1. The DESIRE WB3 process
The DESIRE-WOCAT method to assess
promising SLM technologies and facilitate their
adoption and dissemination
The case of the Sehoul region, Morocco
Xi’an 2010
MOROCCAN DESIRE TEAM
CHAKER Miloud

2. The Sehoul Plateau is located between the Mamora forest in
the north, and the Grou valley in the south West.
It is a part of the Palaeozoic Atlantic Meseta

3. The Sehoul region, an agro-pastoral system
 In the pastures and forests, over-grazing leads to
the degradation of the vegetation cover and to the
reduction of palatable species;
 In the cultivated area, the problems are more related
to techniques of land use, not adapted to the
climate, to the weak soils and to the slope
gradients.

4. The Sehoul region, an agro-pastoral system
 We observe:
 Actually the proliferation of fences, the structuration of
plots by irrigation and new perennial crops such as olive
trees remove animals to the marginal area leading to more
catastrophic erosion in multiple forms.
 the abandonment of the most degraded lands and flood in
downstream
 The forest becomes subject to depredation by uncontrolled
use. Its restoration through assisted regeneration is not
yet leading to widespread ecological restoration.
 An individualistic behavior of the farmers and a weak
involvement in any action, those promoted by the
government, but also the participatory action developed in
the DESIRE project

5. WB3 process
 The goal of the 1st workshop was to:
 Initiate collaboration and mutual learning among
local and external participants of the DESIRE
research team
 To identify existing and new strategies to prevent or
mitigate land degradation and desertification and
select some of them to evaluate their efficiency.
 The workshop identified a set of technologies which
we decided to assess using the WOCAT tools.

6.  Based on 3 most promising solutions identified in
stakeholder workshop 1.
 Use of the internationally recognized WOCAT
questionnaires on SLM technologies and approaches.
 Interactive between land users and experts.
 Q‘s help to understand reasons behind successful or
failure, own experiences.
 Standardized assessment and documentation, allow
quality assurance
 Access to a global database.
 Basis for knowledge sharing.
Assessment (May – October 2008)
Photo Gudrun Schwilch

7. SLM Technologies
 Agronomic, vegetative, structural, management
 To control land degradation and enhance
productivity in the field
 Questionnaire: (light, basic, professional)
 (what are the specification…, where is it used )
 Description and specifications of the technology purpose,
classification, design and costs
 Natural and human environment
 Benefits, advantages and disadvantages,
impacts, acceptance,
adoption

8.  Ways and means of support that help introduce,
implement, adapt and apply technologies
 Focus on implementation
 Questionnaire: (how T. was imple..?, who achieved it?)
 objectives, operation, participation by land users,
 financing and direct and indirect subsidies,
 monitoring and evaluation methods,
 impact analysis
 QT and QA complement each other
SLM Approaches

9. Crop
rotation
lupine
Rainfed tree
plantation
Assisted
regeneration
of cork oak
The assessed SLM technologies

10. I- Crop rotation: Cereal / Leguminous
Compared to the monoculture of cereal, it has the advantage of :
• Providing the capitalization of land use and improve people's food
system,
• Allowing better water and soil conservation,
• Improving yields and income per hectare
• Increasing soil protection by providing better cover 65,5%
• Enhancing the structure of the arable layer
• Improving the resistance of soil to compaction and limiting the
surface crusting
• Improving soil moisture
• Increasing the nitrogen content and organic matter
 But it requires a lot of labour
Dominance of cereals in land use
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
cereals
fallow
fruittree
vegetables
forage
leguem
enous
%
Série1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
bean/wheat wheat/bean Wheat/chick peas oats /wheat Barley/barley
Compaction Capacity Penetrometr(Kg/cm3)
Mecanic Resistance Torvan (Kg/cm3)
Kg/cm3
(%)
-
2,0
4,0
6,0
8,0
10,0
12,0
bean/wheat wheat/bean Wheat/chick
peas
oats / wheat Barley/barley

11. II- Rained fruit trees
 The olive assures a permanent covering of soil on average
66% of the soil surface; whereas the seasonal covering of
rotation Cereal / Cereal does not exceed 52%, with rills in
autumn
 In the olive plot, runoff becomes scarce related to the
alignment of trees, the installation of catchment, the contour
ploughing and the conservation of crop residues.
 Improves the soil and organic matter
 However, this choice makes the removal of livestock
necessary: this is why, rainfed tree plantations do not seem
to be a viable alternative in this region.

12. III - Assisted regeneration of cork oak
 Inside the forest, the social situation of the population
explains the rapid retreat and clearing of the vegetation
cover, the non natural regeneration of cork oak and the
spread of poor species
 The assisted regeneration had proved to be a promising
alternative for two reasons:
 it reduces the degradation by improving soil structure, reducing
surface crust and enriching the soil with organic matter,
therefore allowing a better infiltration.
 it increases plant biodiversity and plant biomass, improves
fodder quality and restores the grass carpet and pasture
capacity.
0,00
1000,00
2000,00
3000,00
4000,00
5000,00
6000,00
7000,00
8000,00
Reg
1.MD
Reg
2.OP
Eu Pin CL
Dense
CL
Normal
CL Clair CL
Epars
Phytomasseenkgmatièreverte/ha
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Nbd'espèces/m²
Herbacées Arbustes Nbre espèce /m2-2009

13. Documentation constraints
 Difficulty to quantify costs and benefits
 Demanding work, but enriching:
 new insights into applied technologies +
approaches
 accessible worldwide

14. 2nd workshop – December 2008
 The 2nd workshop had as objectives :
 To select promising strategies for SLM to be tested and monitored
during at least 2 years.
 To strengthen trust and collaboration among involved stakeholders, in
order to assure the adoption and dissemination of the successfully
implemented technologies
 The evaluation results were presented to the stakeholders who
discussed their validity, with the aim to select the most positive
options.
 Eight options were presented and ranked depending on their
effectiveness.
 In all cases, farmers’ choice goes with cereal crops with livestock,
that is to say, the maintenance of the current system.
 After several attempts, it was finally possible for them to accept the
idea of introducing a few innovations:
 Planting fodder shrubs in heavily degraded marginal lands,
 Improving grain culture by the technique of mulching and
minimum or no tillage.

15. Conclusion
 Crop rotation Cereal / Leguminous seems to be a good
strategy to use in Sehoul. But there is need for
providing fodder for livestock. The cost of labour and
the availability of workers is a problem.
 Planting fruit trees is also a good opportunity, but it
excludes the flocks from the planted plots, which must
be fenced.
 In the end, the results of the participative
approach experiments have not been
satisfactory. Indeed, what seemed to be a
success of the participative methodology only
proved to be a mere provisory acceptance. In
fact, the dynamics remain driven by what the
farmer believes to be for his best interest,
but which actually is a very short term vision.