ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on local retailers of irrigation equipment in the groundwater-based irrigated area of the Saïss in Morocco. It draws from the innovation system literature and conceptualizes local retailers of drip irrigation equipment as 'innovation intermediaries'. As identified by Stewart and Hyysalo, retailers are often a type of intermediaries with the most direct linkages between use and the supply side of products. The Saïss is a rich agricultural plain in Morocco, located south of the imperial cities of Fez and Meknes. Technical innovation associated with a decrease in the cost of irrigation equipment allowed the exploitation of deep aquifers by tube-wells and the rapid diffusion of drip irrigation systems. Covering about 220,000 hectares, until the 1970s, the Saïss was mainly known for rain-fed crops. The development of irrigation and irrigated production was a significant economic opportunity for many actors in the Saïss region of Morocco.