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Au Maroc et en Tunisie, la surexploitation des eaux souterraines s'accentue, dans un contexte de baisse de la pluviométrie et d'augmentation des usages. Après plusieurs années de mise en œuvre, l'approche réglementaire et celle cherchant à mobiliser toujours plus de nouvelles ressources en eau ont montré leurs limites. Pourtant au niveau international, certaines expériences ont montré qu'une gestion durable des ressources en eau souterraine est possible en dépit de multiples défis de mise en place. En revenant sur trois expériences fonctionnelles de gestion des eaux souterraines, le présent article vise à analyser dans quelle mesure celles-ci pourraient alimenter la réflexion sur des dispositifs de gestion des eaux souterraines au Maroc et en Tunisie. Nous considérons ces trois expériences comme emblématiques de trois différents types de gestion: i) une gestion des forages; ii) une gestion des surfaces irriguées; et iii) une gestion volumétrique. Ces trois expériences sont mises en œuvre sous une forme de cogestion fonctionnelle depuis plus de dix ans. Elles présentent un gradient en termes de faisabilité de mise en place allant d'un dispositif simple basé sur une gestion des forages, vers un système plus complexe autour d'une gestion volumétrique par les compteurs. Sans chercher à calquer un modèle précis, il est possible de s'inspirer de ces trois expériences pour réfléchir à des solutions adaptées au contexte maghrébin. L'article identifie différentes questions que des acteurs locaux ont à se poser pour réfléchir à la mise en place de dispositifs pilotes de gestion des eaux souterraines, et de possibles étapes pour organiser une réflexion sur les modèles de gestion que pourraient tester de tels dispositifs pilotes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health crisis has highlighted the struggle of female agricultural workers, who are often invisible and absent from public debate and policies. It is during times of crisis that the role of these forgotten actors becomes visible, but without reconsidering their socio-economic conditions. Farm workers are essential and responsible for our food supply. This paper aims to analyze the impact of COVID 19 on the socio-economic situation of female agricultural workers in the plains of Saiss and Gharb and the adaptation strategies mobilized by them to face the challenges they face in such context. The covid 19 pandemic has many impacts on the daily lives of female agricultural workers and their families. Nevertheless, the vast majority of women continue to work in an environment of risk and uncertainty. The reduction in job opportunities, the constant risk of contamination, the stigmatization, and the difficulties of providing income to the families have generated economic and psychological problems. Agricultural work remains the only source of income in the absence of other alternatives. Despite their precarious situation, female workers mobilize various forms of adaptation to ensure their survival and that of their families. Highlighting these capacities for adaptation and resilience makes it possible to rethink the role, rights and working conditions of this category that has been forgotten by development and public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In rural areas in developing countries, the origin and persistence of prevailing narratives of failed collective action have often been explained by the existence of relations of domination. This article focuses on a case in which power relations alone cannot explain the persistence of a prevailing narrative. In a large-scale irrigation scheme in Morocco, farmers and staff from the regional agricultural development authority share the view that farmers lack the capacity to undertake successful collective action. This narrative influences public policies as well as the farmers' self-esteem. It prevails despite rare communication between the farmers and the staff of the development authority and despite several successful examples of informal collective action at local scale. An analysis of the different actors' discourses and of the farmers' practices revealed the different underlying root causes of the narrative: (i) farmers and development authority staff overlook contextual factors, (ii) they confuse collective action with formal farmers' organisations, (iii) the resistance of words where the actors describe a changed situation using the same words, and (iv) the nostalgia of the older generation for a strong state-managed scheme. As a consequence, actors consider that the failure of past collective action is the farmers' fault, irrespective of the unfavourable context and the legacy of the past. Studies of prevailing narratives that are not simply linked to power relationships, should go beyond discourse analysis and focus on actors' practices and on the origin of the narratives. Understanding the roots of prevailing narratives can also help challenging them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]