This paper examines how French colonial agricultural schools in Morocco (1912--1956) displaced indigenous farming practices with intensive European techniques. Using grid-level data combining the 1931 census with 1955 agricultural maps, we find each additional agricultural school corresponds to 793 hectares more European cereal cultivation—but only where rainfall exceeds 300 mm annually. Regions exposed to colonial agricultural education show greater specialisation in water-intensive cereals and reduced crop diversity. Linking to 2004 DHS data, we find households in these regions demonstrate lower dietary diversity and greater vulnerability to drought. This paper identifies education as a key channel embedding ecological fragility in rural Morocco

Selected Presentations : 

• Agricliometrics VI - Universidad de Alcalá 

• Pamplona FRESH Workshop - University of Navarre 

Revise and Resubmit invited, Explorations in Economic History

We examine the long-term impact of colonial-era primary education on educational attainment and gender disparities in Morocco. Using archival records of school locations (1931, 1954) combined with DHS data (2004), we assess how exposure to colonial schools influenced later outcomes. Schools for Moroccans had lasting positive effects, especially where no European schools existed nearby. Jewish schools, more accessible to girls, helped narrow gender education gaps. Evidence points to two mechanisms: improved access to girls' education and the diffusion of gender-equitable social norms.

Download the latest working paper here 

Selected Presentations : 

• Economic History Society Annual Conference – Newcastle University

• Cities and the Wealth of Nations – University of York

• Development Economics Seminar – University of Gothenburg

• External Seminar, Unit for Economic History – University of Gothenburg

• LEGACIES Workshop – Norwegian University of Science and Technology

• School of Economics PhD Conference – University of East Anglia

This paper examines the association between French colonial schools and post-independence electoral outcomes in Morocco. Using data on 579 candidates across 124 municipalities in Morocco's 1963 elections, I explore whether colonial education correlated with support for different types of authority. French rule created two elite pathways: protégés (modernising commercial families) and Caids (traditional administrators). Both groups attended colonial schools at comparable rates, allowing me to distinguish socialisation from educational access. Municipalities with higher colonial school density showed 13-15 percentage points higher probability of electing protégé candidates and 16 percentage points lower support for the nationalist party Istiqlal. These findings suggest educational content—not mere credentials—shaped durable electoral preferences persisting seven years after independence.

Selected Presentations : 

• Economic and Social History Workshop - University of Cambridge

Did colonial education expand where it complemented settler agriculture? Using newly assembled geo-coded data on colonial primary schools and the post-1917 expansion of large European-owned farms in French-protectorate Morocco, we show in a difference-in-differences design that grids in exposed municipalities gained about 2.6 additional schools after 1917. The effect is driven by schools for Muslim Moroccans, and suggests schooling expansion followed colonial economic strategy rather than local educational demand.