Souss Region Research Articles

Epidemiological aspects of the association of the hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype with metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk factors in Morocco. Case the Amazigh population from a geographic region called Souss.

The global prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) increases susceptibility to non-communicable diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, posing significant health risks. Effective prevention and management require objective tools. The hypertriglyceridemic waist (TG+WC+) phenotype is proposed as a less expensive approach to identify individuals with metabolic syndrome and other cardiovascular risk factors. The current aim of this investigation is to study the epidemiological characteristics of the hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype and their correlations with cardiovascular risk factors and MetS in the Moroccan Amazigh ethnic group from the Souss region of Morocco. A total of 827 Amazigh adults from the Sousse region of Morocco were divided into four distinct phenotype groups: TG-WC-, TG+WC-, TG-WC+, and TG+WC+ (normal TG- or high TG+ triglycerides/normal WC- or high WC+ waist circumference). The association of the different phenotypes with MetS and other cardiovascular risk factors was established by logistic regression analysis. The prevalence of the TG+WC+ phenotype was 27.7% and varied according to age group and sex. Among subjects with the TG+WC+ phenotype, most were 41-60 years old (53.3%) and in women (74.2%). Participants with the TG+WC+ phenotype had the highest prevalence of dyslipidemia (87.3%), hypoHDLaemia (69.9%), and general obesity (37.12%). The three phenotypes TG-WC-, TG+WC- and TG-WC+ were less associated with MetS and other cardiovascular risk factors. Moreover, people with the TG+WC+ phenotype had a very high odds ratio for MetS. These findings suggest that the TG+WC+ phenotype exhibits a robust correlation with MetS and additional variables connected to cardiovascular risk. The TG+WC+ phenotype serves as a valuable clinical instrument for detecting individuals vulnerable to MetS and cardiovascular diseases.

Consanguinity, complex diseases and congenital disabilities in the Souss population (Southern Morocco): a cross-sectional survey

BackgroundSeveral studies showed that the perpetuation of consanguinity increases homozygosity and homogenizes the population's gene pool. This allows the expression of recessive deleterious mutations and increases the prevalence of genetic disorders and birth defects. Despite the reported negative health effects, consanguinity is still practiced in Morocco. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and socio-demographic determinants of consanguinity in the Souss region and to assess the association of this type of union with congenital disabilities and complex diseases. To meet this aim, a survey based on a cross-sectional approach was conducted between January 2019 and January 2020 among 520 randomly selected participants in the Souss region.ResultsThe findings revealed a high prevalence of consanguinity of 28.46%, with first-cousin unions accounting for 16.15% of all marriages. According to multivariate logistic regression analysis, early age at first marriage, men’s occupation, endogamy, and parental consanguinity were predictive factors for consanguineous unions in the study population. Moreover, the results revealed a significant association between consanguinity and the incidence of physical disabilities (OR = 3.753; [95% CI 1.398–10.074]), mental retardation (OR = 5.219; [95% CI 1.545–17.631]), deafness-mutism (OR = 4.262; [95% CI 1.004–18.089]) and cardiovascular diseases (OR = 2.167; [95% CI 1.036–4.530]). However, no significant association was found between consanguinity and diabetes, cancer, asthma, epilepsy, and psychiatric disorders.ConclusionOverall, our results suggest a high practice of consanguinity in the Souss population, associated with social, economic, and cultural factors. Consanguineous unions were associated with a high incidence of mental retardation, physical disabilities, deafness-mutism, and cardiovascular diseases. In this population, where marriage between relatives is highly preferred, awareness programs are not sufficient, and genetic studies on consanguinity-related diseases are necessary to provide specific premarital screening and thus increase the efficiency of genetic counseling.

Ethnobotany, traditional knowledge, and nutritional value of Argan (Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels) in Western Anti-Atlas of Morocco.

