Morocco Aims to Boost Organic Agriculture Exports with New Development Plan

Morocco is developing an organic sector development plan aimed at putting in place strategic intervention levers to better position itself in this environment, according to an information note from the Ministry of Agriculture. This development plan aims to make the organic sector a flagship industry in the Green Generation 2020-2030 strategy through an area of 100,000 ha by 2030, generating production of 900,000 tons, two-thirds of which are for export.

Achieving this objective will involve maintaining certification subsidies, upgrading and strengthening the organic sector interprofession as well as research, training and supervision in organic production, strengthening control measures for organic products and promoting the organic label nationally and internationally.

Morocco has been involved in organic agriculture since the 1990s and cultivates the main following species: olive, almond, aromatic and medicinal plants, citrus fruits and market garden crops. The main wild species are argan, aromatic medicinal plants, carob and capers.

Over the years, the efforts made have been crowned with success. In 2020, the organic cultivated area more than doubled to reach 10,300 ha compared to 4,000 in 2010, in addition to the spontaneous collection of around 330,000 ha, according to La Vie éco. As for exports, the volume of shipments of organic products - citrus fruits, produce, frozen orange juice, frozen strawberries, olive oil and argan oil - reached 14,000 tons exported in 2020 compared to 10,000 tons in 2010. 90% of the cultivated area is located in Marrakech-Safi, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Souss-Massa, Fès-Meknes, Tanger-Tétouan and Casablanca-Settat.