Infrastructure Development and Environmental Change: A Case Study of Forced (Im)mobility in the Mhamid Oasis (Southern Morocco)

The growing amount of hydropower production causes changes in both the social and natural environments. The positive impact of it is appreciated by actors outside the project area. At the same time, those living in the affected river basin face most of the negative consequences, often compensated within a benefit-sharing system. Excluded from compensation are, however, those who live in distant areas, even if they lose their life’s assets, which pushes them to forced (im)mobility. This chapter is based on research into the example of the Mhamid Oasis in Southern Morocco between 2015 and 2019. It explores the complex relationship between socio-economic and environmental factors influencing the (im)mobility decision. The results are based on desk research, a micro census, semi-structured questionnaires, in-depth interviews with household heads, environmental field studies, and analysis of available imagery data. The results show that agriculture in the Mhamid area faces environmental constraints that appeared when the delivery of water to the oasis was limited by the construction of the Mansour Eddahbi Dam. As household income from agriculture is related to environmental changes, household members were pushed to income diversification, mostly through mobility. Therefore, Mhamid Oasis also should be covered by the benefit-sharing rule to counteract the negative impact of these changes.