The Souss region in Morocco is known nationally and internationally for its essential knowledge of traditional herbal medicine and the cultural heritage of nutrition. The endemic species Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels is an important crucial plant used by the local population to treat many diseases and prepare some authentic foods. To identify the therapeutic uses of the Argan tree [Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels] and their benefits in preparing authentic foods, the survey was conducted using semi-structured questionnaires. We have achieved 450 interviews with traditional health practitioners and knowledgeable villagers. In the region of Chtouka Aït Baha and Tiznit (Western Anti-Atlas). In parallel with this survey, we collected some old local manuscripts from conventional practitioners in the region. The data obtained were analyzed using specific ethnobotanical indices such as Use Value (UV), Fidelity Level (FL), and Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC). In parallel, we analyzed the nutritional value of some authentic foods derived the argan oil (Amlou, Tagoulla, and Labsis). All 450 interviewees use the argan oil in food or for the preparation of their authentic foods derived (Amlou, Tagoulla, and Labsis); among them, 100 persons use Argan, in addition to food, in the treatment of various diseases with UV and RFC at 1.94 and 0.22, respectively. Among eight treated diseases by argan tree, the treatment of skin and subcutaneous diseases had a very highly significant value of the FL index (98%). Similarly, the analysis of the manuscripts collected in the study area revealed an ancient therapeutic use of the argan tree. The results also show that the Argan oil extracted from the seed is used to prepare authentic foods with significant nutritional value, especially Amlou.

Assessment of remotely sensed precipitation products for climatic and hydrological studies in arid to semi-arid data-scarce region, central-western Morocco

The lack of ground-based data remains the main challenge for hydrologists working in semi-arid to arid regions. In this context, remotely sensed precipitation products (SPPs) are crucial for widespread hydrological and climatic applications. The core benefit of SPPs is their high spatial-temporal resolution with evenly distributed precipitation estimates. However, their accuracy can vary considerably with climatic conditions and location and should be concisely evaluated beforehand. Therefore, this study is a first attempt to exhaustively compares and evaluates the performance of three widely used SPPs (CHIRPS, TRMM and PERSIANN) against ground-based observations at daily scale over the Souss data-sparse region (Central-western Morocco). Our proposed approach consisted of three main steps. The reference gauge method was adopted to evaluate daily precipitation data. Next, the hydrological simulation method was used to assess the performance of SPPs in simulating the observed streamflow in four locations of the SRB using multiple models. The non-parametric methods were applied to assess the capacity of SPPs in capturing precipitation extremes and characterizing the hydrological signature of SRB based on streamflow extreme detection. Our findings indicated that the three SPPs were not able to well reproduce the total amount of daily ground-based observations over the Souss region (CCmedian < 0.51; PBIAS > ±35%). The HEC-HMS model coupled with the TRMM product is the most appropriate combination for daily river flow restitution and for hydrologic signatures detection in SRB. For extreme precipitation events, CHIRPS showed satisfactory performance in capturing nearly all extreme events indices while PERSIANN and TRMM demonstrated reasonable ability to capture the wet extreme events. Therefore, it is still rather difficult to replace completely the ground-based data. Consequently, we recommend to further improve the satellite-based algorithms to adapt to the complex topography and special characteristics of semi-arid data-scarce regions.

Amazigh-Arabic Code Switching in Amazigh Radio Discourse: Frequency and Structure

Language contact has been one of the most interest-arousing disciplines for linguists, especially sociolinguists. The study of language contact explores mainly the nature and the outcome of the contact between languages or varieties in a bi- /multilingual setting. When speakers of different languages interact, they may use different varieties back and forth to convey and communicate their messages. This reciprocal interchange between two languages or varieties is called code-switching (CS hereafter). The present study attempts to document the nature of code switching between Amazigh and Arabic in the Amazigh radio discourse. The data of the study consists of three radio talk-shows that were aired in two different Amazigh radio broadcasts, so the source language is supposed to be Amazigh. The Amazigh variety involved in the talk-shows is Tashelhit as all the participants come from the Souss region where this variety is used. Therefore, we investigated the intervention of Arabic into the Amazigh discourse through CS. An integrated approach with both qualitative (structural analysis) and quantitative (frequency distribution) methods of analysis was adopted for the purpose of this paper. The results of the study reveal that the rate of Amazigh-Arabic CS is very high. It takes place at different discourse boundaries and involves various syntactic categories. It seems to be a natural linguistic behavior among Amazigh bilinguals. Besides, the analysis demonstrates that both Arabic and Amazigh interchange the role of matrix language (ML) and embedded language (EL) in the light of Myers-Scotton Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model (1993).

