114 million to support small farms

MOROCCO. The AfDB will lend €114.03 million to Morocco to help support its farmers. With a total value of €297.05 million, the PADIDZAR programme is designed to strengthen the resilience of Moroccan agriculture in the face of global warming. Spread over six years (2021 to 2026), it concerns 14,000 farms in seven regions, Draa Tafilalet, Béni Mellal Khénifra, Fès Meknès, Marrakech Safi, Oriental, Souss Massa and Tanger Tétouan El Hoceima. It is mainly aimed at small farmers to help them maintain existing water catchment, storage and distribution facilities and to develop new ones.
 
PADIDZAR also aims to improve agricultural practices, for example by avoiding waste and leakage in irrigation networks. The programme will promote agricultural and rural entrepreneurship, create socio-economic development poles at douar level, and conserve natural resources and biodiversity as barriers against desertification in the oases. PADIDZAR will support the creation of cooperatives, agricultural and para-agricultural service companies. The programme will support the professional organisations of producer groups through training and advice.
 
Agriculture represents 40% of the Moroccan working population. The sector is fragmented: 70% of farms are smaller than 5 hectares. Before the end of this decade, the average temperature is expected to increase by 1.1 to 1.6 degrees in Morocco, and rainfall is expected to decrease by 14%. Over the last sixty years, water availability per capita has already fallen by more than 71%, placing the kingdom below the threshold of water stress.