Morocco calls for reorganizing markets to the benefit of small farmers

Head of the Moroccan delegation to the 27th annual session of the Governors Council of the Rome-based International Fund of Agricultural Development (IFAD) on Thursday called for re-organizing local markets to help small farmers market their products and reduce the intervention of intermediary subsidiaries.

Addressing participants in this meeting (February 18-19) in Rome, Hassan Benabderrazik, Secretary general of the Moroccan Agriculture Ministry lauded as "particularly important" the theme of "Rural Commerce and Development: stakes and perspectives for poor rural populations "selected by initiative of IFAD chairman, Lennart Bage, to the governors council.

This initiative, he said, "incites us to speed up efforts to ponder on means of re-organizing local markets to help small farmers sell their products and establish agriculture cooperatives in order to improve their income and reduce the number of trade intermediaries."