Seasonal trend of Eutetranychus orientalis in Moroccan citrus orchards and its potential control by Neoseiulus californicus and Stethorus punctillum

Citrus brown mite, Eutetranychus orientalis (Klein), known as major pest of citrus crops in different countries, was considered as a quarantine pest in Morocco. This pest is currently among the most potential enemies of Moroccan arboriculturists following the increasing ineffectiveness of the majority of acaricides used in conventional orchards. The present study was designed to collect and morphologically identify specimens from 31 orchards in the five main production regions of Morocco; to study the population dynamics of this pest in Taroudant as well as the molecular identification of a Phytoseiid considered as a potential predator using the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene. Morphological description confirmed that the collected adult females from all orchards in the five regions belong to E. orientalis. Thus, this exotic pest has invaded all citrus growing regions since its introduction. In the Souss region, two significant peaks of population outbreaks of this pest were observed. A first peak from November until the end of December 2017 and in winter, a second peak is recorded in early autumn 2018. Thereafter, mite infestations remained at lower levels throughout the summer. In addition, it appears that eggs represented between 50 to 88.7% of population in spring and winter seasons respectively, but percentage of adult females does not exceed 2.3% in autumn and winter seasons. Adult females of Neoseiulus californicus, larvae of Stethorus punctillum, were more abundant and very active on orange leaves and weeds during period of observation. Molecular analysis using 12S ribosomal RNA gene confirmed that the best query coverage 99.23% (E-value = 5e-176) with 99% of recovery identical to N. californicus. The phylogenetic tree obtained from comparison of the specimens’ generated DNA sequences with other individuals from Neoseiulus genus revealed the relationship with species N. californicus. These results suggest that orchard management will favour the plant cover associated with citrus trees and thus ensure sustainability, diversity and high density of phytoseiides and other predatory insects. This auxiliary fauna, like N. californicus, S. punctillum, will be able to control spider mites, as well as other phytophagous insects and keep them below damaging levels in citrus orchards in the Souss region.

Religious Reform Trends in IfraneAtlas-Alsaghir: The Traditional Coranic School of Tankert as a Model

In the 14th century AH, a movement of religious and literary renaissance emerged in the oasis of Ifrane Atlas-Alsaghir that was called “The valley of the poets”. The religious jurists (الفقهاء) and the poets in this region are still contributing to literary and religious knowledge in the southern souss region, and in the Maghreb in general. The total of what was mentioned by the Ifranian poets reached more than twenty thousand verses of poetry, in addition to other works of prose and rhetoric as stated by Muhammad Al-MukhtarAlsoussi in his book Al-Maassoul (المعسول).&#x0D; This study aims to investigate into the roles of the traditional religious school of TankertinIfrane Atlas-Alsaghir, and its contribution in the field of intellectual and literary knowledge production in the domains of poetry, Sufism, and religious education. This paper will also provide an overview of the role of some prominent Ifranian local families in the emergence of Sufi trends like Ennasiriyah(الناصرية), Darqawi (الدرقاوية), and Tijania(التيجانية) religious movements. Furthermore, this study will shed more light on the social roles of the prominent religious poets and jurists who taught jurisprudence, literature and Sufism in this traditional Coranic School

Meloidogyne arenaria attacking eggplant in Souss region, Morocco

Root-knot nematodes extracted from eggplant (Solanum melongena cv. Black beauty) root samples collected from plantations in the Souss region of Morocco, was identified as Meloidogyne arenaria based on female perineal pattern and sequence-characterized amplified region polymerase chain reaction (SCAR-PCR) technique.

