Morocco doubled agriculture GDP thanks to Green Morocco Plan – Akhannouch

The Green Morocco Plan has helped to fully exploit the agricultural potential of Morocco and double the agricultural gross domestic product, exceeding 127 billion dirhams (MMDH) in 2021, said Monday the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch.

Responding to a key question on “Food Sovereignty” during the monthly session devoted to general policy in the House of Representatives, Mr. Akhannouch stressed that the Green Morocco Plan has helped triple exports, while allowing the creation of more than 50 million additional working days with an employment rate of 75% in rural areas.

The Head of Government added that the said Plan has helped to improve by 66% the average agricultural income in rural areas. All this through the mobilization, he said, of global investments of nearly 160 billion dirhams, 60% of which are private investments.

He said that after more than 10 years since the launch of the Green Morocco Plan, “we can see with great satisfaction that the scale of its achievements has reached the level of ambition set and achieved the expected goals, especially with regard to achieving food security for Moroccans.”

He cited, in this regard, the main measures to develop production sectors and ensure their sustainability, including those in which Morocco has competitive advantages, noting that the area irrigated with drip was quadrupled, while more than 590 thousand hectares were planted with fruit trees, in addition to the reduction of plant and animal diseases and the strengthening of continuous monitoring of livestock health.

He also reported the development of strategies dedicated to fragile areas, such as the program for the development of oasis areas and the argan tree, and the development of the national program for the development of rangelands in a sustainable management of pastoral resources.

All these factors have enabled the agricultural activity to record results “very positive” during the period 2008-2020, including multiplying the contribution of the agricultural sector to economic growth rates, reducing fluctuations in agricultural growth and limiting its association with seasonal and climatic variables, he noted.

In this sense, the Head of Government expressed his pride in the fact that Morocco has achieved a national coverage rate of between 98% and 100% in terms of basic consumption needs of red meat, poultry, eggs, vegetables, fruits and milk, thus recording the highest indicators in the MENA region, in addition to increasing the rate of coverage of the growing needs of cereals, sugar, and oils.

Also, he noted that the efforts made have reduced the deficit in the agricultural trade balance, since the rate of agricultural coverage has increased from 49% in 2008 to 65% in 2020, stressing that the Kingdom has recorded, during the period between 2008 and 2020, a stability of its consumer price index of food products to 0.2%, against 1.7% as the world average for this indicator.

All these achievements had proved their effectiveness during the health crisis, “since they have allowed the production capacity of the national agricultural sector to ensure the food sovereignty of the Kingdom and supply the local market in various food commodities in a stable and secure, without being affected by fluctuations that most markets and economies on the international level.

“Maintaining this upward pace of progress achieved in the agricultural sector requires consolidating the achievements in a well studied and programmed, and avoid dealing with the issue by excessive ideology, “concluded the Head of Government.