Morocco Prepares for Eid Al Adha Amid COVID-19 and Drought Challenges

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic did not prevent the celebration of Eid El Fitr, it must be recognized that "the ritual of Eid Al Adha is a matter of logistics". For the minister, "the problem does not arise within households, but within the markets that must be organized". In this sense, he informed the weekly session at the House of Advisors that "the Ministry of the Interior, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, is doing what is necessary to be on time".

It should be noted that in an effort to protect the rural world against the coronavirus, many markets had been closed. But currently, Aziz Akhannouch specified that "12 markets have been opened and it is planned to open 40 more". To this end, he called on employees in the agriculture and maritime fisheries sectors to comply with preventive measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus in the workplace.

On another note, but still concerning his ministerial department, he announced that "early produce exports totaled 1.127 million tons until May 17, an increase of 8%". Tomato exports reached nearly 520,000 tons, an increase of 4%, while citrus exports reached 476,000 tons. He also reported 116,000 tons of beans with an increase of 9%, 44,000 tons of squash (+8%), 129,000 tons of watermelons (+61%), 86,000 tons of berries (+25%) and 32,000 tons of avocados (193%).

Regarding sugar crops, Aziz Akhannouch stressed that the area cultivated in sugar beet has reached "57,000 hectares, equivalent to 96% of the programmed area. Regarding fodder for livestock, Aziz Akhannouch explained that "the ministry has set up a program dedicated to subsidized fodder". Thus, tenders have been opened to maintain this support until next September. In this sense, he notified the availability of the government to support farmers.

Furthermore, in response to deputies’ questions regarding the Eid Al Adha festival, the minister stated that the National Office of Food Safety (ONSSA) has so far carried out the identification operation of 2.6 million head of livestock.