Climate Resilience
Morocco
In Morocco, adaptation solutions are needed to address threats from droughts, high temperatures, and the loss of productive assets and human capital.
The CGIAR Initiative on Climate Resilience aligns with Morocco’s Green Generation Strategy. Water management, increased social equity, and scaling technologies related to climate-smart agriculture are food system priorities. Researchers and partners will work to test adaptation options, focusing on improved agricultural water management strategies; reduce risk in production system-linked livelihoods and value chains at scale; design multiscale governance for transformative adaptation; mobilize finance to build systemic resilience among vulnerable smallholder farmers; and integrate gender and social equity into innovations to address the root causes of vulnerability.
Here are some key highlights of ClimBeR’s work in Morocco from 2022 to 2024:
- The Directorate of Strategy and Statistics (DSS) adopted ClimBeR’s Multi-scale Polycentric (MPG) tool guide enabling the integration of young entrepreneurs into olive and milk value chains, under Morocco’s Green Growth Plan. This initiative aims to enhance economic water productivity as part of investments under Morocco’s Green Growth Plan.
- The MPG framework was used to develop action plans to enhance climate resilience in milk and olive value chains, while ClimBeR’s research also informed the Morocco Soil Charter Policy.
- There is a new subnational multicriteria multistakeholder policy assessment framework in the Saiss Plain that is being used to co-create future scenarios around conservation agriculture and agroecology with early-stage letters from key stakeholders (DRA and ONCA) that demonstrate the value added by ClimBeR science.
Partnerships
Building on a series of national engagements from 2022 – 2024 in ClimBeR’s six focus countries (Guatemala, Kenya, Morocco, the Philippines, Senegal, and Zambia), the Initiative facilitated the integration of capacities across CGIAR centers on climate resilience, catalyzing a system-wide partnership through its work with five CGIAR centers (ICARDA, IFPRI, IWMI, IRRI, The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT) and partners, to ensure that work plan activities remain tailored to partners’ needs and opportunities for impact in each country.
As a result of these efforts, ClimBeR now has a diverse portfolio of partners, including ministries, national and regional agencies, financial institutions, private sector organizations, farmer organizations, NGOs, and research centers.
A partnership with the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the Moroccan Association of Soil Science facilitated the development of the National Charter for Sustainable Soil Management, which provides strategic guidelines for soil protection, restoration, and sustainable management in Morocco.
ClimBeR has also been working closely with various Initiatives and bilateral projects across six focal countries- Guatemala, Kenya, Morocco, the Philippines, Senegal, and Zambia- in line with the CGIAR research portfolio’s integration strategy. These collaborations have helped align activities with complementary research areas, foster synergies, and enhance coordination to maximize CGIAR’s impact while ensuring efficient resource use and minimizing duplication. In Morocco, ClimBeR partnered with Excellence in Agronomy and Fragility to Resilience in CWANA to provide evidence on conservation agriculture as an adaptation strategy. This contributed to shaping the Morocco Soil Charter Policy.
2025 and beyond…
The Initiative’s work in Morocco has supported action plans for transformative adaptation in agriculture value chains. ClimBeR’s MPG framework was used to develop action plans to enhance climate resilience in milk and olive value chains, while its research also informed the Morocco Soil Charter Policy.
ClimBeR’s work in Morocco underscores the necessity of transformative innovations across scales, emphasizing the role of effective governance through collaboration and coordination.
The diverse interventions implemented at multiple levels demonstrate its journey toward smallholder resilience through transformative adaptation. The Initiative’s science, innovations, and strategic partnerships will continue through the CGIAR Climate Action Science Program and other bilateral projects to foster collaborative climate research and accelerate climate adaptation strategies.
Read about the Initiative’s work in other target countries: