Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web
Morocco Week in Review 
August 1, 2009

Unemployment falls to 8% in 2009 Q2 in Morocco.
Casablanca

Morocco's unemployment rate fell to 8% in the second quarter of 2009, down from 9.1% in the same period of 2008, High Planning Commissioner, Ahmed Lahlimi Alami said on Monday. Speaking at a press conference, Lahlimi said unemployment dropped from 14% to 12.6% in urban areas and from 3.9% to 3% in rural areas.

The decrease in unemployment rate benefited mainly rural population aged between 15 and 24 (- 2.1 points) and young urban population aged between 25 and 34 (2.8 points). However, unemployment among urban citizens belonging to the 15-24 age bracket rose from 30% to 30.7%, he noted. The number of unemployed fell to 911,000 in the second quarter of 2009, down from 1,033,000 in the same period of 2008, the Moroccan official underlined.

The Moroccan economy generated in the second quarter 232,000 jobs, of which 196,000 were created by the sectors of agricultural, forests and fisheries, Lahlimi said, noting that industry and handicrafts lost 7,000 jobs.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/unemployment_falls_t/view
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OBG commends Morocco's steady progress in education.
London

The London-based think tank Oxford Business Group (OBG) lauded on Wednesday the steady progress made by Morocco in the field of education. OBG underlined the various initiatives and programmes set to improve the sector of education mainly the 2009-2011 emergency programme.

These initiatives have already posted significant figures, the Group said, noting that the initial successes of the Advanced Learning and Employability for a Better Future (ALEF) programme show that the government may finally have found a feasible formula.

The Group highlighted the efforts made to enhance the education of girls living in remote areas, recalling that investors are being encouraged to set up operations outside the urban areas, with incentives ranging from a 50% exemption from corporate income tax for the first five years to the elimination of the VAT on equipment. http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/obg_commends_morocco/view
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Over 400,000 benefited from OFPPT training in 2002-2008, Prime Minister.
Rabat

More than 400,000 young people benefited from training in the Office of Vocational Training and the promotion of Labor (OFPPT) over the 2002-2008 period, Moroccan Prime Minister, Abbas El Fassi, said on Monday. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 7th Jobs and Training Forum, El Fassi underlined that OFPPT aspires to train some 650,000 young people in the 2012-2013 period and over one million by 2015.

The Moroccan official also said that the government will promote this ambitious strategy through an agreement between the State and the OFPPT, due to be signed by the end of the current year. During 2008-2009, over 194,000 young people benefited from vocational training, while they were only 50,000 during the period 1999-2000.

On his part, OFPPT managing director, Larbi Bencheikh, hailed the paramount interest that H.M. the King Mohammed VI attaches to education and training, adding that these two sectors have become an important factor in the development of businesses and economy in general.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/over_400000_benefit/view
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Arson, carelessness spark Morocco’s spate of forest fires.
By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia 2009-07-28

Fire has devastated large areas of Morocco's forests, affecting the livelihood of many families. According to Interior Ministry officials, a total of 10,000 people and 300 fire engines stand ready to tackle the blazes, which this year have been made more likely by dense vegetation, high wind speeds, and scorching heat.

Fire-fighting resources are particularly primed for action in vulnerable areas such as Tangier-Tetouan, Taza-El Hoceima-Taounat and the Oriental Region. As of July 20th, more than 942 hectares had been destroyed by 193 fires, which experts say were touched off by clandestine cannabis farmers, careless campers, bee-keepers and charcoal-makers.

Most of the blazes were caused by arson or negligence, according to Abdeladim El Hafi of the High Commission for Water and Forests, who said thousands of hectares had been burnt by farmers who grow cannabis illegally, especially in the Rif region.

Negligence is the second most frequent cause of the fires, he added."[The fires are] due to carelessness by campers, farmers who burn stubble, bee-keepers who smoke out their bees using fire, or people making charcoal," El Hafi said on July 21st during a meeting in Rabat held to assess the situation.

At the gathering, area residents expressed fears about the loss of hundreds of hectares of forests that provided many families with their source of income. "My family earns a living by gathering wood. Fires are our worst nightmare," said Samira, a resident of Maamora (near Rabat). Her neighbour, Rahma, agreed. She said families who go on picnics should follow the rules by making sure they put out fires before leaving and not discarding lit cigarettes. "People have to realise that although forests are a recreational area, they also provide a living for many families. We often have to step in and put out fires before they get out of control," she said.

