive branches (there is no forest nearby) and butane gas |
Table 6: Off-farm occupations/sources of income - Elhouafi (share of total households)
| No other occupation |
Self-employed |
Fqih4 |
Wage-earner |
Supported by other households |
| 5/16 |
3/165 |
3/16 |
4/16 |
1/16 |
Table 7: Type of assets (share of households
| Cultivable land (owned or sharecropped | Cattle | Sheep | Goats | Donkeys | Poultry | Other Sources of Income | |
| Elhouafi | 12/16 |
4/16 |
9/16 |
4/16 |
12/16 |
13/16 |
11/16 (off-farm activity: self-employed or wage-earner) |
| Taghilast | 14/15 |
|
4/15 |
12/15 |
14/15 |
13/15 |
14/15 (collection of rosemary, alfalfa-carpet-making; one person sells medicinal plants) |
| Oulad L. | 14/14 |
8/14 |
12/14 |
4/14 |
12/14 |
14/14 |
5/14 (for occupations see Table 6) |
Table 8 - Distribution of land
| Landless households6 |
Rainfed land |
Irrigated land |
|||||
| Average size |
Min. |
Max. |
Average size |
Min. |
Max. |
||
| Elhouafi7 | 4/16 |
7.1 |
2 |
45.5 |
|
|
|
| Taghilast8 | 1/15 |
5.8 |
2 |
20 |
|
|
|
| Oulad Lfqir9 | |
4.8 |
2.9 |
0.5 |
25 |
||
Table 9: Crops grown (share of households)
| Crop |
Number of households that cultivate the crop |
||
| Elhouafi |
Taghilast |
Oulad Lfqir |
|
| Soft wheat | 2/13 |
8/14 |
9/14 |
| Durum wheat | 8/13 |
1/14 |
8/14 |
| Barley | 13/13 |
13/14 |
7/14 |
| Oats | 1/13 |
||
| Fava beans | 13/13 |
3/14 |
|
| Chickpeas | 2/13 |
||
| Lentils | 8/13 |
||
| Kikha | 2/13 |
||
| Beans | 3/13 |
||
| Luzern | 11/14 |
||
| Potatoes | 1/13 |
||
| Melon | 7/14 |
||
| Fenugreek | |||
| Tomato | 3/14 |
||
| Niora | 2/14 |
||
| Aubergine | 2/14 |
||
| Type of tree |
Elhouafi |
Taghilast |
Oulad Lfqir |
|||
| Households that own |
Number of trees |
Households that own |
Number of trees |
Households that own |
Number of trees |
|
| Fig | 8/16 |
33(min. 2, max. 10) |
1/14 |
3 |
3/14 |
17 (min. 3, max. 10) |
| Olive | 12/16 |
520 (min. 3, max. 130 |
13/14 |
800 (min. 4, max. 200) |
||
| Almond | 7/16 |
208 (min. 2, max 50) |
6/14 |
28 |
||
| Apricot | 2/14 |
12 (min. 2, max. 10) |
||||
| Apple | 1/16 |
10 |
||||
Table 11: Livestock per household
|
|
|||||||||||||||
| Cattle |
Sheep |
Goats |
Donkeys |
Poultry |
|||||||||||
| Avg. |
Min. |
Max. |
Avg. |
Min. |
Max. |
Avg. |
Min. |
Max. |
Avg. |
Min. |
Max. |
Avg. |
Min. |
Max. |
|
| Elhouafi | 1 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
2 |
20 |
4 |
2 |
10 |
2.3 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
2 |
20 |
| Taghilast | |
|
|
5 |
4 |
30 |
22 |
10 |
35 |
2.1 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
10 |
| Oulad Lfqir | 1.7 |
1 |
4 |
47.5 10 |
12 |
100 |
10 |
6 |
10 11 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
3 |
20 |
Table 12: Division of labour by age and sex
| Activity |
Elhouafi |
Taghilast |
Oulad Lfqir |
| "Reproductive" (cooking, house cleaning, care of children) | W, G | W, G | W, G |
| Weaving | W | W | W |
| Fetching water | W, G, B | W, G, B, M (when far from village) | G, B |
| Collecting fuel wood | W, G, B | W, G, B | B |
| Collecting alfalfa grass | W | W | |
| Collecting rosemary | | W | |
| Cultivation | M, B | M, B | M, B |
| Preparing meals for men in fields | W, G | W, G | W, G |
| Selecting seed from harvest | W | M | M |
| Picking fruit | W, G, B | W, G, B | B |
| Processing crops and storing in sacks or cans | W | W | W |
| Caring for livestock in the home12 | W, B, G | W, B, G | W, B, G |
| Grazing livestock | W, G (in douar), B | M, B | M, B |
| Watering livestock | W, G (in douar). B (outside douar) | M, B | M, B |
| Raising poultry | W | W | W |
| Making enclosures/shelters out of branches | M, W | M, W | |
| Making stables out of cement | M | M | M |
| Housebuilding (cement) | M | M | M |
| Putting up/taking down tents | W | W | |
M = men, W = women, B = boys, G = girls.