Land use in the Souss region, South Morocco and its influence on wadi dynamics

Land use in the Souss region, South Morocco and its influence on wadi dynamics

Yobeen forecast software reliability assessment using measured data of the Souss upstream region

The current study took place in Souss region and aimed to evaluate the reliability of forecasted weather data provided yobeen forecast software through the identification of relationships between real and forecasted climatic parameter. Real twelve weather station data history were used. Studied climatic parameters are air temperature and humidity, global radiation, wind speed and referential evapotranspiration (ETo). That later depends on previous parameters and was calculated using Panman-Monteith formula. Each of those measured parameters was compared, correlated to its forecasted homologous one. It was, hence, concluded that yobeen forecast, software using GFS forecasting, is able to predict successfully air temperature, global radiation and referential evapotranspiration while it remains less efficient to provide reliable wind speed and air relative humidity unless a calibration effort would be performed.

First report of the dagger nematode Xiphinema pachtaicum on onion in Morocco.

In 2018, during a survey in Souss region of Morocco, the dagger nematode Xiphinema pachtaicum was found parasitizing onion, (Allium cepa L.). The populations of dagger nematode were identified on the basis of their morphological and morphometric characters and by sequencing and analysing the D2D2 region of 28S rRNA. Microscopic observation of females demonstrated the occurrence of Xiphinema pachtaicum on onion. The 28S D2D3 sequences shared 99 to 100% similarity with sequence corresponding to X. pachtaicum in GenBank. To our knowledge this is the first report of Xiphinema pachtaichum infecting onion in Morocco.

Occurrence of the Root-Knot Nematode species in Vegetable Crops in Souss Region of Morocco.

Root-knot nematodes ‘Meloidogyne spp’ are the most destructive group of plant parasitic nematodes causeing serious losses in vegetables crops and this damages worsened when crops grown under greenhouses conditions. In this sutdy, the distribution and characterization of root-knot nematode species collected from the Souss region of Morocco where vegetables crops intensively cultivated were determined by using both morphological and molecular tools. Out of the 110 samples collected from different greenhouses 91 (81.7%) were found to be infested with root-knot nematodes. Thirty-seven populations of root-knot nematodes were morphologically identified based on perineal patterns as well as molecularlly using species-specific primers. The obtained results indicated that Meloidogyne javanica and M. incognita were identified in 86.4% and 13.5% of the total populations, respectively. The lowest incidence of root-knot nematodes (64%) was found in Toussous, whereas the highest frequencies of 100% and 90% were detected in Taddart and Biogra, respectively. As the majority of the samples have been infested with Meloidogyne species; this indicates that there is an urgent need to provide farmers with a proper control strategy.

The typical RB76 recombination breakpoint of the invasive recombinant tomato yellow leaf curl virus of Morocco can be generated experimentally but is not positively selected in tomato

TYLCV-IS76 is an unusual recombinant between the highly recombinogenic tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus (TYLCSV), two Mediterranean begomoviruses (Geminiviridae). In contrast with the previously reported TYLCV/TYLCSV recombinants, it has a TYLCSV derived fragment of only 76 nucleotides, and has replaced its parental viruses in natural conditions (Morocco, Souss region). The viral population shift coincided with the deployment of the popular Ty-1 resistant tomato cultivars, and according to experimental studies, has been driven by a strong positive selection in such resistant plants. However, although Ty-1 cultivars were extensively used in Mediterranean countries, TYLCV-IS76 was not reported outside Morocco. This, in combination with its unusual recombination pattern suggests that it was generated through a rare and possibly multistep process. The potential generation of a recombination breakpoint (RB) at locus 76 (RB76) was investigated over time in 10 Ty-1 resistant and 10 nearly isogenic susceptible tomato plants co-inoculated with TYLCV and TYLCSV clones. RB76 could not be detected in the recombinant progeny using the standard PCR/sequencing approach that was previously designed to monitor the emergence of TYLCV-IS76 in Morocco. Using a more sensitive PCR test, RB76 was detected in one resistant and five susceptible plants. The results are consistent with a very low intra-plant frequency of RB76 bearing recombinants throughout the test and support the hypothesis of a rare emergence of TYLCV-IS76. More generally, RBs were more scattered in resistant than in susceptible plants and an unusual RB at position 141 (RB141) was positively selected in the resistant cultivar; interestingly, RB141 bearing recombinants were detected in resistant tomato plants from the field. Scenarios of TYLCV-IS76 pre-emergence are proposed.

