Climate fluctuations in Morocco affected its vital agricultural sector in light of the consequences of continuous drought for the seventh year in a row, but the Kingdom seeks to confront these challenges by betting on desalination of sea water and economic irrigation technologies.
The indicators appear to be worried about a deficit of rain by about 53% compared to the average of the past thirty years, for the seventh year in a row, according to the Minister of Agriculture, Ahmed Al -Bouari.
Rains are expected to decline by 11% and temperatures rise by 1.3 degrees by 2050, according to a previous study of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The agricultural sector in Morocco contributes about 12% in the gross domestic product, and is still influencing the annual growth rate as it provides 30% of job opportunities, despite the crisis it is going through.
Job loss
The succession of drought caused the loss of about 157,000 jobs in the countryside in 2023, and about 137 thousand last year, to record the country the highest unemployment rate since 2000, reaching 13% in 2023, and in 2024 amounted to 13.3%.
Despite the crisis, agriculture continues to occupy an important place in the country’s exports, as until November provided revenue of 41.8 billion dirhams (about $ 4.2 billion).
This represents about 19% of exports, and the European Union countries represent the main destination for those exports, led by France, with about 675 million tons and 12 billion dirhams (1.2 billion dollars) in 2024, according to the French Press Agency.
These exports mainly include vegetables and fruits that are produced in Masa’ia farms, as Morocco has adopted a huge plan since 2008 to support investors in export crops, and is betting on continuing, despite climate conditions.
Despite its influence, this sector appears steadfastness in the face of drought, according to official data. This is due to several procedures, the most prominent of which is the circulation of localized, less water irrigation techniques, about 53% of the watering area (850 thousand out of 1.57 million hectares), with a million hectares (10 thousand square kilometers) covered in 2030.
Depending on sea water
Also, the seawater is increasingly dependent on a strategic option with the aim of providing more than 1.7 billion cubic meters annually. By 2030, part of which will be devoted to agriculture, but betting on the development of irrigation agriculture is criticizing water depletion in exchange for neglecting rain.
The waters packed with dams currently does not exceed 4.6 billion cubic meters, or 28%filling. There are 70% of this inventory in the spo and luxury pelvis in the northern Kingdom.
Because of the drought, rain agriculture lost about 38% of its production capacity and 31% of its area in the last three years, which negatively reflects the grain crops, as its imports rose to about 9 million tons on average between 2022 and 2024, and by about 3 million dollars annually.
Climate and drought changes also affected the livestock sector, as Morocco signed a agreement last week to import about 100,000 sheep from Australia to compensate for the low numbers in the country due to drought.
Official data showed that herds of livestock and sheep in Morocco decreased by 38% compared to the last census conducted 9 years ago due to successive droughts.
In the face of this paradox, the ministry adopted a program to expand the “supplementary irrigation” of grains in the rainy areas on a million hectares by 2030. This technology enables support “water economy where it only targets the sensitive stages in the growth of seeds,” the irrigation expert Abdel Rahim Hindouf told the Press Agency French.