Authorities are trying to raise public awareness by encouraging people to respect nature and not cause forest fires. Tetouan's regional water and forest chief, Col. Driss Mesbah, recently called on the public to refrain from discarding anything that could cause forest fires by roadsides, especially during the summertime.

Prevention and intervention measures have been put in place to limit the devastation that forest fires cause. One new measure this summer is a dynamic risk map that officials say will help them manage the blazes.

"We have a fairly advanced computer model that Morocco is one of the few countries to possess," said El Hafi. The map can produce two risk assessment reports per day and identify high-risk areas based on national weather data. The map complements the other measures put in place with various partners, including the police, armed forces, civil defence authorities, auxiliary forces, air force, and local authorities and councils
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2009/07/28/feature-02
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Farmers Overcome Water Scarcity
By Daan Bauwens BENI MELLAL, Jul 31 (IPS)

Researchers in the central Moroccan region Beni Mellal are introducing new agricultural techniques that increase production while reducing water usage.

Climate change seems to have driven the new measures. Before 1990, drought struck once every five years, now it comes once every two years. Researchers are working on a dual use of rainfall and irrigation to boost production.

"Farmers in Beni Mellal have used irrigation water from two dams and subterranean reservoirs," says Mohamed Boutfirass, coordinator of the biophysical component of the project. "In 1964, the dams provided enough water for all crops in the region; now their level has diminished by 45 percent. The farmers started using more subterranean water, but that has almost been used up, putting us on a straight line to desertification."

Now the International Centre of Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) based in Syria but with centres in 15 countries, and the Institute of Agronomical Research (INRA), part of the Moroccan ministry of Agriculture, together with a regional office for agronomic values in the central Tadla region have introduced earlier sowing in the beginning of November, a month before the conventional date. Early sowing lets seeds take advantage of early rains, and farmers do not need to irrigate in May. This saves crops from the hot Sahara wind Chergui.

Researchers have also introduced new varieties of grain that in laboratory tests have proven resistant to water stress or drought. They have also developed a deficit irrigation technique: using only 70 percent of the conventional quantity suffices for most crops. The researchers have optimised fertiliser use.

INRA and ICARDA have organised several workshops in the municipalities of Ouled Zmam and Bradia to introduce the project to local farmers. Many farmers have as a result started to use the newly developed techniques.

ICARDA and INRA regularly organise field trips for farmers. Some of these are to the Agadir region, one of the driest areas in Morocco, where farmers can see for themselves the consequences of extreme water scarcity. They speak to farmers here about techniques to fight drought.

"This is the essence of our programme," Dr. Bahri Abdeljabar, national coordinator of the ICARDA project tells IPS. "Farmers are doing the work, they are the main players. The project is community-based, that is our innovation."

The results are promising. Introduction of the durum wheat Tomouh has increased yields by 110 to 220 percent. Deficit irrigation saves the average farmer 1,000-1,200 cubic metres of water a year without reducing grain yield.

"The feeling that we are suffering from drought has practically disappeared," Abdelkebir Sefraoui, one of the participating farmers, tells IPS. "My efficiency went up: with half the effort, I have more returns than before. Financially, I have recovered fully from the years of drought.

"Besides, the new varieties, each with their own structure, colour and height, made my fields a joy to watch. That's important for a farmer."

Sefraoui often talks about the benefits of the techniques with several of his neighbours, which persuaded them to adopt the techniques. "This is what we see on the field: auto-diffusion, without the intervention of researchers or technicians," Boutfirass tells IPS.

A socio-economic study group related to the project shows that the improved techniques have led to a 35 percent increase in production.

But even though farmers are recovering, future problems line up. The commission that controls water distribution in the wider Oum Rabbia basin is planning to cut water supply to farmers by half.

According to INRA researchers the irrigation water will be cut because of increasing competition with other sectors. "Especially the tourism sector, which has enormous profits, and can pay much more for one cubic metre than these farmers," says Boutfirass. "But here again, the project can help: if we maximise production and productivity by using our new techniques, the farmer will soon be able to compete with other sectors."

In a new phase of the project, computer-driven mathematical models will calculate the crop and water distribution that maximises gains for farmers.

