Turning Sun Into Water In Parched Rural Morocco
Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published November 09, 2016 | 08:30 AM
TAFOUGHALT, Morocco, Nov 9, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 09th Nov, 2016 ) - In the arid mountains of eastern Morocco, people know the value of water all too well. "Every drop is like gold.
It should almost be measured by the carat," said local activist Najib Bachiri. Eight hundred kilometres away in bustling Marrakesh, negotiators are this week thrashing out the details of a landmark global agreement designed to stave off disastrous climate change.
But in Tafoughalt, a little village deep in the mountains of Morocco's Berkane province, that impact is being felt already. Rising temperatures are among the factors making the rains increasingly unpredictable.
As a consequence, life for the residents of Tafoughalt -- who largely survive on subsistence farming -- is becoming harder than ever.
"Here, the farmers work on small plots that are barely enough to feed their families," says Bachiri, head of campaign group Homme et Environnement ("Man and Environment").
The group is working to reverse an exodus from the mountains as people seek easier lives elsewhere. Bachiri says local problems feed into each other; isolation makes life difficult, which encourages people to quit the countryside. Abandoned fields lead to land erosion, which in turn also spurs on the exodus. And in the background, there is the constant shortage of water.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
HEC reviews curricula for environmental sciences degree programme
ICC Asia looking forward to an action-packed Asia Cricket Week
Yuvraj Singh named ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Ambassador
Greece hands Olympic flame to 2024 Paris Games hosts
Two Kyiv hospitals evacuating over feared Russian strikes
World must act on neurotech revolution, say experts
Charles & Catherine's cancer diagnoses
Champions Alcaraz and Sabalenka through in Madrid Open
King Charles to resume some public duties during cancer treatment: palace
US defense chief announces $6 bn in security aid for Ukraine
Heavy rains cause damage to Spezand-Taftan railway track
Woman stabbed in Israel, attacker killed: police
More Stories From World
-
NFL will allow players to wear Guardian Cap helmets in games
2 hours ago -
Football: German Bundesliga table
2 hours ago -
Football: Italian Serie A result
2 hours ago -
Football: German Bundesliga results
2 hours ago -
US troops to leave Chad in second African state withdrawal
2 hours ago -
Plastics pollution may be solved without production cap: Canada minister
2 hours ago
-
Biden stalls on menthol cigarette ban fearing Black vote backlash
2 hours ago -
Champions Alcaraz and Sabalenka through in Madrid Open
2 hours ago -
6,000 French police to welcome Olympic torch amid bonus boost
2 hours ago -
Taiwan hit by several quakes, strongest reaching 6.1-magnitude
3 hours ago -
'Ballistic' Bairstow stars as Punjab pull off record T20 chase
3 hours ago -
Tennis: ATP/WTA Madrid Open results - 2nd update
3 hours ago