Evaluation of the Morocco Land Productivity

The project aims to increase land productivity by providing land titles for farmers on collectives, and building and improving industrial zones. It also aims to support national land policy reform that includes updating and improving land laws, regulations, and administrative processes related to land governance. The evaluation aims to assess the underlying theory of change of the Land Productivity Project and evaluate whether the land activities produced the intended outputs and outcomes. The project consists of three activities: (1) the Land Governance Activity, (2) the Rural Land Activity, and (3) the Industrial Land Activity.

The Rural Land Activity will focus on delivering land titles to smallholder farmers by developing a more efficient and inclusive procedure for converting collective land into individual private ownership—a process called melkisation. The activity also supported legal reforms implemented by the Government of Morocco that ensure equitable access to the benefits of collective land for both men and women. Mathematica will conduct a mixed-methods performance evaluation and an impact evaluation using a spatial regression discontinuity with matching design. We will evaluate whether providing smallholder farmers with land titles improves tenure security, access to credit, land productivity, income, and the frequency of land transactions and conflicts. Mathematica will also assess the program’s impacts on female farmers (who have historically faced challenges to accessing and claiming rights to collective land), and measure perceptions and social norms around female land access and ownership using questions from the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index. Baseline data collection will include a household survey, key informant interviews, focus groups, and crop cuts to measure yield. The Industrial Land Activity will focus on introducing systemic changes to transform the development and management of industrial land. Mathematica will conduct a mixed-methods performance evaluation. We will evaluate whether developing and establishing a market-driven industrial land approach will increase the availability of industrial land, occupancy rates, job growth and employment opportunities, and the attractiveness of and returns on private investment. Baseline data collection will include key informant interviews and is expected to take place in mid-2021. The design for the Land Governance Activity has not yet been established.  

Mathematica is working closely with MCC, the Millennium Challenge Account-Morocco and Moroccan government stakeholders as we build evaluation materials and collect data.