Dry leaves of date palms (DPs) are by-products of date cultivation that are often mismanaged in oasis agroecosystems. Ideally, they should be upcycled in a circular agriculture model before producing and exporting high-value products. Compost inputs enhance soil organic matter and conserve soil. This study investigated composting of four mixtures based on farming system requirements and the availability of organic resources. The DPs were used alone or combined with sheep manure and rock phosphate. We experimented with farm-scale windrow composting to improve understanding and support decision-making. The results showed that temperature increased rapidly to 70 °C at the beginning of composting in the mixtures with manure. Organic matter content decreased by 40% in all windrows during composting, which indicated organic matter mineralisation and loss of volatile solids. Composting DP with or without sheep manure for 136 days with two turnings conserved nitrogen and increased the nitrogen content of compost. Mixing DP with sheep manure and rock phosphate increased the final total phosphorus content of compost to 0.52% (dry matter basis). Our results highlight that composting DP is a feasible alternative to improve circularity in oasis agroecosystems, by increasing organic matter content and fertiliser value, thus paving the way for sustainable production of high-value products from DP.

Casablanca, Morocco’s most populous and economically dynamic metropolis, is undergoing rapid and unregulated expansion, leading to accelerated agricultural land artificialization, landscape fragmentation, and growing socio-environmental vulnerability in peri-urban territories. This study investigates the spatio-temporal dynamics of urban expansion within a 40 km buffer around the city, using multi-temporal Landsat imagery (2015–2025), a GIS-based framework, and supervised classification. Four land-cover classes were extracted (urban, vegetation, forest and water) enabling a diachronic comparison of land transformation processes. Two spatial indicators were mobilized to quantify urban dynamics: the Average Urban Expansion Rate (AUER) and the Urban Expansion Intensity Index (UEII). Results reveal that urban areas expanded by up to 387.9% in some communes, with 15 exceeding an AUER of 25% and 17 falling within the “very high development” category based on UEII thresholds. Land artificialization was most intense along southern and southeastern peripheries, notably Deroua, Tit Mellil, Had Soualem, and Sidi Moussa Ben Ali, resulting in severe fragmentation of agricultural land. The classification of communes into four profiles (fast, slow, consolidated, and stable) highlights varying degrees of territorial vulnerability. By integrating demographic trends (2014–2024), the study exposes mismatches between population growth and land consumption, underscoring the urgent need for integrated spatial diagnostics and governance reforms toward sustainable peri-urban land management.

Morocco’s agriculture is increasingly constrained by climate change, water scarcity, and soil degradation, limiting the effectiveness of conventional farming. Permaculture offers a promising alternative, yet its sustainability in the Moroccan context remains underexplored. This study evaluates the multidimensional sustainability of permaculture farms and identifies key constraints to their resilience, assessing 20 farms in the commune of Brachoua using the IDEA (Indicators of Sustainability of Agricultural Farms) framework, adapted to local conditions through expert and farmer consultation. Scores were calculated across agroecological, socio-territorial, and economic dimensions. Farm typologies were identified using principal component analysis (PCA), with adequacy confirmed by eigenvalues, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO), and Bartlett’s test, and hierarchical ascending classification (HAC), validated by dendrogram structure and silhouette index. Results show strong agroecological performance (65.1±8.51 points), moderate economic sustainability (61.0±13.53), and weak socio-territorial integration (41.1±12.19). PCA revealed two main axes explaining 85.4% of variance, while HAC distinguished two farm clusters: a small group of high-performing farms with stronger socio-territorial and economic linkages, and a majority cluster with average but uniform profiles. Weaknesses include limited livestock diversity, poor soil and water management, lack of product traceability, and weak community participation. The study concludes that while permaculture supports ecological sustainability and financial independence, socio-territorial deficiencies remain the main barrier. Targeted interventions (farmer training, cooperative development, and quality certification) are needed to improve outcomes. More broadly, the study shows the usefulness of combining IDEA with multivariate statistics to generate farm typologies, offering a transferable framework for assessing sustainability in smallholder systems facing climatic and resource challenges.