Territorial Governance and Inclusive Development in Drâa-Tafilalet’s Date-Palm Sector: Assessing the Green Morocco Plan

The Green Morocco Plan (2008–2020) aimed to modernize agricultural value chains, yet its territorial implications for governance, inclusivity, and sustainability remain insufficiently explored. This study investigates its implementation in the Drâa-Tafilalet Region, a major date-palm area characterized by both agricultural potential and persistent socio-economic disparities. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining a survey of producers, interviews with policymakers and stakeholders, and analysis of policy documents. The findings indicate significant improvements in agricultural performance, including an increase of more than 20% in average production and a marked rise in rural household incomes. However, these benefits were unevenly distributed across territories and social groups, with cooperative members capturing greater advantages and some provinces experiencing limited infrastructural progress. Qualitative evidence highlights persistent governance bottlenecks, such as centralized decision-making, weak participatory mechanisms, and insufficient integration of water management. These constraints limited the transformation of technical achievements into durable socio-ecological resilience. By linking agricultural modernization outcomes with territorial governance processes, this research contributes to the literature on agricultural policy and multilevel governance. It also formulates recommendations for the ongoing Generation Green strategy, emphasizing the need for regionally budgeted program contracts, inclusive territorial committees, and integrated resource management to reinforce equity, inclusivity, and sustainability in oasis-based agricultural systems.