| Elhouafi |
Taghilast13 |
Oulad Lfqir |
|||||||
| Type of activity | Reg.* | Occ.* | Never | Reg. | Occ. | Never | Reg. | Occ. | Never |
| Collecting wood | In forest near douar | In forest near douar | x | ||||||
| Collecting water | Within the douar | Near douar | As far as Tanzert (3 km) | x | |||||
| Agricultural activities14 | Within the douar | As far as Matrouh (10 km) | x | ||||||
| Herding livestock | Within the douar | Near douar | x | ||||||
| Going to the souk | X | x | x | ||||||
| Going to the hammam (public bath) | x | x | x | ||||||
| Visiting neighbours | Within the douar | x | x | ||||||
| Visiting relatives | Within the douar | x | x | ||||||
| Health centre | Taforalt 3 km | Laayoune 33 km | Taourirt 30 km | ||||||
* Reg. = regularly; Occ. = occasionally.
| Loans from CNCA15 |
Informal borrowing |
|||||
| Share of households |
Share of households repaying |
Share of households |
Share of households repaying |
|||
| Elhouafi | 4/16 |
¼ |
2/16 |
none |
||
| Taghilast | 4/15 |
¼ |
2/15 |
none |
||
| Oulad Lfqir | 9/14 |
1/14 entirely,1/14 partly |
|
|
||
| average amount |
min. |
max. |
average amount |
min. |
max. |
|
| Elhouafi | 4 250 |
3 000 |
8 000 |
700 |
700 |
700 |
| Taghilast | 11 625 |
5 000 |
31 000 |
135 |
70 |
200 |
| Oulad Lfqir | 28 000 |
4 000 |
60 000 |
|
|
|
Table 15: Use of CNCA loans (share of households)
| Purchase of livestock/fodder |
Purchase inputs |
Purchase land |
Buy food |
Other personal reasons |
| 11/17 |
4/17 |
1/1716 |
1/1717 |
1/17 |
Table 16 Problems identified by men and women
| Elhouafi |
Taghilast |
Oulad Lfqir |
|||
| Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women |
| 1) water |
1) water | 1) distance from health centre | 1) distance from health centre | 1) pollution of the river | Three main problems, in the following order: |
| 2) the state of the road | 2) education of girls | 2) lack of water | 2) lack of water | 2) credit (high interest rates, inability to repay) | 1) pollution of the river |
| 3) unemployment of the young | 3) unemployment of the young | 3) distance from admin. offices | 3) the forest guards | 3) lack of electricity | 2) lack of a health centre |
| 4) electricity | 4) electricity | 4) transport and the state of the road | 4) education of children | 4) middlemen | 3) lack of electricity |
| 5) education of children | 5) distance from health centre | 5) distance from souk | 5) transport and the state of the road | 5) lack of a vet | |
| 6) distance from health centre | 6) the state of the road | 6) lack of electricity | 6) lack of electricity | 6) distance from admin. offices | |
| 7) veterinary care | 7) education of children | 7) distance from health centre | |||
| 8) the forest guards | 8) drought | ||||
Table 17a: Problems and solutions - Elhouafi
| Problem |
Cause |
Consequences |
What do people do to solve the problem |
What should the state do? |
| Water | No pump | Cant grow vegetables | Nothing | Should install a pumping station |
| Electricity | Douar not electrified | Use candles and gas | Should electrify the douar | |
| Road | Road from village to Taforalt not tarmacked | People take a short cut through the forest; it is dangerous for young girls to cross the forest | Nothing | Build 1.5 km of tarmacked road |
| Youth unemployment | No training; no work in the douar | Young migrate or do nothing | They seek wage labour | Set up a training centre |
| Health centre | Health centre is in Taforalt | It is difficult to deal with emergencies | They pray to God to assist the person who has fallen ill | Build a health centre not far from the douar |
| Veterinary care | There is no vet in Taforalt | Animals are not treated and therefore die | Nothing | Vet in Taforalt |
| Education of children | School is 3 km from the douar | Girls do not go to school because they have to cross the forest | Girls are not sent to school | Build a road (to avoid having to cross the forest) or a school near the douar |
Table 17b: Problems and solutions - Taghilast
| Problem |
How should it be solved |
Community contribution |
| Clinic is too distant |
State should build one nearer the village |
None; the state which should build the clinic |
| Water |
State should help us to dig the wells |
Villagers would provide labour |
| Road |
State should open and tarmac the 13 km of intermixed road |
Villagers would provide labour |
| Administrative offices are too distant |
Seat of the qaidat should be nearer to the village |
None; this is an issue which concerns the state |
| Harassment by forest guards |
State should allow us to use the forest |
People could be mobilized to plant trees |
| Education of children |
State should help us to buy school supplies, control teachers and improve their living conditions |
None |
| Electricity |
state should provide the main installation |
Households would pay to connect the main line to their homes |
Table 17c: Problems and solutions - Oulad Lfqir
| Problem |
Cause |
Consequences |
What do people do to solve the problem? |
What should the State do? |
| Pollution of the river | Waste in river from sewers of Taourirt | Low yields; health hazards for humans and animals | Avoid using polluted water/watering animals elsewhere | Ensure that waste is deposited elsewhere; the solution is in the hands of the local authorities |
| Agricultural credit | Interest rates too high/farmers become indebted | Inability of most to repay/fear of investing | Either none, or delaying repayment | CNCA should lower interest rates |
