National colloquy on agriculture calls for long-term development strategy
Morocco, Agriculture, 7/21/2000

Participants in the national colloquy on agriculture and development held in July 19-20, called for drawing up a long-term, well-defined and transparent agricultural policy to ensure a lasting food security, combat poverty and exclusion and secure the growth of this sector which constitutes the engine of the national economy.

If agricultural and rural development is to be achieved, an objective assessment of the constraints and growth margins of the national agriculture should be conducted to face growth requirements and globalization challenges, said participants.

They also stressed the need to tackle the problem of drought which weaken the national economy and reduce the competitiveness of agriculture. In this regard, they recommended the drafting of a new strategy to alleviate drought effects and follow up and assess of its impact. They also called for activating the role of the drought national observatory in collecting accurate information and detecting the impact of climate conditions on the country's natural resources.

Other recommendations were about consolidation of agricultural popularization, agriculture financing and farmers' debt.

Touching on agriculture investment, participants said a productive and competitive agriculture is needed, local initiative should be encouraged, calling for tax reduction and extending financial aid in the form of subsidies to farmers.

The colloquy, themed "the future of agriculture is our future," addressed topics related to agricultural and rural development strategies, drought: adaptation strategy, agricultural investment, regionalization of agricultural policies and the market and exchanges liberalization.

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