In the last six years, coinciding with a 53 percent decrease in rainfall in Maghreb countries, the number of cattle and goats decreased by 38 percent, Moroccan Minister of Agriculture Ahmed El Bouari told the press.

The magnitude of the crisis forced the Moroccan government to adopt emergency measures, namely: remove the taxes and value-added tax on imports of cattle, sheep, camels and red meat and accelerate the desalination of land.

The meteorological drought has also reduced the volumes of the Doukala dams, which store only two percent, and the Soussa Massa dam, which stores 15 percent, which has forced the use of water for irrigation of land to be discarded in favour of the needs of the population.

The worst thing about the situation is that the forecasts of specialized bodies agree that the decrease in rainfall will continue, a consequence of climate change.

ef/lam/msl