ICARDA and INRA plan to plot this ideal distribution and spread it on a large scale through a network of associations of water users. With help from ICARDA's international network, the research results will also be out-scaled to similar areas in other countries, "so everybody can take advantage of our research to adapt to climate change," says Dr. Bahri Abdeljabar. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47910
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New Law, But the Same Old Men.
By Daan Bauwens RABAT, Jul 30 (IPS)

The new Moroccan family law was designed to give women equal rights in the family. But five years after its introduction, Moroccan women leaders say opposition to the law from politicians and within the judicial system persists, and the new law has not been able to change Moroccan mentality.

King Mohammed VI adopted the law, the Mudawana, in January 2004. Under the new law, a woman can ask for divorce without her husband's approval. And where men could earlier repudiate their wife arbitrarily, divorce is now made conditional on a decision by the court.

The law changed the rules of polygamy: a man can only have a second, third or fourth wife if he can prove it is necessary for procreation, or if he can guarantee the same quality of life to every one of his wives, as written in the Quran. Also, the legal age for marriage for girls was raised from 15 to 18.

As president and co-founder of the Democratic Association of Moroccan Women (ADFM), Rabia Naciri was a part of the democratic movement that for more than 20 years put pressure on the government to adopt the new law. In 1993 the movement celebrated its first success, when former King Hassan II decided to amend the rules of polygamy: from then on, a woman had to be informed of her husband's decision to marry again.

Naciri says the most difficult stage of the process has been to change society's perception of Islamic laws. "People used to think Islamic law was sacred, while it is only an interpretation of the Quran," she tells IPS. "We needed years and years, working together with more than 200 democratic movements to mobilise, teach, and raise awareness to prepare society for the change we wanted."

On Women's Day Mar. 8, 2000, their efforts culminated in the "march on Casablanca", when more than a million people took to the streets to urge the government to demand reform of the Mudawana.

Islamists then organised an even larger counter-demonstration. Nadia Yassine, leader of the women's branch of the Islamist movement Justice and Charity, denounced the plan as an assault on Islam and Islamic values. She called it a Western conspiracy to halt demographic evolution in the Arab world.

Naciri says that more than anything else, it was this public debate that changed the position of women in Moroccan society. "For years, 1998 to 2004, the Mudawana was in Moroccan headlines, it was constantly discussed on radio and television. It made women realise they were part of society, that they were recognised.

"Women now have the tendency to demand their rights, they will go to court more easily because they realise they could win their case. But unfortunately, that is not always the case."

In spite of the reform, inequality in the family context persists. Moroccan women face persisting domestic violence. A report earlier this month from the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) denounced the "perseverance of segregation and violence against women."

The AMDH says continuing violence is a "real obstacle" to gender equality. "The different initiatives and plans announced by the government after the approval of the new Mudawana remain a question mark."

"Violence persists, the injustice continues", says Soumia Idman, social assistant at the NGO Feminine Solidarity in Casablanca. Feminine Solidarity offers legal support, housing and training to unwed mothers. "In the new Mudawana violence was not adequately addressed," Idman tells IPS, "resulting in widespread impunity."

The new text of the Mudawana is not applied strictly by family court judges. Recent figures show that marriage to minor girls is on the rise - according to the ministry of justice, family court judges received 30,312 requests for marriages to minors in 2006.

In 2007 the number of applications went up to 39,000, of which 68 percent were approved. One in ten marriages in 2007 involved underage girls. The numbers for 2008 have not yet been published.

"Judges have the tendency to take decisions according to their own moral standards, as if they were on a moral mission to save the values of the patriarchal family," says Rabia Naciri. "Other than that, there are politicians that dare to state the Mudawana is not applied because society is not ready for it."

Soumia Idman says the Mudawana is not applied because of "lack of evaluation and monitoring: there is no commission to evaluate the reform on the field."

A large part of the law was designed to address the problem of single mothers and the resulting abandonment of children, but it has not been able to change Moroccan mentality on these issues.

At Feminine Solidarity in Casablanca, 65 percent of the incoming women are pregnant girls who were abandoned when they told their partner about their pregnancy. Other than that, the NGO receives victims of rape, group rape and incest. The women are lodged at the NGO from their seventh month of pregnancy. They are later given professional training to help earn a living.

