MOROCCO – Morocco has entered into an agreement with France to support the “Green Generation 2020-2030” strategy, aimed to promote agricultural sustainability throughout the Kingdom with US$177 million financing.
Under the new agreement, the Moroccan government and the French Development Agency (AFD), will work together to support the country’s agricultural industry, and make upgrades to its infrastructure to improve the sector’s sustainability.
According to reports by Morocco World, some of the upgrades will include developing agricultural and semi-agricultural entrepreneurship, as well as encouraging agricultural practices that sustainably utilize the natural resources such as water, soil, and local biodiversity.
During the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), French Ambassador to Morocco Helen Le Gal emphasized that, “agriculture has been the mainstay of our bilateral cooperation throughout history,” highlighting the importance of the new initiative for both parties.
Currently, agriculture represents the largest portion of employment in the country, employing about 38% of workers in Morocco.
Moroccan agricultural workers are located in the country’s rural lands, and the agreement seeks to provide assistance to these rural farmers.
This support will include modernizing production chains to facilitate easier integration of small farmers into the commercial food sector.
Another primary target of the initiative is the encouragement of women and younger generations of Moroccans to “develop their own businesses” in agriculture.
Both demographics represent a huge source of untapped potential in Morocco’s agricultural sector, and the director of the ADF in Rabat estimates “up to 100,000” of women and youth could be assisted in starting their own entrepreneurial plans.
Finally, the new agreements will finance the conversion of standard farming into environmentally sustainable organic farmland.
In order to ensure the continuation of important resources for Morocco’s farming industry, the initiative will work to implement “climate-smart farming practices” in the country.
Through maintaining these standards, farmers in Morocco will have steady access to water and viable soil for the foreseeable future.
The agreement outlines the plan as being primarily led by the Ministry of Agriculture in three of the country’s agricultural regions: Sharq, Fez-Meknes, and Souss-Massa.
The Green Generation initiative will also be supported via donations from the EU and the World Bank, with contributions of US$23.6 million and US$250 million dollars respectively.
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