The Marocco-story (6)
| An old law says kif may be grown in the Rif on certain conditions. The king tried to get around this law, but nevertheless the farmers still refer to this old law, and with a lot of success. It remains a fact that you can't simply force your will on the Rif people. It has to do with culture, a culture that nowadays hardly survived in the rest of Moroccco. Rif people don't care at all for government policy. They don't say so, but they act that way. The are allowed to sow, harvest en sell. But - at least according to the letter of the law - not to sieve! Either are they allowed to enter the 'asphalt road' with kif. When you know this situation, you realise the farmer has a problem; selling his merchandise without taking risks. |
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| He REALLY makes money when he gets involved with an organized transport abroad. But… that means he'll have to wait for his money and be prepared to share the risk. If he's not prepared to do so he will not get his hands on Big Bucks. As long as the farmer wants to stay away from the 'asphalt road', he will only reap the going kilo price for kif. To avoid problems on the asphalt road there are plenty of possibilities. They have one thing in common: they cost money, a lot of money! It's not simply a matter of 'bribing', but more like: we feed each others children. The relation with a district governor IS important to 'be able to feed each others children', and thus supposedly help each other. The situation has improved, the regular farmer is not as suppressed as he used to be, but I've witnessed briberies that were really quite disgusting. However, if you don't have money in Morocco, there's only one advise: GET OUT! |
| Until this very day it's not advisable to enter the area where I built my farm. Quite some people in Tamaroute have never looked any further than the mountain they view from their homes. And uh… many tourists have returned empty handed from the area. Stripped of everything! That is the Rif: first make sure you have the right contacts, or they'll get you. Nobody is waiting for you and your little camera to come shooting their field of kif! Those are rough nature folks with a strong survival instinct. And 'money' is a magic word to them. Most of them need it very badly indeed. Don't forget the average farmer has quite some mouths to feed! But, Inshallah, there will be many plants next year! More and more actually. And Allah smiles benevolently upon the Moroccans. After battling fiercely through the ages the Rif people come out as a people that never were conquered. As a matter of fact, lately the region slowly shows signs of development, but entering Tamaroute Sahel as a tourist… that's still not an option! The tourist board may be planning their little policy safely in Casablanca, but rest assured… that's something the Rif people don't read! |
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Of course, it is 'important' to know how they manage to cultivate ever more territory with kif?! Judging from the paperwork from uncle George's war on drugs, the cultivated territory is slowly decreasing, stimulated by hefty subsidies. But in the real world the territory that is cultivated with kif expands every year. It works like this: A farmer has three sons, who probably like to continue their fathers business. This causes a land problem, so land has to be gained, but how? They simply strike a deal with the forester, burn a piece of forest and secretively sow for a couple of years until they receive a users permit that is accepted by the authorities, which by the way, is simply for sale. Once the forest is burned down, there is kif, and that's it! In the meanwhile, the forester was occupied with something else. The word of this forester, who makes a living for his family, is never written on paper, but is taken bloody seriously. The families know exactly who has burned which part, and leave each other in peace.
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