Small-Scale Irrigation in a Multiethnic Oasis Environment: the Case of Zaouit Amelkis Village, Southeast Morocco

This paper examines the social organization of a small-scale irrigation system in a multiethnic setting in the Ziz Valley, southeast Morocco. It is focused on the analysis of the Zaouit Amelkis village irrigation system and its management. The village of Zaouit Amelkis paints a complex historical and ecological picture where ethnicity, power, and religious ideology function to manage local resources. This paper claims that the traditional land owning groups, Arabs and Berbers have, over time, extorted labor from the landless, low-status group, the Haratine, for the operation and maintenance of the village’s irrigation system. Key words: ethnicity, water management, land tenure, Southeast Morocco

The power of the dagger, the seeds of the Koran, and the sweat of the ploughman: Ethnic stratification and agricultural intensification in the Ziz Valley, southeast Morocco

I examined the intensive farming systems of the Ziz Valley of southeastern Morocco. The valley is a 250 km long expanse watered by the Ziz River. Surrounded by arid Saharan desert, the valley houses a dense, rapidly growing, and ethnically stratified population of Arabs, Berbers, and Haratine (blacks). Irrigated farming of cereals, olives and dates, and livestock raising dominate the lives of its inhabitants. Upon the analysis of the Ziz data, I reached three major findings. First, despite the unexpected finding that Berbers actually get more out of the same amount of land than Haratine and Arabs, and the fact that the Haratine are not the most productive farmers as hypothesized in the research design of my dissertation, this study underscores the urge to reformulate the theory behind agricultural intensification to incorporate the key variable of ethnicity and its role in making land productive in the analysis of agricultural change. Thus, contrary to current theories which examine social and economic change in terms of agricultural productivity and crop complexes, my findings demonstrate that the same agrarian regimes in the ethnically heterogeneous Ziz Valley differ markedly in production and intensity between ethnic groups, and therefore provide household-level evidence that ethnicity is a key, albeit a heretofore ignored, variable in the processes of economic and social development. Second, the study of ethnicity has dwelt too much on defining what ethnicity is, erecting its boundaries, and outlining its emergence as essential elements in the structuring of social organization between and among groups. However, with the infusion of remittances from abroad the Haratine have made ethnicity a political and economic instrument through which a Haratine corporate group has emerged to resist the ethnic mode of production. Third, ethnic change in the valley, and for that matter throughout the oasis social world of Southern Morocco, could not have risen from within the communities social structures, and the only avenue for the subaltern groups to change their lot in terms of political participation and access to land was to migrate outside the valley, return home with remittances, and undo the pillars of ethnic stratification

Chapitre 7. Les rituels de (véritable) rébellion des Haratine. Élections et ethnicités dans l’oasis du Ziz

« Tkallam qyas hbalk (la parole doit être assortie aux terres que l’on possède). »Proverbe marocain Afin d’explorer les significations et les éventuelles relations entre ethnicité et élections dans l’oasis du fleuve Ziz, la manière dont différents groupes ethniques peuvent soutenir ou au contraire mettre en doute les procédures et la logique des élections telles qu’elles sont mises en œuvre par l’État marocain sera particulièrement étudiée. À cet effet, je me suis également penché sur la faço..

Differentiating Livelihood Strategies among the Luo and Kipsigis People in Western Kenya

Rural communities of sub-Saharan Africa are under increasing adaptive pressure resulting from decline in the quality of land resources. To increase food, generate income, and safeguard against risks and shocks, families are engaging in multiple livelihood strategies. This study was conducted to: 1) evaluate livelihood strategies; 2) examine the dynamic diversification process in the agrarian and non-agrarian continuum; and 3) investigate how type and availability of assets influences choice of a livelihood strategy. Results from our investigation in western Kenya suggest that as land is subjected to degradation, there is a shift in the type of assets that families can draw upon. Among the Luo, collision between deeply embedded cultural beliefs and access to land, is leading to a shift from farming to non-farming activities. They are heavily reliant on human labor to make a living hence becoming less resilient, and more vulnerable to existing and emerging risks and shocks. The overriding scenario is escalated land degradation, increased poverty levels, and a failed social support system. Asset diversification and intensification processes among the Kipsigis are closely intertwined with rapid social-cultural change and strong bonding and bridging ties. They are involved in an asset-led intensification and diversification strategies. Overall, our findings suggest that the ability to make a meaningful livelihood is dependent not only on the quality and quantity of assets that an individual household possesses, but also having capabilities to use and transform the assets as well

Differentiating Livelihood Strategies among the Luo and Kipsigis People in Western Kenya

Rural communities of sub-Saharan Africa are under increasing adaptive pressure resulting from decline in the quality of land resources. To increase food, generate income, and safeguard against risks and shocks, families are engaging in multiple livelihood strategies. This study was conducted to: 1) evaluate livelihood strategies; 2) examine the dynamic diversification process in the agrarian and non-agrarian continuum; and 3) investigate how type and availability of assets influences choice of a livelihood strategy. Results from our investigation in western Kenya suggest that as land is subjected to degradation, there is a shift in the type of assets that families can draw upon. Among the Luo, collision between deeply embedded cultural beliefs and access to land, is leading to a shift from farming to non-farming activities. They are heavily reliant on human labor to make a living hence becoming less resilient, and more vulnerable to existing and emerging risks and shocks. The overriding scenario is escalated land degradation, increased poverty levels, and a failed social support system. Asset diversification and intensification processes among the Kipsigis are closely intertwined with rapid social-cultural change and strong bonding and bridging ties. They are involved in an asset-led intensification and diversification strategies. Overall, our findings suggest that the ability to make a meaningful livelihood is dependent not only on the quality and quantity of assets that an individual household possesses, but also having capabilities to use and transform the assets as well.This article is from Journal of Ecological Anthropology 11 (2007): 43, doi:10.5038/2162-4593.11.1.3. Posted with permission.</p

American Indian Transportation Committee Field Assessment of Cultural Sites Regarding the U.S. Department of Energy Pre-Approval Draft Environmental Assessment of Intermodal Transportation of Low-Level Radioactive Waste to the Nevada Test Site.

This is a summary of findings from an American Indian rapid cultural assessment. As such, this is not a formal report. The text in this summary of findings has been prepared to fit directly into the Intermodal Environmental Assessment (IM EA). This summary of findings was prepared by a study team of Indian people directly from their own field observations. The American Indian Transportation Committee (AITC) was formed in August of 1996 during a study of American Indian issues related to the transportation of Low-level Radioactive Waste to the Nevada Test Site. The AITC contained 9 members who were selected (with the approval of their respective governments) to represent the 29 tribes involved in the study (see Austin 1998:4). The AITC helped with all aspects of that study, they being deeply involved in developing culturally appropriate research methods, helping with the interviews, and closely reviewing the findings. Their efforts were finally presented in a report entitled Native Americans Respond to the Transportation of Low Level Radioactive Waste To the Nevada Test Site (September 1998) edited by Diane Austin.This is one of two reports regarding the transportation of low level radioactive waste to the Nevada Test Site.This item is part of the Richard Stoffle Collection. It was digitized from a physical copy provided by Richard Stoffle, Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. For more information about items in this collection, please email Special Collections, [email protected]