First report of Pepino mosaic virus in tomato in Morocco

Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) is a member of the Potexvirus genus (Martelli et al., 4) that infects a relatively broad host range of plants in the Solanaceae, particularly tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and causes significant losses. The virus was first reported in Europe in 2000 (van der Vlugt et al., 6). Subsequently, it has been identified in Canada and the United States (French et al., 3) and has become widespread on greenhouse tomatoes in many countries. In Morocco the occurrence of PepMV is unrecorded as no surveys on its incidence have been performed until now. Notwithstanding this there are several interception reports of PepMV infection in exported Moroccan tomato fruit suggesting the presence of the virus in the production area (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization, 2). Early in 2009, possible disease symptoms were observed on a number of tomato plants growing in greenhouses in the Souss region of Morocco. Plants exhibited a chlorotic mosaic on leaves, necrotic stems and typical fruit marbling (Fig. 1). Based on these observations viral infection was suspected. Seven tomato samples were tested for the presence of PepMV using a DAS-ELISA kit (Agdia, USA). The presence of the symptoms correlated with positive ELISA results. In 2014 five tomato fruits grown near the towns of El Jadida and Skhirat were sampled from markets in Rabat, three of which displayed symptoms typical of PepMV infection and two had non-typical symptoms. Extracts from all five tomatoes tested positive for PepMV infection following DAS-ELISA using monoclonal antibodies raised against a PepMV isolate (Souiri et al., 5). The presence of PepMV in samples from both surveys was confirmed by RT-PCR amplification. Total RNA was isolated from all diseased fruit and one healthy tomato using TRIzol® (Invitrogen, USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions and subjected to RT-PCR using a PepMV-specific primer pair Pep3 (5'-ATGAGGTTGTCTGGTGAA-3') and Pep4 (5'-AATTCCGTGCACAACTAT-3') targeting a conserved part of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene (Aguilar et al., 1). The cycling regime included reverse transcription for 30 min at 50°C, denaturation for 2 min at 94°C, followed by 40 cycles of denaturation at 94°C for 15 s, annealing at 45°C for 30 s and an extension cycle at 60°C for 45 s with a final extension cycle of 7 min at 68°C. PCR amplicons were fractionated by electrophoresis on 1.5% agarose gels and viewed with a UV transilluminator. Amplicons of the anticipated size (624 bp) were produced from all 12 diseased samples, confirming PepMV infection, whilst no amplicons were produced from virus-free controls. RT-PCR products were sequenced in both directions and the sequences were deposited in GenBank under Accession Nos. KP761701 - KP761712. BLAST analysis of the sequences confirmed the presence of PepMV in the diseased samples which was 99% identical to other tomato PepMV isolates (e.g. EF599605 and JX866666). To our knowledge this is the first report of PepMV incidence in Moroccan tomatoes. Since PepMV has become an endemic disease in many countries and is possibly seed transmitted, efforts should focus on phytosanitary control for both import and export of both tomato fruit and seeds. This work was supported by Domaines Agricoles - UCP (Plant Control Unit) Maâmora, Sale Morocco, University Hassan II of Casablanca and the Ministry of Higher Education of Morocco.

