Parched Morocco which is closely depending on its agricultural sector is to carry prayers for rain Friday in mosques throughout the nation underneath a royal decree.
« Water is changing into an increasing number of scarce. We preserve having to dig deeper to search out any, » stated Houcine Aderdour, president of a producers’ federation and an orange farmer within the Souss area of southern Morocco.
Like its Iberian neighbours to the north, Portugal and Spain, Morocco has suffered a extreme scarcity of rainfall because the finish of the summer season.
Moroccan college research present that temperatures have risen by as much as four levels Celsius because the 1960s and annual rainfall been on the decline.
The drought has hit cereal manufacturing this season and will drive the nation of 35 million inhabitants to resort to imports.
King Mohammed VI, in his official capability as « commander of the devoted », has referred to as for prayers in all Moroccan mosques « to implore the Almighty to unfold his benevolent rains on the earth », the ministry of Islamic affairs stated in a press release.
The climate has grow to be a serious subject of dialog throughout Morocco, 40 % of whose inhabitants rely on agriculture for his or her livelihood and the place the sector accounts for greater than 15 % of GDP.
« It is too early to talk of drought. But when there is no rainfall by mid-December, the state of affairs will flip essential, » an agriculture ministry official stated, on situation of anonymity.
On prime of the shortage of rainfall, aquifers have been overexploited for agriculture.
In keeping with native media, royal police plane are to inject salt crystals into the clouds to artificially induce rainfall.
