In many developing countries where agricultural groundwater use led to aquifer overexploitation, direct control over farmers' groundwater use is difficult to implement. This calls for the setting up, at least in the short term, of indirect policies, the efficiency of which will depend on farmers' strategies. The different strategies adopted by farmers to cope with the groundwater crisis are analysed in the Chaouia region in Morocco, where intensive agricultural groundwater use for the past 50 years has led to seawater intrusion in the seashore part and falling groundwater levels further inland. First, strategies may be based on ‘chasing’ groundwater, by deepening boreholes, bringing fresh water in sufficient quantity to the farms or renting fields in areas with sufficient fresh groundwater, so as to maintain a water‐intensive farming system. Second, strategies that may be designated as adaptive, entail adapting the farming system to the water available on‐farm given existing hydraulic infrastructures. These strategies may be considered as more sustainable with regard to water resources. Most of analysed strategies were not at the same time economically and environmentally sustainable. Possible policies to achieve economically and environmentally sustainable activities differ not only in the difficulty of implementing them, but also in the types of farms likely to benefit from them. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

There is an increasing call for local measures to adapt to climate change, based on foresight analyses in collaboration with actors. However, such analyses involve many challenges, particularly because the actors concerned may not consider climate change to be an urgent concern. This paper examines the methodological choices made by three research teams in the design and implementation of participatory foresight analyses to explore agricultural and water management options for adaptation to climate change. Case studies were conducted in coastal areas of France, Morocco and Portugal where the groundwater is intensively used for irrigation, the aquifers are at risk or are currently overexploited, and a serious agricultural crisis is underway. When designing the participatory processes, the researchers had to address four main issues: whether to avoid or prepare dialogue between actors whose relations may be limited or tense; how to select participants and get them involved; how to facilitate discussion of issues that the actors may not initially consider to be of great concern; and finally, how to design and use scenarios. In each case, most of the invited actors responded and met to discuss and evaluate a series of scenarios. Strategies were discussed at different levels, from farming practices to aquifer management. It was shown that such participatory analyses can be implemented in situations which may initially appear to be unfavourable. This was made possible by the flexibility in the methodological choices, in particular the possibility of framing the climate change issue in a broader agenda for discussion with the actors.

Approaches to improve the governance of social-ecological systems are difficult to define in situations where governance is weak, i.e., those involving limited interactions between the actors, and weak management of natural resources. This paper analyzes an action research process implemented in the Chaouia coastal region of Morocco, where weak governance of the social-ecological system led to a groundwater and agricultural crisis. A dialogue between local actors was set up with the aim of identifying strategies to address the crisis. First separately and then together, farmers' groups and staff of public organizations analyzed the existing situation, scenarios for the future of the area, and strategies to cope with the crisis. Contrary to the expectations of the participants, farmers and staff of public organizations had productive discussions. This approach clarified how social learning can be achieved and governance improved in this situation of weak governance.

In Morocco, many farmers rely on groundwater for irrigation. Extensive groundwater exploitation along with the recent droughts, have led to over-exploitation of this resource. We argue that state regulation is necessary but insufficient to manage groundwater. This article determines farmers' strategies in the exploitation of groundwater and explores the perceptions of farmers of the functioning of aquifers and the use of groundwater. We showed that farmers are rather pessimistic about the possibility of stopping over-exploitation of groundwater. However, farmers have a reasonable idea about the terms of the water balance, and were able in difficult groundwater situations to put in place defensive farm strategies to manage water stress. In addition, they continue to confer legitimacy on the state for controlling groundwater exploitation, even though it does not in fact have the means to do so. These are encouraging signs for engaging local groundwater debates.

The design of public policy related to irrigation sectors in North Africa was often based on the state view. Local farmers' organizations, made up of family farms, did not contribute to building the legal framework, which was in turn unable to propose specific solutions for family farming. Legal reforms currently underway in Morocco and Algeria show how difficult it is to integrate field realities. Access to land and water resources is often obtained through informal local coordination modes. The purpose of this paper is to clarify how collective action can integrate the dynamics of local coordination modes and contribute to the formulation of public policies. The underlying hypothesis is that by doing so, the public policies can be continuously renewed and will be more appropriate and robust, and consequently favour rural development. We show that local coordination modes, presently often invisible or even illegal, can help farmers to go beyond survival strategies by providing access to more formal development spheres and policy making. These results should encourage development and extension agencies to redefine collective action as a tool of learning and empowerment centred on the co-construction of public policies. Copyright RÉ SUMÉLa conception des politiques publiques dans les périmètres de grande hydraulique était dans le passé souvent faite selon le seul point de vue de l'É tat. Les organisations professionnelles locales des agriculteurs familiaux n'y contribuaient pas, rendant les politiques publiques souvent peu compatibles avec la dynamique de cette agriculture. Les réformes en cours au Maroc et en Algérie montrent la difficulté d'intégrer des réalités de terrain dans la formulation des politiques publiques. L'accès à l'eau et la terre se fait aujourd'hui souvent à travers des modes de coordination locaux et informels. L'objectif de l'article est d'analyser comment l'action collective peut intégrer la dynamique des modes de coordination locaux pour ensuite contribuer à la formulation des politiques publiques. Notre hypothèse est que ce faisant, les politiques publiques peuvent être renouvelées continuellement et seront plus appropriées et robustes, ce qui contribuera à un développement rural plus durable. Nos résultats montrent que les modes de coordination locaux, souvent informels et invisibles, peuvent aider les agriculteurs familiaux à dépasser des stratégies de « survie » en grande hydraulique, et mettre en place des stratégies de développement. Ces résultats doivent amener à une redéfinition de l'action collective comme moyen d'apprentissage et de négociation pour aboutir à une co-construction des politiques publiques.