Morocco concerned by climatic changes

Morocco on Tuesday voiced concern over climatic changes, worsened by the country's location at the crossroads of two seas (the Mediterranean and the Atlantic).

Morocco's location will be an asset only within a genuine North-South and South-South cooperation for environment protection and sustained development, the Moroccan secretary of state in charge of environment, Ahmed Iraqui, told MAP's bureau in Berlin.

The official is representing Morocco in the fifth conference of parties to the United Nations Convention on Climatic Changes.

Morocco was exposed in the few past years to drought, which is intrinsically linked to climatic changes. He noted that drought, which used to hit Morocco once every four years now befalls the country once every two years.

The cyclic drought had prompted Moroccan lawmakers to change the fiscal year as starting from July instead of January to take into account the state of the cereal harvest and agriculture in general.

Agriculture, which accounts for around 20 percent of the GDP and employs nearly half of an estimated 10-million workforce, relies mainly on rain.