RifMountain range in Morocco
The Rif or Riff is a mainly mountainous region of northern Morocco, with some fertile plains, stretching from Cape Spartel and Tangier in the west to Ras Kebdana and the Melwiyya River in the east, and ...
Area: 13,371 sq miles (34,631 km²)
Elevation: 8,058' (2,456 m)
Highest point: Jebel Tidirhine
Country: Morocco
Mountains: Jebel Musa, Jebel Tidirhine, Salaim, Jebel Mussa, Jebel Bouhalla, Jebel Khmes, Jbel Ijmou'a
The Rif or Riff (Tamazight Arif, جبال الريف) is a mainly mountainous region of northern Morocco, with some fertile plains, stretching from Cape Spartel and Tangier in the west to Ras Kebdana and the Melwiyya River in the east, and from the Mediterranean in the north to the river of Wergha in the south.
The region's name comes from the Berber word Arif.Geologically the Rif mountains belong to the Gibraltar Arc or Alborán Sea geological region. They are an extension of the Baetic System that includes the mountains of the southern Iberian Peninsula across the strait.Thus the Rif mountains are not part of the Atlas Mountain System.
Major cities in the greater Rif region include Nador, Tangier, Al Hoceima (also called Biya), Azghenghan, Selwan, Aâarwi, Imzouren, Ajdir, Targuist (Targist), Tittawin, Berkan, Midar.
The Rif has been inhabited by Berbers since prehistoric times. As early as the 11th century BC, the Phoenicians began to establish trading posts, with approval of or partnership with the local Berbers and started interbreeding thus starting a punic language, on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, and founded cities such as Tetouan, Melilla (Rusadir) and, in the 5th century BC, Tangier (called Tingi, back then). Later the Phoenician power gave way to an independent Carthage city-state, as the major power in the region. After the Third Punic War, Carthage was supplanted by Rome, and the Rif became part of the province of Mauretania. When the latter was divided during the rule of Emperor Claudius, Tangier became the capital of Mauretania Tingitana. In the 5th century AD, the region was raided by the Vandals, and Roman rule came to an end. The region remained under Vandal control until the 6th century AD when the Byzantines reconquered parts of it.According to C. Michael Hogan, there are between five and eight separate subpopulations of the endangered primate Barbary macaque, Macaca sylvanus.]The Rif mountains are also home to the honey bee Apis mellifera major.
The Rif region receives more rainfall than any other region in Morocco, with some portions receiving upwards of 2000mm of precipitation a year.[citation needed] The western and central portions are more rainy and are covered in forests of Atlas Cedar, Cork Oak and Holm Oak, as well as the only remaining forests of Moroccan Fir, a subspecies of the Spanish Fir.[citation needed] The eastern slopes receive less rainfall, and there forests consist mainly of pines, particularly the Aleppo Pine and the Maritime Pine, as well as Tetraclinis.[citation needed]
Massive deforestation due to overgrazing, forest fires, and forest clearing for agriculture, particularly for the creation of cannabis plantations, has taken place over the last century. This deforestation has led to soil degradation due to the washing away of topsoil, which has aggravated the process.
Flag of the Rif Republic (1921–1926)
In 710, Salih I ibn Mansur founded the kingdom of Nekor in the Rif and Berbers started converting to Islam. Berber Muslim kingdoms started establishing more cities. By the 15th century, many Spanish Moors were exiled from Spain and most of them settled in the Rif, bringing their culture, Andalusian music, and even establishing the city of Ashawen (Accawen meaning "horns" in Berber). Since then, the Rif has suffered numerous battles between Berber kingdoms, Spain and Portugal. In 1415, Portugal invaded Ceuta (Sebta), and in 1490 Spain invaded Melilla (Mlilt). There was a period of peace afterwards, but war between Spain and Morocco broke out again in 1859 in Tetouan, where Morocco was defeated. The Spanish-Moroccan conflicts continued in the 20th century, under the leadership of Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi, the Berber guerrilla leader. The Riffian Berbers struggled against Spanish rule and aimed to free the Rif from Spanish occupation. Abd el-Krim later established the Republic of the Rif in 1921. The region was returned to Morocco before the latter gained its independence in 1956.
"If you try to grow other crops here they will fail," says Ahmed, surrounded by lush green fields of cannabis, the illegal plant he and thousands of other poor farmers in Morocco's Rif Mountains depend on.
