Civil society and survival: Indigenous Amazigh climate adaptation in Morocco

•Indigenous Amazigh people of North Africa face dangerous climate change.•Options for adaptation to climate change are limited by an authoritarian regime.•Indigenous traditions are ideal for adaptation but are obstructed politically.•Water insecurity was the most frequently discussed threat.•The role of Amazigh civil society is to build social capital and reduce distress. Indigenous Amazigh people of Morocco face dangerous climate change impacts, particularly in the form of drought and changes to the hydrologic cycles, but they also must live outside the circle of patronage under authoritarian rule by the Kingdom and the makhzen. The makhzen is the pool of elites around the King in the military, government, and business which distributes or withholds opportunities and government resources and services. The purpose of this article is to explore role of Amazigh civil society in climate adaptation Moroccan authoritarianism. To do so, focus groups and interviews were conducted around the mountains of Marrakech in rural villages. Participants in the focus groups explained that water insecurity was their most frequent concern, now and into the future. They also discussed obstacles to adapting to this insecurity, such as education that is difficult to access (especially for girls), health problems, poverty and irregular work. Poverty is central to adapting to climate change, as it affects so many other things, such as Amazigh health. When we look to the intersection of the data from the interviews, we see that the concerns revolve around fulfilling basic subsistence and fighting material deprivation, relief from socio-political marginalization, and the provision of help and a shared fate. Each of these central intersections point to the fact that the role of Amazigh civil society under authoritarian rule is to provide a social safety net to relieve suffering and misery.