18 PERSPECTIVES ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS | VOL 42 | 2024 Overcoming the obstacles of Morocco’s collective land system Christopher J. Marina Morocco is among a small number of countries with a land system in which a community, as opposed to individuals, holds rights over property. Established in 1919 during the colonial era of Morocco, communal land—which covers a third of the country—has since become a polarizing subject. This article examines the social, economic, and environmental problems associated with communal land ownership, explores the often inequitable expropriations of such lands, and suggests solutions to land system modernization. Introduction Morocco is an economically ambitious Mediterranean country contending with a colonial-era land tenure system. The current system of collective land ordinance and ownership stands in the way of national economic, social, and environmental goals. In response, the government’s clear aim is to turn collective land into private land, and if this is the monarchy’s intention, it is likely to happen. If privatization is a top priority of the government, ensuring equity and fairness in the titling process and possible subsequent land sales by residents must also be a prime concern. This article aims to describe Morocco’s land regime and its intersections with other important movements taking place throughout the country and provide possible solutions to revamping land classifications—specifically that of collective land—in Morocco. Morocco’s land is divided into five different classes: collective (about 35% of the country, much of which is devoted to pastoral grazing), state-owned (30%), privately owned (about 25%), religious (less than 100,000 hectares), and gifted land to the military elite making up the remainder (Balgley & Rignall, 2015). Although collective land takes up only about a third of Morocco, it dominates the debate and controversies surrounding the country’s land system. The most common court cases indeed deal with land disputes (Kreuer, 2011); contention arises from actors living on the land as well as outside forces (private parties and the government). Disputes also arise from the “fragmentation” (Balgley & Rignall, 2015) of Morocco’s land system; distinct judicial or statutory laws may apply in different parts of the country, creating confusion and inconsistency (USAID, 2011). The government has made its goals of privatizing and modernizing collective land clear, through acts such as the 2020 Generation Green (International Trade Administration, 2024). This plan calls for modernizing agriculture throughout the entire country, which constitutes a significant portion of the GDP (Kreuer, 2011). Not to be confused with Generation Green, the Green Morocco Plan (2008) also called for doubling agriculture’s added value within a decade and increasing food security by transforming the “underperforming” farming sector of the country (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2024). Morocco’s communal land tenure system Collective land allocation in Morocco is a result of the historical significance of different lineages, groups, and villages. The concept of community-owned land was established by a 1919 Dahir, a royal decree set in the colonial period when it was a protectorate of France (Berriane, 2017). According to the decree, collective land is spread across 55 different provinces and is under the control and protection of the state. It is difficult to know exactly how many beneficiaries live in these areas. Numbers range from a little under 10% of the population, or about three and a half million Moroccans, to 10 million people, more than a quarter of the country (Chaudier, 2023). The government does not keep an official count of how many people benefit from these properties, however, so these are conservative estimates. Each community is regulated differently by its leaders. These leaders are always community members and can be elected by the community itself or appointed by a government body, usually the Ministry of Interior (Balgley & Rignall, 2015). For members who engage in farming and herding, the doi:10.18275/pbe-v042-004
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