The country's most notorious export has been cultivated in the traditionally rebellious northern region for centuries, where the climate for growing cannabis, or "kif", is considered ideal above an altitude of about 1,200 metres.
Along the stunning valley that runs between the towns of Taounate and Issaguen, women work in the fields tending this year's emerging crop, while young dealers ply the 70-kilometre (43-mile) road in their cars looking for customers.
But after a massive bust in Spain this month, the attention of European drug agencies is likely to focus again on the continent's main source of hashish -- and on Moroccan efforts to stem the supply.
Spanish police found 32 tonnes of the drug in a truck carrying melons from Morocco at the end of April, and this month the same force discovered 52 tonnes at a warehouse in the southern Spanish city of Cordoba, setting a European record.
Also in April, Egypt said more than 20 tonnes of hashish from Morocco were found aboard a ship in the Mediterranean which a gang of Egyptians and Syrians had been trying to smuggle into the country.
Morocco's interior ministry insists it has spent heavily on tightening border controls and combatting trafficking, while deploying "enormous human and material resources" to eliminating cannabis cultivation.
And there are indications Morocco's once-unchallenged title as the world's number one producer is finally under threat, but only due to a rise in Afghan cultivation.
Its continued importance as a top hashish exporter is not, however, in doubt, despite Rabat's efforts to encourage farmers to diversify.
The International Narcotics Control Board said in its latest report, published in March, that 72 percent of cannabis resin seized by customs authorities worldwide in 2011 originated in the north African country.
"Implementing a policy of alternative development is the cornerstone of our strategy in the fight against the supply of drugs," the ministry said.
But on the Taounate-Issaguen road there are few signs other sources of livelihood are emerging, and Ahmed, the 55-year-old farmer, dismisses talk about the government pushing the region's farming community to quit the habit.
"There is no pressure on us to change."
"Kif is the only crop that can support my family, even though it's not enough, because at the end of the year we need credit," explains the father of eight, who says he earns 40,000 dirhams ($4,700; 3,600 euros) per year.
According to figures cited by the interior ministry, an estimated 90,000 households, or 760,000 Moroccans, depend on kif production, which is concentrated in the northern regions of Al-Hoceima, Chefchaouen and Ouazzane.
Raised on kif
Aberrahmane Hamoudani, 64, a former mayor of Issaguen, or Ketama as it used to be known, is an ardent advocate of cannabis cultivation in the Rif, which he believes dates back to the time of the Phoenicians, who brought the seeds from the east.
"Kif doesn't kill you, but hunger does," he quips.
Authorised by the Spanish, who ruled northern Morocco as a protectorate from 1912, the crop remained legal until the 1970s.
"Ketama used to be a hippie Mecca," says Hamoudani, as he takes a sniff of kif-enhanced snuff.
Since it was banned, efforts have been made to introduce alternative forms of agriculture around Issaguen, including tending to livestock such as cows and goats from Europe.
But farmers insist there is not enough grass for livestock, and that it is too cold to grow other crops.
And there is little by way of tourist infrastructure around Ketama, despite its spectacular scenery, snow-capped peaks and famous local product, though the picturesque town of Chefchaouen 100 kilometres west is a renowned destination for dope smokers.
Hamoudani says cannabis farming is basically tolerated here "as long as things go smoothly," but if there's a big bust, for example in Casablanca, "then they send in the police."
"So here we have a lack of development -- the people are poor -- but the farmers live with this pressure and fear."
Those fears are justified by official figures, according to which Morocco has seized 1,089 tonnes of hashish since 2005 and reduced the area of land dedicated to producing the drug by 60 percent over the past decade to around 50,000 hectares (125,000 acres).
Noureddine Mediane, an MP with the Istiqlal party who has lobbied on behalf of the producers, said 30 percent of those serving time in Moroccan jails are drug traffickers and cannabis farmers.
He called on the government to initiate an open dialogue on kif cultivation, "which is a reality, whether we like it or not."
"It is still there because it is a part of the culture of the people of the mountains. The farmers were born with kif. Their parents and grandparents grew it, as they have done for centuries."
"The majority of these peasant farmers can barely feed themselves for three to four months of the year. We know them and we know how they live. The people who profit are the traffickers, the exporters and the distributors," he said.
