2024-07-13 02:15:18
Speaking at this meeting, initiated by Aujourd’hui Le Maroc, Mr. Sadiki stressed that food sovereignty requires that adequate policies be implemented and rolled out in a responsible, participatory and inclusive manner.
At the same time, the minister stressed the importance of taking into account the international economic situation in achieving food sovereignty and security, noting that the succession of crises, drought, the decline in water resources, the Russia-Ukraine conflict have revealed the need for a transformation of the Kingdom’s food system and to invest more in resilience.
Mr. Sadiki also clarified that food sovereignty, which is the right of a country to define its own food and agricultural systems, adding that food security is based on availability (ability to produce its own food), market organization, the health and nutritional quality of food, as well as its stability over time.
“Thanks to the efforts made within the framework of the Green Morocco Plan (PMV), including the adoption of program contracts for the development of agricultural sectors, agricultural productivity has shown satisfactory results, which has made it possible to achieve food needs coverage rates among the highest in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa),” he said.
And to continue that several levers of transformation of the food system of the Kingdom have been activated. This involves a fundraising of more than 40 billion dirhams (MMDH) from donors, 4,500 legal texts produced, 4 new agencies created, 12 regional agricultural plans declined and 19 program contracts signed with interprofessions.
For his part, the Chairman of the Board of Crédit Agricole du Maroc (CAM), Mohamed Fikrat, emphasized the importance of financing in building and consolidating food security and resilience.
According to him, the financing of the agricultural world and the agri-business ecosystem represents between 3% and 4% of the gross domestic product (GDP), of which 85% of this share is financed by the CAM.
“After the success of the PMV 2008-2020, Morocco followed up with the ‘Green Generation’ strategy, on the High Instructions of HM King Mohammed VI. These strategies contribute to building a resilient agri-food industry, which has been put to the test, given the various crises that have followed one another,” said Mr. Fikrat.
Regarding the challenges to be met in order to achieve food sovereignty and security, the Chairman of the CAM Board of Directors mentioned water stress, resulting from climate change and drought, in addition to the problem of distribution chains and land.
Furthermore, Mr. Fikrat praised the efforts made by the Executive in developing the new support program for farmers, which demonstrates the special attention paid to the agricultural world.
With an envelope of 10 billion dirhams, this program concerns support for livestock farming, with an amount of 5 billion dirhams allocated to fodder in sufficient quantity and with a new method of distribution to remedy supply problems and 4 billion dirhams allocated to plant production, he specified, adding that an amount of 1 billion dirhams was allocated to strengthening the social capital of the CAM, in order to help the agricultural bank to grant more credits and to properly support farmers.
For his part, the president of the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture and Rural Development (COMADER), Rachid Benali, affirmed that Morocco ensures food security, unlike other developed countries.
On production constraints, Mr. Benali discussed water resources, noting that 4.6 billion cubic meters of water are needed for annual production and that this year, the agricultural sector had to make do with less than 700 million cubic meters.
In order to address the fragility of the agricultural sector, caused mainly by three years of drought, the president of COMADER recommended addressing the issue of farmers’ profitability with the aim of preserving them.
2024-07-13 02:15:18