"Despite the reform of the family code, being a single mother remains a very big taboo in Morocco," Soumia Idman tells IPS. "In the Moroccan mind, all relationships outside of marriage are considered acts of prostitution, so the girls we receive are automatically considered to be prostitutes. They are still not protected enough by the law, cannot go back to their families, and are condemned by society."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47895
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A helping hand for development is stretched out in Northern Morocco.
The MEDA Project for Integrated Rural Development and Natural Resource Management (MEDA-IRD/NRM), completed in December 2008, covered a wide region in Northern Morocco. Characterized by a complex structure and organization, this project, financed by the European Union, is one of Morocco’s leading projects in rural development, and the State’s top priority since the mid-1990s.

Nadia Ben Sellam - Rabat, Al Hayat.
The project strove to improve the management of natural resources in a sustainable manner, improve the living conditions of villagers, and contrast the exodus of people from the rural areas to the urban areas of the country. The project was able to achieve most of the objectives that were underlined in the subprojects. Rather, its success was beyond expectation in some of their constituents, although the objectives of one of its three subprojects were not attained.

Assessing the people's needs
To convince a poor farmer that his land will be washed away by floods if he doesn’t erect barriers outside the limits of his fields, while he knows that dryness prevails and believes that nothing can prevent fate, would be like convincing a parched person that he will die if he drinks impure water. The direct logic of the survival instinct says, “I quench the thirst, and after me the deluge!” It was a very similar situation to this when the MEDA Project for Integrated Rural Development and Natural Resources Management (MEDA-IRD/NRM) reached remote villages in the North of Morocco in 2002, after the financing agreement was signed between the European Union and the Moroccan Government in December 1998.

At that time, it was evident for those living in poor and isolated villages to focus on electricity, water, roads, a dispensary, and a school. Thus, what the project offered to villagers had no direct or tangible effects according to them. “Roads and wells are uncomplicated and quite expensive, and we didn’t want to focus only on rural infrastructure. Our bet was to protect natural resources and improve their long-term management for better agricultural production,” says Adil Bennour, the National Project Manager, speaking about the protection of the land from floods, erosion, deposits, the protection of river banks, the improvement of pasture lands and farming systems.

Defending this bet required great efforts and an on-site presence, for inciting the villagers to rearrange their expectations. He added, “We didn’t ask them to modify their agriculture, but offered them to diversify their farming systems from poorly managed cereal crops to highly profitable fruit-tree production adapted to the conditions of the region”. Hence, an average 100 trees were planted in each hectare of land owned by farmers who applied to the project methodology, and bore their first fruits after three years, according to the type of trees planted.

The project’s six-year implementation period finally pushed the villagers to accept it and get involved, especially during harvest time. This took place on various levels: fruit trees and some income-generating activities for women in the villages (38 operations that benefited 1117 women), and the establishment of 38 organizations working on the project’s objectives, among which nine are dedicated to women, as opposed to seven previously. Moreover, job opportunities, skills, and the necessary financial resources were available, as the budget reached 34.6 million Euros divided as follows: 66% were offered by the European Union as a 22.8 million Euros grant, Morocco contributed with around 9 million Euros, i.e. 26%, and the beneficiaries with around 3 million Euros, i.e. 8%.

The MEDA-IRD/NRM project adopted a three-dimensional approach: land-based, participatory, and integrated. Apparently, the last dimension was the most important one as it took into account the villagers’ needs. It constituted 25% of the project’s objectives and focused on infrastructure and installations (77 km of roads, 69 units of wells and water reservoirs, more than 18,000 m of irrigation canals…). Also, villagers were directed to other local and international governmental and organizational parties that can intervene to meet their other needs.

Beyond Expectations
The MEDA project team worked over more than 8 years hand in hand with the population of seven Northern provinces (Al Hoceima, Chefchaouen, Nador, Oujda, Taounate, Taza, and Tetouan), through three subprojects: the first aimed to protect and manage forest ecosystems in rural areas; the second, with a greater budget, surface area, and number of beneficiaries, worked towards preparing land-use and agriculture development plans in 8 highly eroded small river basins (62 villages benefited from the project’s activities through this subproject); and the third focused on preparing two major agricultural sustainable development plans, for the Provinces of Nador and Oujda.

The objectives of the first subproject were not fully achieved, due to the difficulties encountered by the regional Government responsible bodies in managing the forestry areas in a participative manner. On the other side, the results of the two latter subprojects exceeded expectations. The project manager speaks with enthusiasm linked to the humanitarian relations the team had with the villagers: “The best non-material achievement of the project is certainly this dynamics left by the project implementation on people and the willingness of the villagers to pursue the project activities with their own means.”

