The Tangiers-Tétouan-Al Hoceima region prepares to join the Moroccan National Agricultural Registry
The Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture is continuing with the process of integrating regional data to create the National Agricultural Register (RNA). On 7 March it will be the turn of the Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima region to take part in this integration.
The new register aims to structure and modernise the agricultural sector, using precise information about the farms. To this end, technical assistance will be mobilised from 7 March to improve data collection and ensure its analysis.
The Register will also offer several advantages to both the state and the farmers themselves. These include better targeting of aid, easier access to financing and greater monitoring of agricultural products, especially for export.
Green Generation Strategy
The Ministry considers the RNA, created within the framework of the ‘Green Generation Strategy 2020-2030’, to be a key institutional tool for the modernisation of the agricultural sector in Morocco.
The strategy plays an important role in the investments of a highly strategic sector such as agricultural production for Morocco. Between 2021 and 2023, 58 billion dirhams (5.56 billion euros) were mobilised, of which 55% were public investments and 45% from the private sector.
In addition, subsidies granted under the Agricultural Development Fund (ADF) rose to 13.7 billion dirhams. And, to increase the agricultural area, the services of Ahmed El Bouari, director in the Directorate of Irrigation and Agricultural Planning, indicate that at least 1.2 million hectares are secured with the aim of increasing the agricultural area.
On the other hand, this strategy also aims to double the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030, to 250 billion dirhams (24 billion euros) and increase the value of agricultural exports by 70%.
Consequences of the creation of the RNA
The Moroccan Governing Council approved the bill establishing the RNA on 2 December 2021. As soon as it was approved, the RNA was described as a key tool for the modernisation and efficiency of the Moroccan agricultural sector.
Furthermore, it constitutes an important mechanism for providing a structured database on farms, which also contributes to the design and updating of agricultural strategies, optimising in parallel the implementation and monitoring of projects in efficient conditions.
It also constitutes a structuring element of the Moroccan agricultural panorama, offering a global and detailed vision of the farms, serving to improve the targeting of the aid and subsidies granted by the State, with a view to favouring the development of policies and programmes more adapted to the needs of the operators and the demands of the sector.
Through the RNA, the government aims to accelerate the banking sector by implementing measures that facilitate access to financing in association with the banking network.
Morocco's agricultural sector
This sector represents 14% of Morocco's GDP and employs almost 40% of the working population, according to 2023 figures compiled by ICEX, making agriculture a fundamental pillar of the Moroccan economy.
But despite the importance of the agricultural sector, Morocco faces challenges in terms of water efficiency due to droughts that directly affect work in this sector.
For this reason, Rabat has already implemented measures that help to mitigate these challenges, such as the Green Generation 2020-2030 itself or the Green Morocco Plan.
Likewise, with the RNA, the Moroccan government hopes to achieve improvements in aid and subsidies and to develop policies and programmes that are more adapted to the needs of operators and the sector in general.