Morocco-Agriculture-Environment

 Morocco's agricultural sector: a key component of the country's economic and social development strategy (Symposium)

Fez, Apr 11 (MAP)- Morocco's agricultural sector is a key component of the country's economic and social development strategy, and plays an essential role in ensuring food security for the national population and the stability of rural populations, according to participants at a symposium on local produce.

     Moroccan and foreign speakers at a recent symposium in Fez organized by the "SOS Maroc Terroir" association, affiliated to the Moroccan Alliance for Climate and Sustainable Development (AMCDD), in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University in Fez, pointed out that the agricultural sector, which makes a substantial contribution to the country's economic and commercial growth, provides important services such as maintaining the landscape, safeguarding natural resources and preserving biodiversity, as well as supplying raw materials for the agri-food sector.

     In addition to the richness and diversity of its ecosystems, the Moroccan agricultural sector benefits from its geographical proximity to the European market and significant consumption potential on the domestic market, they added.

In many parts of Morocco, they continued, agricultural production and people's livelihoods are already suffering the effects of climate change, which are expected to intensify over time, and vary across the country. In particular, rising food prices would have a direct impact on millions of low-income people. Among the most vulnerable are those who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and incomes, especially small-scale producers.

    The FAO Representative in Morocco, George Hage, noted that FAO has invested in a number of areas that contribute both to enhancing food security and to promoting climate change adaptation and mitigation.

    FAO, he said, plays an important role in guiding food and agricultural systems in countries exposed to climate risks, with a particular focus on small-scale farmers.

   According to Mr. Hage, the new "TRIPLE-A" Initiative, Adaptation for Agriculture in Africa, launched by Morocco, was an important contribution to COP 22.

In this context it reaffirmed its willingness to contribute to Morocco's efforts to adapt African agriculture to climate change, and to support the recommendations of the African Ministers participating in the High-Level Summit on the African Agriculture Adaptation Initiative.

     In Morocco, he explained, the FAO has been supporting the national strategy launched by the Ministry of Agriculture to promote local produce since the launch of the Green Morocco Plan in 2008.

   For her part, Mounia Benghazi, President of the "SOS Maroc Terroir" association, stressed the need to support rural organizations in order to facilitate the marketing of their products and create a space for the exchange of experience and networking with the aim of promoting and enhancing the value of local products.

     Her association, she pointed out, is working with other partners to help safeguard food security and protect the environment, while combating poverty and creating added value in the region.

For Mrs. Benghazi, "SOS Maroc Terroir" is targeting a major project, of which the terroir symposium is one of the strategies. The association is in the process of setting up a large cluster entitled "Mouvement du terroir au féminin".

   She pointed out that this cluster, made up of 100pc of women producers of a variety of terroir products in the Fès-Meknès region, is seeking funding to implement the cluster's project over a three-year period.

   Ms. Benghazi also emphasized that the aim of SOS Maroc terroir is to boost the marketing of local products through innovations in marketing organization, culinary associations, flavors and processes that meet the needs of today's Moroccan and, above all, foreign markets.-MAP-

http://www.leseco.ma/regions/44914-un-symposium-pour-les-produits-du-terroir.html

Issue: Destination January February 2016