| Lack of electricity | State has not thought of electrifying the village | Using gas, which costs as much as electricity/no agro-processing facilities | Lighting homes with candles and petrol or gas lamps | State should electrify the village, and people will pay for it |
| Middlemen | They speculate | Farmers sell their produce too cheap | In general, nothing/smallholder farmers take produce to the souk themselves | State should fix prices and control speculators |
| Lack of a vet | Ministry of Agriculture has not attached a vet to the village | Disease/loss of animals | In general, nothing | Ministry of Agriculture should place a vet in the village |
| Distance from administrative offices | Seat of the commune and the qaidat are in Taourirt | Necessary to go to Taourirt for any kind of official document | They go to Taourirt | Place the seat of the commune and the qaidat in Melqa Elouidane |
| Distance from the clinic | No clinic in village | There is no way of dealing with emergencies | In case of need, they have to go to Taourirt | State should open a clinic in the village or at least in the area |
| Drought | Lack of rain | Low yields/agriculture has become risky | Diversify strategies/if the drought continues, those who can afford to do so build a house in Taourirt | Ministry of Agriculture should assist smallholders by supplying seeds and fertilizers |
Table 18 Generational changes in the condition of women\mothers aspirations for their daughters: Taghilast
| Grandmother |
Mother |
Aspirations for daughter |
| Organizational
activities: lived under tent |
Organization
activities: live under tent and in house |
Organizational
activities: live in house with tile roof |
| made alfa mats for the tent | makes alfa mats for tent and for sale | does not make alfa mats |
| made wool tent bands | does not make wool tent bands | |
| made wool rugs | does make wool rugs anymore, as there is no wool | learns how to sew and knit by machine |
| used candles for light | uses butane gas and occasionally candles | uses electricity for lighting |
| had many animals, spent much time tending animals | fewer animals because they die; less work tending animals | prefers daughter not tend animals and husband hires a shepherd |
| reared poultry extensively | rears some poultry | |
| walked barefoot, used scarf for covering, was dressed in rags | uses plastic sandals, wears silk or synthetic silk scarf, dresses in ordinary clothes | wears shoes, djellaba or caflan, dresses in beautiful clothes |
| husband beat wife | husband scolds, sometimes beats wife | well treated by husband |
| good health | often sick | has money for treatment |
| ignorant | knows much about how things work | |
| did not know about money | knows about money but does not see it | her husband will give her money |
| spoke only Berber | speaks Berber and Arabic | speaks Berber and Arabic |
| carried infants on back | carries infants on back | carries infants on back or uses small bed |
| children worked in fields | children go to school | |
| Hamman did exist, did not go | sometimes goes to hamman | goes often to Hamman |
| Activities
related to food: used goat skin to stock flour |
Activities
related to food: use tin cans and goat skins |
Activities
related to food: uses tin cans |
| ground flour using stone hand grinder | husband takes flour for milling | buys flour |
| consumed much butter | butter is rarely consumed | |
| consumed much meat (beef and mutton) and chicken | now little chicken available to consume | eats meat daily |
| cooked and boiled water using wood | cooks with wood, boils water with gas | has gas stove for all cooking needs |
| Environmental
activities: transported water in earthen jars on back |
Environmental
activities: uses tin cans and plastic jugs |
Environmental
activities: has water tap in house |
| carried firewood on her back | carries firewood on back of donkey | will not transport firewood |
| bitten often by scorpions | fewer scorpions, hence bites are less | |
4/ A Fqih is a teacher of the Koran. As there are no schools in the village, the fqihs fill this gap as well.
5/ A mason, a barber and a vegetable trader.
6/ Households which neither own land, nor sharecrop.
7/ Three households cultivate only land of their own; 11 households sharecrop, seven of which do not have land of their own.
8/ Only one household sharecrops; all the others cultivate their own land.
9/ All households own irrigated land; two also own some rainfed land.
10/ Three households own 100 sheep; for the other households, the average is 32.5 sheep.
11/ Only four households own goats.
12/ This involves cleaning stables, milking, assisting birth, traditional treatment, and so on.
13/ It should be remembered that Taghilast is a settlement within a douar which includes another two settlements, Tanzert (3 km) and Matrouh (10 km). Therefore, as in Elhouafi, women move within the douar, though this is extended over a larger territory.
14/ Women's involvement in agricultural activities in Elhouafi is limited to picking fruit and taking meals to the men only when plots are within the douar. In Taghilast women take food and put up and take down tents as far away as Matrouh (10 km).
15/ Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole.
16/ 31 000 dh, the biggest loan.
17/ Most, however, say the loans from CNCA are also used to buy food.