Morocco Shifts Agricultural Strategy Amid Severe Drought and Water Scarcity

Water is becoming a scarce commodity in Morocco where drought has been raging for a few years, severely impacting agriculture. "According to the national water plan, in a normal year, agriculture received 5 billion m³. Since 2008, the water share of the sector has never exceeded 3.5 billion m³, even during the best years. In 2021, this share did not exceed 1.220 billion m³," explains Mohamed Sadiki, Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, stressing the urgency of prioritizing the production of vegetables such as potatoes, onions or tomatoes, the most consumed in Morocco.

The ministry has taken measures to rationalize water, limiting the cultivation of water-intensive fruits such as watermelon, avocado or citrus fruits. "Last year, we used 1.02 billion m³. For the current year, we only have visibility for 683 million m³. There is a reduction in use because there is rationing and priority is given to drinking water. On this point, it should be specified that there are dams that were totally dedicated to agriculture, today, they supply drinking water. This is the case of the dam in Béni Mellal which for 4 years has been directed to supply the Al Massira dam providing drinking water to Casablanca," details Mohamed Sadiki.

The head of the Agriculture department adds that "today the situation is critical" and that solutions must be provided zone by zone and crop by crop. "Priority is given to certain crops over others. And one of these priorities is to save tree crops, not in the sense of irrigation to allow production, but to allow the tree, which is the production capital, to be maintained," stresses Sadiki, who reassures that arrangements are being made to increase the production of the most consumed products and thus reduce their prices to continue to control inflation at the national level.

"The latest data published by the High Commission for Planning on the consumer price index (CPI) show that inflation has recorded a substantial decline to stand at 3.6% in November 2023, compared to 10.1% in February 2023, the lowest rate since January 2022. This decline was largely attributed to the drop in food prices and fuel prices," says the minister, recalling the maintenance of subsidies for sugar and national soft wheat flour and that the government "closely monitors the evolution of the country’s supply and will take the necessary measures if necessary".