The project significantly reduces pressure on the Fès-Meknès groundwater table by offsetting the water deficit estimated at nearly 137 Mm³/year through the mobilization of surface water.
With a distribution network covering approximately 30,000 ha, the project provides reliable and controlled irrigation, enabling more efficient and sustainable agriculture.
The project strengthens the water security of the plain and helps agriculture adapt to the effects of climate change by ensuring safer and more sustainable water management.
The project contributes to the stability of rural populations, while integrating specific actions for the economic inclusion of rural women and support for farmers.
With structuring investments and modern hydraulic infrastructure, the project strengthens agricultural competitiveness, supports incomes and fights rural poverty.
Since the droughts of the 1980s and 1990s, many farmers
in the Saïss plain have turned to irrigation to preserve their crops,
mainly using surface water from springs linked to the
Fès–Meknès aquifer system. However, the repetition of drought periods,
intensified by the effects of climate change, has led to a significant decline
in these surface water resources.
Faced with this shortage, the use of groundwater intensified sharply,
which caused a significant drop in the level of the aquifer, reaching nearly
3 meters per year, as well as a deficit estimated at around 137 million cubic
meters per year.
This situation has weakened agriculture, threatened several investments and affected the living conditions of rural populations. It is in response to these challenges that the hydro-agricultural development project for the Saïss plain was launched. It aims to sustainably preserve water resources, reduce pressure on the aquifer, secure irrigation through the mobilization of surface water, and support sustainable agricultural development that is resilient to climate change.
The hydro-agricultural development project for the Saïss plain is above all a project
serving residents, farmers and the entire territory. By mobilizing
more reliable water resources, the project helps preserve the means of
subsistence of rural populations, improve their living conditions and strengthen
the resilience of the territory in the face of climate change.
Because it directly concerns citizens, the project attaches particular importance
to social inclusion and the involvement of local actors, notably through a participatory
approach as well as specific actions in favor of rural women and young people.
An approach aimed at strengthening the economic inclusion of rural women by improving their access to resources, opportunities and means of production.
An approach based on the active involvement of farmers, local stakeholders and institutions in order to promote support, consultation and proper ownership of the project on the ground.
The two approaches place rural populations at the center of the project. They aim to listen to their needs, understand their expectations and build actions that truly respond to their reality on the ground.
Whether through the participation of local stakeholders or the specific consideration of rural women, both approaches seek to give everyone a place and to guarantee greater equity in access to opportunities.
By involving beneficiaries and highlighting the role of women and local communities, these approaches contribute to a better understanding of the project, to its acceptance and to its long-term success.
Both approaches support responsible agricultural development, more human and more inclusive, by ensuring that the impacts of the project genuinely benefit the territory and its inhabitants.
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