Estimating the Economic Cost of Land Degradation and Desertification in Morocco

Anas Laamouri () and Abdellatif Khattabi ()
Additional contact information
Anas Laamouri: National Agency for Water and Forests, Rabat 10000, Morocco
Abdellatif Khattabi: National School of Forestry Engineering, Salé 11000, Morocco

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: Desertification affects over 90% of Moroccan territory, leading to soil degradation that reduces agricultural productivity, diminishes biodiversity, and alters environmental functions. This study estimates the total economic cost of desertification in Morocco using a zonal approach based on regional sensitivity. The methodology includes two stages: quantifying productivity losses from water and wind erosion, salinization, overgrazing, silting of dams, carbon storage loss, and land-use changes; and monetizing impacts using methods such as productivity change, replacement cost, and the social cost of carbon. The total cost is estimated at USD 2.1 billion per year, with 78.02% from agricultural and grazing land productivity losses, 2.95% from dam silting, 18.47% from carbon storage loss, and 0.56% from land-use changes. These findings underscore the urgency of public policies, including land use planning, sustainable agriculture, irrigation modernization, and community engagement. Drawing on successful initiatives in the MENA region and globally, Morocco can mitigate desertification’s impacts and foster sustainable development.

Keywords: desertification; soil degradation; economic cost; land productivity; carbon storage loss (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/4/837/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/4/837/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:4:p:837-:d:1632604

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().