Effect of Irrigation Methods on Water Use Efficiency Applied to Citrus Crop in the Souss Region (Morocco) in the Context of Climate Change

Effect of Irrigation Methods on Water Use Efficiency Applied to Citrus Crop in the Souss Region (Morocco) in the Context of Climate Change

Prediction of Climate Change Impact on Corn Grown in the South of Morocco Using the Saltmed Model

AbstractClimate change is currently considered a major concern for humanity. Future climate projections carried out for the Souss region in the south of Morocco show that temperature will increase by 3 °C and precipitation will dramatically decrease by 63% towards the end of the twenty‐first century. This will have negative impacts on water resource availability in the Souss region which is already suffering from water scarcity. In this study, 'baseline data' based on field experiments, as well as climate change scenarios, were implemented in the SALTMED model to simulate climate change impact. After successful calibration and validation of the SALTMED model for three growing seasons with supplied ‘baseline data’ for Sweet corn, the SALTMED model was run in forecasting mode to obtain future projections of crop evapotranspiration and crop productivity under a changing climate. The obtained results suggested that with increasing temperature, crop evapotranspiration is expected to increase by 15% while crop water requirements are expected to decrease by 13% as a result of the shortening growth season of corn, expected to be 20 days earlier. Crop productivity could exhibit a reduction of 2.5% towards the end of the twenty‐first century. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

English

Plant-parasitic nematodes affect significantly the production of susceptible plants, including olive trees. In this context, nematode communities were determined in soil samples collected from 23 olive growing sites in the Haouz and Souss regions (southern Morocco). These sites corresponded to various modalities: wild (Olea europaea L. ssp. sylvestris) or cropped olive (Olea. europaea L. ssp. europaea), traditional or high-density cropping, rainfed or irrigated. Even free-living nematodes prevailed in most of the sites, high population levels of plant-parasitic nematodes were observed in rainfed cropping systems than in irrigated systems. Ten nematode families and 14 genera were identified. The most important plant-parasitic nematodes detected, in order decreasing frequency of infestation (percentage of samples), were spiral nematodes Helicotylenchus spp. (100%) and Rotylenchus spp. (87%), lesion nematodes Pratylenchus spp. (100%) and root-knot nematodes Meloidogyne spp. (40%). Most of the nematode species were assigned to more or less colonizer nematodes, whereas only one family (Longidoridae) was assigned to persistent nematodes. Considering the two producing areas, plant-parasitic nematodes were significantly more abundant in the Souss region than in the Haouz region, but nematode diversity was higher in the second one. The prevalence of Meloidogyne spp. in the Haouz region would be related to the predominance of irrigated cropping systems in this region. Hoplolaimidae nematodes (Helicotylenchus spp. and Rotylenchus spp.) are better adapted to rainfed conditions that prevail in the Souss region. Co-inertia analysis showed the importance of soil physic-chemical characteristics (e.g., pH, texture and nutrients) on the structure of the plant-parasitic nematode community patterns. The high occurrence of Helicotylenchus spp. in olive orchards may be induced by fertilization. Aphelenchoides spp., Gracilacus spp., Pratylenchus spp., Rotylenchidae and Tylenchidae were supported by coarse textures as it was observed in the Souss region. (C) 2015 Friends Science Publishers

Rôle de la côte Atlantique marocaine dans l'hivernage des limicoles (Aves, Charadrii)

