Agriculture in Morocco 2019 Report

The agriculture sector remains the main driver of growth for Morocco’s economy, contributing 19% to GDP – divided between agriculture and agro-industry, which hold a 15% and 4% share, respectively. The sector is one of the country’s main employers with a workforce of over 4m people, including over 100,000 working in agro-industry. The Green Morocco Plan (Plan Maroc Vert, PMV), which was launched in 2008 and runs until 2020, is the national agricultural policy.

The plan is responsible for generating growth in the sector as well as preparing for future challenges, such as food security, climate change and
an increasingly competitive global market.

Harvest Results

In the 2017/18 season the sector experienced overall growth, despite late rainfall. The harvest averaged 2.3 tonnes per ha, representing an increase of 27% compared to the previous season and 7% compared to the 2014/15 season, when a record production of 115m tonnes was recorded. Cereal production reached 10.3m tonnes, up 7.3% from the last crop year, while a record 2m tonnes of olives were produced, up 22.3% from the previous season. Sugar crops increased by 3.6% to meet 46% of the country’s demand, while legumes increased by 3.4%.

Agricultural exports increased by 4% in 2017/18 compared to the previous season. As a result of this successful harvest, the government has high
expectations for 2018/19. There have already been promising results in some areas such as citrus production, which is expected to reach a record 2.6m tonnes, an increase of 18% from the previous harvest.

In 2019, 220,000 tonnes of certified seed and 680,000 tonnes of fertiliser will be available to farmers, in addition to a 610,000-ha extension of areas
equipped for agricultural irrigation, 1m ha of land for growing cereals and 500,000 ha for fruit trees.

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