A historic turning point for the Soulaliyates 3 million hectares finally freed up

Averitable rural big bang took place on Thursday in Rabat. The Government Council approved two decrees that are likely to profoundly reshape Morocco’s rural economy. By enacting the reform of the status of Soulaliyates collective lands, the executive is not merely updating regulations: it is transforming a dormant asset into a lever for growth, thus responding to the High Instructions of His Majesty King Mohammed VI for the massive economic integration of rights holders, promising emancipation for thousands of rural families. This is not simply a matter of administrative texts, but the fulfillment of a historic debt to the Soulaliyates communities, the secular guardians of a collective land heritage.
For decades, a paradox prevailed in the Moroccan countryside: men and women worked the land of their ancestors without being its legal owners. The status of “collective land” , a legacy of an ancient social organization, had ultimately become an obstacle to investment and the economic dignity of those entitled to it.
Now, the core of this reform lies in accelerating the process of “melkisation” (privatization free of charge). Until now confined to irrigated areas that are more profitable and easier to develop, this operation is taking a decisive step forward by extending to «Bour» land, which is dependent on rainfall and where precariousness is greater. By extending melkisation to Bour agricultural land, the government is responding to a demand for spatial justice. This shift is crucial: it involves converting an ancestral right of use, which is often precarious and not very «bankable», into a formal title deed. For a farmer in the Souss or in the Middle Atlas region, receiving a land title for his Bour plot is not a formality; it is an opportunity to access credit, invest in modern equipment, and pass on an inheritance to their children.
The stakes are clear. Land formalization is a prerequisite for financial inclusion. By providing members of Soulaliyate communities with indisputable land titles, the state is offering them the key to accessing bank credit and modern agricultural investment.
Land ceases to be merely a source of livelihood and becomes a true productive asset, capable of generating added value and structuring local value chains.
Radia LAHLOU