By Yossef Ben-Meir*

As Morocco and other nations develop storage facilities of life-saving provisions for times of severe disasters and crises, my new article looks at the approaches taken by biblical Egypt to survive its cataclysmic famine, which could be helpful today.

MARRAKECH, Morocco | 2 June 2025 (WorldView) — The Kingdom of Morocco is taking a wise measure by building 36 storage facilities that will serve the people’s serious needs during severe crises, should they ever arise, such as the devastating 2023 earthquake in the High Atlas region. Ancient knowledge, as captured in the biblical story of Egypt’s cataclysmic famine, can help guide nations today as they prepare for climatic and other forms of threatening instability that can occur with sudden, destructive consequences.

The oral transmission of information, spanning millennia and embodied in the Midrash, provides helpful guidelines for effectively preparing and ultimately saving lives or even entire civilisations. At the outset, a critical first lesson is that the cost of preparation today is less than the cost that will be borne when calamity strikes. Egypt’s preparation before the onset of the famine, when there was relative price stability, was a critical factor in its survival during the period of profound scarcity and the associated price increase.

The biblical Egyptian experience also notes that, even with Joseph’s correct interpretation of the pharaoh’s dream and forewarning, the famine still came with a suddenness as if the prior phase of abundance had hardly existed. Even when we are aware of potential impending disaster—as we are with today’s climate crisis—when we experience its devastating effects, it feels as if there was no forewarning; whatever bounty may have existed, its abrupt end can be so severe that we feel as if times of plenty never were. This underscores the centrality of preparedness and how vital the measures we take before a crisis befalls. After all, once the crisis happens, what was prior feels like it ended forever and is even forgotten.

Egypt at that time also contended with the people’s lack of appreciation for the essential measures, particularly food surplus storage, to prepare against the looming devastation. The people’s gratitude came only after the fact, when Joseph’s foresight, with the support of the pharaoh, was widely recognised as what had saved them. Leaders today ought not to expect thanks for crisis preparedness but rather find comfort in the fact that, should a catastrophe occur, the measures they have taken to save the people will then be understood and acknowledged.

The Midrashic commentaries of Egypt’s ancient experience note that their famine devastation struck the wealthy at least as profoundly as anyone; no one was spared, and all faced its brutal force.

Rather than indulging during the years of abundance, all people were strictly limited to meeting their essential needs, while the surplus was saved and preserved, gathering crucial provisions to ensure survival. This is a vital guideline, as overconsumption during periods of relative plenty can undermine the critical measures needed to collect and preserve the necessary resources for survival. Overindulgence during abundance—even when measures for storage have been taken—will see its harmful effect when severe scarcity is visited upon society.

Egypt established an arrangement that essentially levied a flat tax of 20 per cent during the preceding non-crisis period to prepare for its coming disaster. The management of that across-the-board arrangement was commonly and immediately understood, more easily regulated for compliance, and seemed fair.

Egypt’s stockpiling was not of a single grain variety, but of a range of innovatively preserved foods and essentials. Product diversity for overwhelming human needs contributes to overall survival by stabilising or dampening (even to some degree) dramatic price spikes and not having to rely on any single or even few products. The biblical text also notes that the storage procedures for different foods and grains require different handling methods. However, general principles included storing products in locations closest to where they were produced to preserve them effectively.

This touches upon a key tenet of disaster preparedness regarding storage, which is that the Egyptians localised it. Each city and town had its facility. Organising storage in this decentralised way involved people nearby in the collection and maintenance of the facilities, and therefore reduced any tendency to panic when the onslaught occurred. Every region preserved its produce, and they adopted strategies that utilised local resources in the preservation process. Some natural preservatives were used in the past, such as quicksilver and mercury as insect repellents, as well as salty soil, dust, ash, and woodchips.

In several instances, storage houses were located underground. When we consider the weather features that scientists describe in relation to our modern climate crises, such as heat domes of increasing intensity (which we are already seeing in Morocco) and ruinous winds, we should seriously consider underground storage facilities.