The fruit-tree production prompted the farmers to increase their demands, as they were finally reassured that this will increase their income without requiring too much maintenance expenses (around 1000 Euros yearly per family). Hence, the second subproject allocated half of its budget for completing the preparation for soil preservation, and distributed more than one million and a quarter seedlings to farmers, most of which were almond and olive trees, which best correspond to the area’s natural environment. This constituted a 90% success rate. The trees were planted on more than 11 thousand hectares in the provinces of Al Hoceima, Taounate, Taza, Oujda and Nador, where an olive oil mill was established. This, in turn, exceeded a 117% success rate. As for water management and irrigation needs, the two subprojects managed to deal with this issue through the rehabilitation of many small-scale irrigation schemes adapted to local conditions and managed by locally-based water users' associations.

Despite the fact that the third subproject includes the preparation of two agricultural development plans for the provinces of Oujda and Nador, the field intervention was restricted to the first one, while it is expected that the Nador agriculture department will implement the plan prepared for this province with its own means. This project was almost able to achieve 100% of its objectives in many of its constituents (95% success in removing stones from 800 hectares; 83% success in preparing the pastures and forest pastures on 970 hectares; planting more than 1.5 million fruit trees; rehabilitating some 75 Km of feeder roads, 18 Km of small irrigation canals, 68 between wells and water sources, etc.).

Limited success in some areas
The MEDA-IRD/NRM project has undoubtedly achieved its general objectives, but this success will not hide the obstacles and difficulties that prevented it from reaching maximum speed and results. Although it achieved a model experiment in preserving forest land (16 thousand hectares between Taza and Chefchaouen were formally ascribed in the State-owned land registers), the first subproject did not complete the objective of building four production units of forestry products (mainly aromatic and medicinal herbs, honey and mushrooms), though a lot of effort was made by the team for preparing these activities. According to the project’s technical assistant Charles Bajard, this is due to “the administration’s structure and the administrative separation between agriculture and forests, and hence the activities that were achieved on the field do not correspond to the rural development activities that are implemented through this project.”

Moreover, the project was reframed four years before its completion, as many of the initially identified activities did not correspond to what the team discovered on the ground – including the scope of the project and the number of beneficiaries who were overestimated (44 thousand inhabitants instead of 200 thousand). Charles Bajard, who has worked in agricultural development for 30 years, considers that the project outcome “was substantial under the prevailing conditions but could’ve been better”. In order to achieve better results and get closer to the rural people's needs, “rural development projects in Morocco must move away from the strict administrative and control framework which is imposed by the Government authorities as this hinders the response capacity of the projects, while at the same time trying to associate more closely the private sector, in order to increasing agricultural production and promoting sound management practices at the farms' level.”
Refer to the project fact sheet: Integrated rural development of the northern provinces (Morocco)
http://www.eurojar.org/en/euromed-articles/helping-hand-development-stretched-out-northern-morocco/4130
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'We're better off in Morocco'.
John Thorne, Foreign Correspondent. July 30. 2009

Luo Tian Ming, left, a Chinese colleague and their Moroccan sales clerk, Abdelilah Assou, at Mr Luo’s fabric shop in Derb Omar, a market quarter of central Casablanca. John Thorne / The National

CASABLANCA // Tong Wei is not sure why, 18 years after leaving his native China, he still smokes Lesser Panda cigarettes. “Maybe just because everyone back home smokes them,” mused Mr Tong, 30, a leather goods merchant in central Casablanca. “But that’s not to say I miss China.”
Mr Tong is happy right where he is, comfortably established since 2003 in the Casablanca mercantile quarter of Derb Omar, part of a wave of Chinese traders and companies that have flooded Africa in recent years.

African consumers have eagerly snapped up cut-rate Chinese goods and services. But some also grumble that China is profiting at the expense of African jobs, while forays into North Africa are helping to complicate China’s relationship with the Muslim world as it clamps down on a disenfranchised Muslim minority.

The spectre of North African terrorism appeared two weeks ago when Stirling Assynt, a British risk assessment firm, said it had evidence that Algerian militants affiliated with al Qa’eda were urging attacks on Chinese in the region in response to clashes this month between police and Muslim Uighurs in China’s Xinjiang province that have killed around 200 and injured over 1,700.

