Africa-Europe: Morocco calls for enhanced cooperation on sustainable agriculture

On Mar 12, 2023

The Kingdom’s ambassador in Rome, Youssef Balla, called for a tripartite cooperation between Morocco, Africa and Europe for a sustainable agriculture, based on the latest digital technologies and a qualified workforce.

The objective of this partnership is to make sustainable agriculture an engine of economic development to ensure food security in Africa, the ambassador said at a meeting on “the evolution of Italian and European agribusiness between sustainability and welfare”, organized recently by the Italian Agency for Green Economy (GEA).

This cooperation could focus on two main areas, namely the promotion of new technologies and the professional training of a qualified workforce for the optimal use of these technologies, the diplomat noted, recommending the implementation of agro-ecological production techniques that effectively meet the needs of sustainable development in Africa.

According to Mr Balla, these production techniques will not only increase agricultural productivity, but also strengthen its resilience to the effects of climate change. They will thus contribute to reducing food and nutrition insecurity on the continent, he explained.

He said the food crisis, which is currently suffocating many populations and economies worldwide, is putting at risk the social fabric, supply chains, raw materials, food and the farmer himself. Sustainable agriculture in an innovative framework, based on research and creation, will help to meet these challenges, the diplomat stressed.

In this sense, he highlighted the new vision of the Kingdom in terms of agricultural development, embodied by the “Green Generation Strategy 2020-2030” which is a continuation of the “Green Morocco Plan”, implemented since 2008.

This roadmap is based on two pillars, namely strengthening the role of the human element through the emergence of a new generation of middle-class farmers and young entrepreneurs and developing a resilient and sustainable agricultural sector through the adoption of smart practices in the face of climate challenges, he said.

Based on the deep conviction of the imperative to strengthen the competitiveness of African agriculture in a world increasingly globalized and marked by multiple free trade agreements, Morocco is committed, as usual, to share all its experience and agricultural know-how with the countries of the continent, said the ambassador.

Morocco’s mandate within the Executive Board of the World Food Programme (WFP), the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger in the world, was recently renewed for the third consecutive year as coordinator of the African Group. Unanimously endorsed by African countries, this re-election is a testimony to the trust placed in Morocco on the one hand, and to the Kingdom’s continued commitment to African causes on the other.