Why are Morocco’s famed artisans paving roads in the desert?

A LITTLE MOREGDPGDP than a century ago, Boujemâa Lamali, an Algerian by birth, was recruited to Morocco by its French colonial administrators. His mission: to revive the country’s tradition of artistic pottery. So Lamali set up a school in Safi, on the Atlantic coast. The city became a hub for artisans. Before the pandemic some 2,000 of them officially worked in Safi’s 212 registered potteries. Thousands more toiled off the books. In total, Morocco’s craft sector employed 2.3m people, a fifth of the country’s workforce, and accounted for 7% of .Today, though, the winding alleys of Safi’s famed Colline des Potiers (Potter’s Hill) are quiet. The tourists who thronged the streets—and bought the pottery—have gone, because of covid-19. Morocco’s fell by around 7% in 2020. A large number of Safi’s potteries have closed. For the first time in generations, most of its artisans are jobless or hanging on by a thread.