Notably, even as ancient Egypt’s building and maintenance of storage were local, the dispersing of goods for the survival of the people was centralised to achieve regional balance and minimise waste. Notably, productive divisions of responsibilities between the local and national levels are highly consistent with Morocco’s contemporary decentralisation roadmap and system it is forging.

In the distribution of food and other vital essentials administered by Joseph, Egypt did not immediately open the storehouses when the people asked and even “cried” when the effects of famine were felt. People were able to endure during its beginning phases, and it was only when the famine became “severe” that the storehouses were opened. For Egypt to endure its seven-year civilisational threat, it could only open its storehouses when the threat level was significantly acute.

Storage facilities

The storage facilities designated for the most serious disasters should be particular about when the threshold for their opening should be reached. Opening them too soon could use resources too early and not provide enough resources to sustain the people throughout the entirety of a potentially prolonged crisis.

The location of the storehouses is also of paramount significance. Their placement should, for example, consider that in Morocco’s earthquake, the municipalities furthest from the provincial capital did not receive support as immediately as those in closer proximity, which is often the case worldwide with humanitarian service delivery. The most distant municipalities from provincial capitals might border a city of another province that is also relatively remote from its regional centre. Storage facilities should be established near enough for access by those peripheral locations. This will have a stabilising impact, reducing migration during times of crises and thereby placing less pressure on provincial, regional, and national capitals.

Finally, the biblical text and the Midrashic commentaries describe Joseph’s qualities, as well as effective management attributes, that are essential for societies to survive through cataclysmic events. The attention to detail on the part of national leaders is vital, and becoming somewhat of a grain, food, and critical supply merchant was not beneath Joseph, a prophet. Immediately upon being assigned the lifesaving task of preparing for what could have amounted to doom, he travelled from city to city, place to place, covering the entire land of Egypt, catalysing and assisting its people in their actions to participate in saving their civilisation. Shared purpose and communal direction were discussed and realised, avoiding what could have been widespread panic and enabling survival.

Our leaders today need to have a global humanistic vision, be thoroughly steeped in the specificities of local situations, and be sincerely connected through travel and proximity to the people they serve. The management of storage facilities could not be relied upon to be a strictly bureaucratic function. Still, it was one of the most committed, focused, and immediate leadership teams to help steer them through the seriousness of what had befallen them.

The scripture and Midrash point out that surrounding nations, too, were saved by Egypt’s preparedness. It was its bounty and storage that spared people, communities, and countries beyond Egypt. The viceroy and pharaoh allowed those from abroad to come and obtain supplies to survive, which not only ensured the continuation of their societies but also generated essential revenue for Egypt and facilitated growth in the years following the end of the famine.

The Midrash speaks of the kindness and generosity of the viceroy as a person who did not speak harshly and who was discerning and wise in his consideration of the future ramifications of present actions. Food distribution required compassion and focus, and was a matter of cost to ensure survival; non-depletion of resources required unusual thoughtfulness and calculation.

Most of all, consider the exceptionality of such a person who travelled so far and constantly, who connected with the inhabitants in all parts of his nation, and who provided in accordance with the children of families and their needs. For one to be so effective as to save nations beyond his own provides a guide for us today, four thousand years later, as we, too, face imminent threats. Perhaps it could be helpful to our beloved Kingdom of Morocco as it sets out to apply the lessons of recent years and the human condition, and build storage facilities to save its people, should the need ever arise.

Morocco encompasses all the biozones of Northern Africa and the Middle East and is not only home to a diverse people but also to vast biodiversity. Morocco, long committed to South-South unity, maybe that breadbasket that not only saves itself but also the countries surrounding it, should it succeed in storing in preparation for what the world can put upon us.

*Yossef Ben-Meir is President of the High Atlas Foundation and resides in Morocco.

Image: Amerzgan, located in the High Atlas region of Morocco, is one of the most severely damaged villages following the 2023 earthquake. CC BY-SA 4.0