Bloomberg: Morocco has no choice but to increase wheat imports due to drought

Morocco “will need to increase the volume of wheat imports” this season due to its sixth consecutive Year of drought, according to the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture and Rural Development (Comader),

“The wheat crop will be “a lot less than last year’s 4 million tons, and the grains harvest will be much below the 7.5 million tons budgeted by the government,” said Rachid Benali, Comader Chairman, in a statement to Bloomberg.

Benali went on to say, “There will be more imports. We don’t have no choice.” He also underscored that “Agriculture is a whole cycle and this year we did not have a proper start for that cycle.”

Morocco is a significant wheat importer and mainly depends on the agricultural industry, which accounts for 12% of the national GDP.

However, a series of droughts has recently harmed local supplies and resulted in the loss of farm jobs, bringing the country’s unemployment rate to 13% in 2023.

A previous report by AI-powered agricultural insights platform Gro Intelligence predicted that North African countries, including Morocco, could face higher imports in 2024/2025 due to the looming threat of a third consecutive year of drought.

By increasing wheat import, the countries will only then be able to meet demand and bolster wheat stocks.

The same report anticipated that the third year of drought might worsen the situation in the region.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC) previously warned about the critical impact of prolonged drought on the Mediterranean region, where reservoirs have reached historic lows, with average dam-filling rates plateauing at 23%.