WASHINGTON, December 19, 2024 - The World Bank's Board of Directors has approved US$250 million for the Morocco Transforming Agri-food Systems Program, aimed at increasing the Moroccan agri-food system's resilience to climate change and strengthening food safety and quality.
The agri-food sector is vital for Morocco's economic growth, contributing 16 percent of gross domestic product and 19 percent of total exports in 2023. It plays a key role in employment, providing 67 percent of rural jobs and 36 percent of all jobs, with 30 percent in primary agriculture and 6 percent in agri-processing.
However, the sector faces significant challenges due to consecutive years of drought, leading to substantial production declines, especially in the rainfed grain sector, highlighting its vulnerability to climate risks. Given recent economic disruptions and current climate trends, the transformation of Morocco's food system is increasingly critical for stable and sustainable development, including through increased and more efficient production while minimizing negative externalities on natural resources and controlling greenhouse gas emissions.
The new Program is designed to improve climate resilience and risk management in rainfed agriculture by promoting climate-smart practices and improving water and soil management through conservation agriculture. The Program will help improve livelihoods and increase job quality by stabilizing yields and mitigating climate risks, including expanding no-till agriculture and increasing the area covered by reformed agricultural insurance systems.
This initiative will also strengthen food safety, food quality, and nutritional security by supporting the expansion of organic farming to 25,000 hectares, improving olive oil quality control, and mitigating food-related sanitary and health risks at the food distribution level with upgraded sanitary standards for around 1,200 food outlets. The Program also aims to support farmers in producing and marketing quality food and increasing their incomes through better market access. It will also reduce food loss and waste, enhance public and private capacities, and raise awareness of nutrition security. Overall, the Program is expected to benefit 1.36 million people, including almost 120,000 farmers and over one million consumers, with improved food safety and nutrition security.
"By supporting an ambitious scale-up of climate-smart agricultural practices, this innovative Program supported by the World Bank will help Morocco secure green jobs in rural areas and enhance national food security, in line with the country's Generation Green 2020-2030 program," said Ahmadou Moustapha Ndiaye, Country Director for the Maghreb and Malta at the World Bank.
A US$5 million grant from the Livable Planet Fund (LPF) will strategically enhance the Program. The grant aims to support small-holder farmers by implementing an innovative scheme of decoupled incentives, facilitating their transition from conventional to climate-smart practices.