An analysis of the distribution of wintering waders in Morocco showed that 91% were found on the Atlantic coast, where their preferred habitats (sandy beaches, mudflats, marshlands) are best represented. Waders in Morocco can be grouped into three categories based on their distribution: (1) species which occur all along the Atlantic coast, without any favoured sites; for this group the Moroccan coast is part of a continuous range from Western Europe to West Africa; (2) species whose distribution is restricted to northern Morocco, which represents the southern limit of their wintering range in Western Europe; (3) species found primarily on the southern Moroccan coast, which then represents a northward extension of their main wintering area, the Banc d'Arguin in Mauritania. Thus the Moroccan coast is a transitional zone between Western Europe and West Africa, with the northern sector allied to Western Europe, the southern sector to West Africa. The boundary between the two is the Souss region, and the ranges of the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas. L'analyse de la distribution des limicoles hivernant au Maroc a montré que la majorité de ces oiseaux (91%) se répartit sur la côte Atlantique. En effet, c'est principalement le long de ce littoral que les habitats préférés de ce groupe (sablières, vasières, près et pelouses humides) sont relativement bien représentés. Par ailleurs, les principales populations de limicoles du Maroc peuvent être classées en trois catégories selon leur mode de distribution géographique: • Espèces dont la répartition s'étale tout le long de la côte Atlantique; ces limicoles semblent ne privilégier aucune latitude Le littoral marocain représente pour ces espèces une continuité entre les aires d'hivernage en Europe occidentale et celles d'Afrique de l'Ouest; • Populations dont la répartition est restreinte à la région septentrionale du Maroc; celle-ci constitue pour ces populations la limite sud de leurs aires d'hivernage en Europe de l'Ouest; • Populations confinées principalement dans les zones côtières méridionales; le littoral sud-marocain représente, par conséquent, l'extension vers le nord du principal quartier d'hiver de ces populations, le Banc d'Arguin mauritanien. De ce point de vue, le territoire marocain constitue, le long de la voie est-atlantique, une zone de transition entre l'Europe occidentale et l'Afrique de l'Ouest: la partie nord de ce pays joue un rôle analogue à celui de l'Europe occidentale, alors que sa partie sud s'apparente à l'Afrique de l'Ouest. La ligne de démarcation entre les deux secteurs est représentée par la région du Souss et les reliefs du Haut et de l'Anti Atlas.

Ishelhin1 women transmitters of Islamic knowledge and culture in Southwestern Morocco

The Qur'an and Prophetic Traditions (hadith) portray the pursuit of knowledge as a pious endeavour incumbent upon all Muslims, men and women. In various parts of the non-Arabic speaking Muslim world, didactic poetry composed in local vernaculars facilitated the proliferation of knowledge of Islamic dogma, rules of practice, history and lore among local illiterate inhabitants. Especially among women, educational chanting sessions for the internalisation of this didactic poetry were frequently transformed into communal gatherings for ritual worship, in which education constituted a significant component. Among Ishelhin (Berber) women afternoon ritual gatherings, in which centuries-old Tashelhit didactic poetry is still chanted, are held throughout the Souss region of southwestern Morocco today. Tracing the roots of these educational ritual events back to an Ishelhin religious literary tradition and educational campaign that lasted from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, this article contributes to the resurrection of the significance of women's often neglected participation in the transmission of Islamic knowledge and culture.

Competing Global Players in Rural Morocco: Upgrading Legal Arenas

This paper analyses the socio-legal consequences of the competition between different transnational actors for the opportunity to implement their respective legal standards in a plural legal constellation in rural Morocco. The empirical data presented here refer to a rural community located in the centre of the Souss region in South West Morocco. The thesis in this paper is that focussing on the competition between global players for local control reveals that competition accelerates the dynamics of transnational-state-local interaction. Moreover, it seems that transnational-local interaction in a four-way constellation composed of two opposing types of competing global players, the state, and local actors, is much more complex than in a constellation with just one isolated transnational actor. It is argued that the rising degree of legal cross-referencing serves to boost the legal agency of local actors. Neither a revitalisation of tradition nor a strict rejection of interaction with external interveners has evolved, but rather, this interaction has had far reaching consequences for local power constellations and the way in which social conditions are reflected by the law. Thus, the socio-legal consequences of transnational intervention in the rural legal arena are examined along the different comparative axes reflected in these discourses: the potential for conflict and violent action; the impact on local identity; and the intention to link the local legal arena with transnational standardisation. Subsequently, the paper goes on to develop a concept of ‘empowered legal agency’ achieved by an emphasis on socio-legal identity and local culture.