While it is unclear how the violence started, some Muslims from outside China have condemned what they consider an attack by the Chinese government on their co-religionists.

Algeria’s Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat arose during the civil war of the 1990s, and in 2007 re-branded itself al Qa’eda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). While it primarily targets the Algerian state, the group has also killed and kidnapped foreigners.

In May, AQIM executed a British hostage, Edwin Dyer, after the UK refused the group’s demand that the Jordanian al Qa’eda leader Abu Qatada be released from a British prison.

Attacks on Chinese people or businesses have yet to materialise, but unrest in Xinjiang coupled with the reported AQIM threat have prompted China to warn its citizens abroad and work with local authorities to tighten security for Chinese interests.

About 30,000 Chinese are currently in Algeria, where the government has awarded numerous building and oil contracts to Chinese firms. Neighbouring Morocco represents a frontier of China’s commercial expansion, with at most 2,000 Chinese expatriates, according to the Chinese embassy in Rabat.

“China sees Africa as a virgin continent,” said Tajeddine El Houssaini, an economics professor at Mohammed V University, in Rabat. “This new Chinese presence is part of a strategy to compete with the US and Europe.”

In 2006, the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, made a deal-signing tour of Africa, and China earmarked US$5 billion (Dh18b) to help Chinese companies gain a foothold in the continent. Between 2007 and 2008, trade between China and Africa nearly doubled to almost $107bn.

Meanwhile, African shoppers have been bathing in a flood of cheap household goods imported from China. In Morocco, Chinese merchants in Derb Omar have become notorious for consistently undercutting their local competitors.

The streets around Tong Wei’s shop are clogged with vans, pushcarts, and Moroccan labourers bellowing at one another as they unload made-in-China merchandise. Chinese faces gaze impassively from doorways. At lunchtime, the merchants sit outside eating stir-fry from ceramic bowls.

“My family have always been traders,” said Mr Tong, lighting up a Lesser Panda. His wife Lin, 25, sat beside him on a stool, eating rice with vegetables.

When he was 12 years old, Mr Tong and his family left their home in the coastal province of Fujian and settled in Moscow. Six years ago they moved to Casablanca, where today Mr Tong and his wife sell women’s handbags.

The couple declined to say how much money they made but their earnings allow them to live comfortably and travel periodically to China, where their two young children are staying with Mr Tong’s parents to attend school.

“In Russia the police always gave us trouble,” Mr Tong said. “We’re better off here in Morocco. As long as business is good, we’re staying.”

At a Chinese-run shoe shop nearby, a Moroccan sales clerk named Khadija Azli, 25, is less sanguine.

Six months ago, global financial turmoil snuffed out Ms Azli’s job with a multinational electronics company. She found low-paying work in Derb Omar, where Chinese merchants unable to speak much Arabic or French hire Moroccan assistants.

“The Chinese are colonising us in a way,” Ms Azli said, removing a gold plastic slipper from its box. “For example, this is a Moroccan model. What the Chinese do is they take something like this to China, copy it cheaply, then sell the copy back here.”

Business executive Lin Xiao takes a different view of his company’s place in Morocco.

“Our role is to be like a citizen,” said Mr Lin, who heads Morocco operations for Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications giant.

Since opening in 1999, his office has grown from a handful of Chinese engineers to some 200 employees, 60 per cent of them Moroccan, and now offers training and internship programmes as well. “We’re not just here to make quick money,” Mr Lin said. “Our strategy is long term.”
jthorne@thenational.ae
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090730/FOREIGN/707299844/1002/rss
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Marrakech: City of souks, snakes, and side trips.
Moroccan city saturates all of the senses.
By Jessica Yadegaran Contra Costa Times 07/31/2009

Smoke rises like thin clouds above the Jemaa El Fna, the public square at the center of Marrakech. It is dusk, and white-robed food vendors tame hissing flames as they grill kebabs, simmer sheep heads and saute snails.

The music is hypnotic. Berbers, the original inhabitants of Morocco, play long, mystical strains of a percussive groove, while the Gnawa, descendants of the Sudan, draw throngs of tourists with their drum-and-bass beats. Snake charmers and transvestite belly dancers compete for the camera, while a shoeless girl begs for money.

