Browsing by Author "Raiskila, Riikka Alina"

The aim of this thesis is to examine socio-political perspectives of water scarcity in a Moroccan oasis. Drawing from political ecology, it describes the results of a transfer from community-based resource management to institutional hybridity comprising of customary and formal socio-legal institutions and actors, and evaluates how the transfer of authority from customary water user communities to individuals and state organisations, and the adoption or rejection of formal property rights, have affected water access and availability in the oasis. Data was collected during fieldwork in southeast Morocco in October-December 2014 through semi-structured interviews and water point mapping with a GPS device. In total I conducted more than 50 interviews among water users and government authorities gaining access to unpublished secondary data on water resources. Data was analysed applying qualitative and quantitative methods. Results indicate that water scarcity in Ferkla is deepest among those without any permanently available modes of access or only common-property access to water. Customary water rights have lost their value as guarantors of water access due to physical water shortages and legal reforms. Water scarcity is least severe either among individuals who rely on private irrigation with (tube)wells and who have formalised their property, or those who have abandoned farming and rely on tap water. In conclusion, water management laws and policies have targeted and benefited small- and large-scale farmers differently resulting in a clear division between formal water users with improved water security and customary water users with inferior water access and availability. State attempts to improve water management by introducing formal private property rights have resulted in the creation of illegal water users who have been deprived of their customary water and land rights. At the same time, large-scale farmers have gained numerous benefits from formalising their land and water assets resulting in a decreased equity of resource distribution. While customary village councils still retain some power over common-property infrastructure, formal institutions have taken over the management of other modes of water access.