Morocco has been promoting sustainable agriculture, which contributes 15 percent of the overall GDP in the country, for some time.
The country has introduced a series of projects to modernize agricultural production and improve food availability to alleviate poverty.
Last year in December, Morocco announced investments of €200 million in a solar project under the guidance of the Ministry of Energy, Mining and Sustainable Development. The project aims to use solar energy to power water pumps for irrigation - which not only can lower energy costs but also enable less butane gas use in farming. The project aims to increase agricultural water access to upwards of 100,000 hectares of new land by 2021. The solar pumping solutions will be provided by the Moroccan government at a subsidized rate - in order to enable larger farms to become more self-sufficient.
The World Bank has also approved $200 million funding for ‘Strengthening Agri-Food Value Chains Program’ in Morocco that aims to improve and integrate the small and medium agri-food producers and enterprises in Morroco into the agri-food chain. The project also aims to enhance agri-food market efficiency - enabling small producers to access market prices, information as well as connect them with larger buyers.
In addition, the Green Morocco Plan under the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Maritime Fishing was introduced in 2008 to speed up the development of modern and competitive agriculture – with 700 to 900 projects and 100 to 150 billion dirhams of investment over 10 years. The project also aims to decrease poverty in rural areas by improving farm income substantially in the most struggling zones which has witnessed 550 community projects with an investment of 15 to 20 billion dirhams.
All these projects are aimed at promoting sustainable agriculture in Morocco.
Learn more about commercial farming in Morocco at CMT's 6th Commercial Farm Africa on 16-17 October 2018 in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Event Highlights:
· Trends in Africa’s farm investment, business models & case studies
· Country focus : Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
· Focus: Grains, Sugar, Pulses, Fruits and Vegetables, Oil Crops
· Agri trade, markets and buyer’s expectation
· Farm mechanization, digital disruption and innovative technologies to boost agri productivity
· Access to land, quality seeds and input materials
· Financing and Agro processing opportunities
· Logistics, bulking and storage infrastructure development