The scene is the most intense blend of sights, sounds and scents I have ever witnessed, and it is the first thing I tell friends who ask me if I think North Africa is for them. If you are a foodie who loves to shop, you must go to Marrakech. The cuisine is cheap and delicious, and you can design an apartment in "Arabian Nights" chic for less than half what it would cost in the United States. At press time, the exchange rate was eight dirhams per dollar.

However, if you hate being harassed and don't even slightly desire a photograph of yourself with a Barbary monkey on your arm, you should probably stay away.

Regardless, the numbers indicate that Marrakech is reviving its 1960s reputation as North Africa's hot spot. In 2006, the Moroccan government invested $2 billion in tourism-centered projects, such as five-star hotels. The city gussied up riads (guesthouses), and designated a tourist police force to patrol the Medina to tamp down overly aggressive merchants (although you'll still be hassled). The changes seem to be working. A total of 1.5 million tourists — more than the population of Marrakech — hit the city in 2006.

Perfect blend
My fiancé, Joel, and I arrived this past April via Paris. Morocco has always intrigued us, from its cumin-tinged cuisine to its brazen openness. For an Islamic country, it is tolerant and mixed. Gays blend easily on the streets with bearded mullahs and veiled women. As the call to prayer fills the Jemaa each night, gaggles of scantilly-clad girls whiz by the 12th century Koutoubia Mosque.

We stayed at Dar Zouar, a riad in a Medina residential alley, 15 minutes north of the Jemaa. It was quiet, free of peddlers and owned by Thierry, a Frenchman who staffs it with locals.

He has decorated Dar Zouar using the finest housewares available in Marrakech. But it was Amina, the cook and hostess, who won us over with her tagines of chicken, almonds and apricots. Breakfast, which was included, consisted of yogurt, breads, jams, and freshly squeezed orange juice. Mint tea, which Moroccans take with three times more sugar than mint, was served around-the-clock.

The best thing a riad's staff can do is direct you to the Jemaa, which means walking through the snaking, 500-year-old souk (or market). Thierry tried. In French and broken English, he used maps and landmarks to help us navigate the narrow labyrinth of 15,000 vendors. Yet, each time we tried to follow his directions, we failed, winding up in some alley admiring slippers and tea sets.

Unexpected pleasures
Getting lost is obviously the point. The deeper you go in the souk, the more lost you become and the more likely you are to give up and shop. And, despite how confused and cranky we'd get, the souk was still the most authentic part of the Marrakech experience: Taking in the brilliant colors of leather goods, the craftsmanship of lanterns, and the free sesame candies, while donkeys, the "working class," as Morrocans call them, trot by with slabs of concrete on their backs.

Remember, just when you think you've found the silk shawl of your dreams, keep walking. The deeper you go into the souks, the higher the quality of the wares. Also, don't forget to bargain. Merchants expect it.

By the time we actually made it to the square, we were ready to stay awhile. We timed our arrival for the late afternoon, so we could enjoy a cold drink from one of the many terraced cafes — or grab a glass of orange juice from a stand for about 30 cents — before deciding on dinner. Once the grilling began, competing busboys would fight over our patronage, luring us to their grillmaster's picnic tables with promises of vegetable couscous or lamb tagine. Two people can eat in the square nightly for as little as $6.

Before and after meals, we would wander around the square, watching acrobats, listening to storytellers in Arabic, or observing strange phenomena. For instance, pliers and old teeth were spread out on cloths before dentists offering services in the square.

If you're not a roamer, Marrakech may not be for you. Eating, walking and shopping are core activities. There are a few sites to visit, such as the Musee de Marrakech, Badi Palace and Medersa Ben Youssef, North Africa's oldest Koranic school. But they leave much to be desired. These spots are cool and quiet, so tourists use them mostly as respites from the heat and noise.

Untouched beauty
After four days of soaking, we were ready to get out of the city. We hopped a Supratours bus (65 dirhams one-way) for Essaouira, a coastal hamlet three hours west of Marrakech.

You know you're approaching the sea when the arid heat of Marrakech shifts to cool breezes and the pink and coral buildings give way to blue and white ones. Jimi Hendrix and Cat Stevens put Essaouira on the map with visits in the late 1960s, and it has managed to retain its laid-back, hippie charm despite decades of commercialism. Films including Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven" and Oliver Stone's "Alexander" were shot here.

