The socio-ecological system of the pre-Sahara zone of Morocco: a conceptual framework to analyse the impact of drought and desertification

Drought and desertification have a significant impact on socio-ecological systems throughout the world, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. In this context, the impact of desertification and drought was analyzed in the pre-Sahara of Morocco. Additionally, a new conceptual framework combining various variables under the context of drought and desertification impacts was developed. The study area has an arid climate and socio-ecological system-based oases. To achieve the goal of the research, a questionnaire was conceived and distributed to a sample of young people (n = 290 on desertification phenomena and n = 290 on drought). A bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSViewer software to highlight the structure of research and the Likert technique was used as a statistical method to analyze the results. The findings revealed that the respondents reported that drought has a high impact on desertification and sand silting. Otherwise, mental health is highly at risk and drought affects strongly the revenue, yield, and land use. In terms of solutions, the respondents recorded water safe as the appropriate option to adapt to drought in this area. However, in terms of desertification, interviewees thought that temperature and wind have a very high impact on desertification. Roads are the most impacted by sand silting and desertification followed by irrigation canals, and settlements. Concerning the solutions, tourism has a moderate impact on desertification. Young people thereby are aware of the climatic factors and the psycho-socio-economic impacts. They are also able to identify the appropriate solutions to desertification and drought.