Main problems of oases production system. The major causes of insufficient productivity in the Moroccan agricultural sector have been highlighted by various analyses carried out in the past years: - Degradation of natural resources; - Rural poverty; - Insufficient social infrastructure; - Limited involvement of the rural population, especially women, in the development process; - Poor use of the Government’s human and financial resources; - Virtual absence of rural financial services for small farmers and the rural poor These critical issues are all present in the oasis farming system and often made worse by its’ intrinsic characteristics. Dates are no longer an important staple food for nomads and oasis dwellers, substituted by other more varied and complete foods, easy to find at affordable cost. Nowadays dates are consumed in lower quantities, mostly in special occasions, hence request for quality has increased and this has lowered the value of most khalt dates produced in the old traditional xxxxxx. Even the better ones suffer the competition of those produced in the new modern plantations or coming from abroad which are generally more appealing and better marketed. Moreover, farmers are aging, while youths are reluctant to take over and prefer to search elsewhere for easier perspectives, while the grove progressively perishes and recovering gets more and more difficult. This is especially true in the most developed areas with connection to cities and tourism, while is less evident in more insulated oases, though it could extend also to these areas. Fragmentation of property is another constraint, since it makes it difficult for many owners to earn a living on agriculture; many of them just have somebody to look after their property and settle with what they bring or are part time farmers, while others rent their parcels to other farmers. In some cases cooperatives are formed and rent land from different owners for a period of at least 7 years, but in this case only the best plots are chosen. In spite of this sad situation, cooperation among farmers is not easy to establish and FIMADATTES reported cases in which even international funded interventions failed due to disagreement among the owners. National strategies for sustaining oases and date palm cultivation can address only partially farmers most specific needs due to the economic characteristics of the latter.