There is a Medina, which includes a souk and a daily market, but the essence of this town is its untouched beauty. A sizable fishing port is surrounded by French piazzas and the Place Moulay Hassan, a social epicenter filled with cafes and views of bobbing, cornflower blue fishing boats. In many ways, Essaouira reminded me of a modest Mykonos, the Greek island. It had the same brilliant sunlight bouncing off the whitewashed buildings.

Since it was too cold to tan on the beach — Essaouira is famous for windsurfing, not sunbathing — we ate our way through town. Our favorite meal and experience was buying freshly caught fish at one of the stalls along the port, where fishermen gather on the docks in the mornings. We selected bass and sole from the wide array of fish and walked it over to one of a dozen grilling stalls, where a chef cooked it with lemon juice over hot coals. For 60 dirhams, it came with salad and bread and was definitely the healthiest meal of our trip.

Quiet respite
While I loved the kinetic energy of Marrakech and the sleepiness of Essaouira, it was a short road trip through the Ourika Valley and into the tiny village of Setti Fatma, with its modest waterfalls, that made me fall in love with Morocco. With the help of Thierry, we hired a driver to take us an hour south of Marrakech and into the snow-capped Atlas Mountains and the pre-Sahara Desert.

Again, the landscape drastically shifted to lush, rolling valleys dotted with wildflowers. Almond trees were in full bloom, and the only signs of life were the occasional casbah, a fortified family mansion, or a Berber tribe crossing streams on its way down the mountain to the verdant valley floor.

As much as I like shopping, turns out my happy place was not bargaining down a fabulous leather handbag in the souk. Instead it was sipping cloyingly sweet mint tea after a hike through the countryside — perhaps the most sensual experience in Morocco.

If You Go Getting There: You can take direct flights from either London or Paris. Getting Around: Grand taxis drive up to six people on specific routes and for a fixed fare. Pick up these taxis at the Jemaa el Fna bus station and post office in Gueliz. You won't have to share Petit taxis (they're usually beige), but expect to pay more. Be sure that the driver runs a meter or agree on a price before you get in. A ride within the Medina should run $2-$5. To Gueliz or anywhere in the new city, the price can be up to $10. Where to Stay: Dar Zouar -- Bab Taghzout in Medina, www.darzouar.com, 011-212-524-38-22-85. In a bed-and-breakfast style, this quaint riad was renovated in 2001. Rates start at about $78.
El Andalous -- Avenue du president Kennedy, Hivernage, www.elandalous-marrakech.com, 011-212-524-44-82-26. The four-star hotel has 195 air-conditioned rooms, spa and restaurant and includes breakfast. Rates start at about $44.
Es Saadi Garden and Resort -- Avenue El Quadissia, www.essaadi.com, 011-212-524-44-88-11. The five-star luxury resort has a 150-room resort, palace suites and villas, as well as a spa, casino and restaurants. Rates start at about $245. What to See: If traditional tourist attractions are your thing, check out these.
Musee de Marrakech -- Place Ben Youssef in Medina, 011-212-524-44-18-93. The museum exhibits include calligraphy, jewelry, ceramics and more. Open 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. daily. Cost is about $3.75.
Badi Palace -- Between Kasbah and Mellah near the Saadian tombs. The ruins of Saadian king Ahmad al-Mansur's palace are open 8:30 a.m.-noon and 2:30-6 p.m. daily. Cost is about $1.25.
Medersa Ben Youssef -- Next to Ben Youssef Mosque. Home to an Islamic school founded in the 14th century, it contains examples of Moroccan art and architecture, included in a large courtyard, prayer room and more. Open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. Cost is about $2.50. More Information: www.ilove-marrakesh.com/
index_en.html Travel tips: If you want to buy spices, go to the spice market in the mellah, the former Jewish quarter. If you're not interested in purchasing something, don't touch it or linger too long in a merchant's space. The concept of window shopping is not a familiar one in the souks. If you are foreign they assume you have money and want to spend it.
n Even though Morocco fosters an open society, it is still an Islamic country and most women cover up. Dress simply and wear nothing revealing or above the knee.
-- Jessica Yadegaran
See a slide show of photos from Marrakech at www.ContraCosta
Times.com/Travel or www.InsideBayArea.com/Travel.
http://www.mercurynews.com/travel/ci_12930545?nclick_check=1
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