Morocco

IFAD Asset Request Portlet

Country

Morocco

16

Projects Includes planned, ongoing and closed projects

US$ 1,785.05 million

Total Project Cost

US$ 367.03 million

Total IFAD financing

727,045

Households impacted

The Context

Morocco undertook broad reforms in the wake of popular uprisings that affected many other North African countries in 2011. A new government, appointed in April 2017, was expected to pursue economic renewal and focus on job creation.

Economic growth was 4.5 per cent in 2015, but climate-driven variations in agricultural production have long made growth rates volatile. Agriculture contributes 14 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Of Morocco’s population of 34.3 million in 2015, close to 42 per cent live in rural areas, where farming and fishing provide 80 per cent of incomes.

Poverty is essentially a rural phenomenon in Morocco. About three quarters of poor people in the country live in rural areas. Under Morocco’s ambitious National Initiative for Human Development the poverty rate fell from 14 per cent in 2004 to 6.2 per cent in 2011.

Many rural people have access only to limited amounts of un-irrigated arable land, which has poor agricultural potential. Because farmers often lack formal title to land, it is difficult for them to obtain credit necessary to diversify their sources of income.

The country’s mountainous areas, steppes and arid south are home to most of the poorest Moroccans. The most vulnerable groups include smallholders, people engaged in artisanal fishing, landless people, rural wage earners, unemployed young people and women.

The Strategy

In Morocco, IFAD loans work to improve the incomes and living conditions of poor rural people.

Activities target smallholders and landless farmers, small-scale livestock producers, rural women and unemployed young people in the poorest areas of the country.

Our country strategic opportunities programme (COSOP) for Morocco focuses on poor regions where rain fed agriculture is the main source of income. It is aligned with the second pillar of the Plan Maroc Vert strategy adopted by the Moroccan government in 2008 to revitalize agriculture.

Key activities include:

  • increasing the participation of rural communities in the development process, and raising the organizational and managerial capacities of rural people and their grassroots organizations;
  • promoting access, especially by women and young people, to appropriate and sustainable financial services, particularly microfinance tailored to their needs;
  • developing broad partnerships with local development associations, agricultural water users’ associations, women’s associations and microfinance cooperatives; and
  • promoting farming as a business through a value chain approach both upstream in production and downstream in marketing.

IFAD works to ensure projects are sustainable by sharing responsibility for their success with poor rural people.

We build strong partnerships with government, public agencies, research institutions and relevant associations.

Results-based country strategic opportunities programme (COSOP):
Arabic | English | French | Spanish

Country Facts

An estimated 11 million Moroccans, around one in every three, live in a rural areas.

Agriculture and fisheries contribute nearly 20 per cent of gross domestic product, and 80 per cent of income in rural areas.

Since 1979, IFAD has financed 14 rural development projects in Morocco, totalling US$268.6 million, benefiting 715,745 households.

Country documents

Related Assets

Kingdom of Morocco - Country Strategic Opportunities Programme 2022-2027 Type: Country Strategic Opportunities Programme
Region: Near East, North Africa, Europe and Central Asia

Country Experts

Projects and Programmes

Projects Browser

PLANNED Under design after concept note approval

APPROVED Approved by the Executive Board or IFAD President

SIGNED Financing agreements signed

ONGOING Under implementation

CLOSED Completed/closed projects

No matching projects were found
No matching projects were found

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Morocco and IFAD to invest in smallholder farmers’ climate change resilience

December 2019 - NEWS
A new €82.6 million agricultural development project financed by IFAD and the Government of Morocco will help 11,200 vulnerable households to increase their productivity and incomes in the face of climate change.

IFAD to provide $46.5 million to reduce poverty and revitalize mountain areas in Morocco

December 2016 - NEWS
Rome, 19 December 2016 – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Morocco today signed a financing agreement to improve the living conditions of rural people in mountain areas and reduce poverty by 30 per cent by 2030.

New country office opening signals strengthened partnership with Morocco

April 2016 - NEWS
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In rural Morocco, one woman’s efforts transform the lives of many

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When Fatima-Zohra first arrived in her new home, a rural village in the Moroccan highlands, she discovered the local women didn’t have many job opportunities. But they were enthusiastic about the idea of going into business for themselves – and so Fatima-Zohra got to work.

Restoring Morocco’s mountain ecosystems with reforestation

March 2021 - STORY
In many areas of rural Morocco, climate change has led to widespread erosion and desertification, causing steep declines in soil quality. This makes farmland less productive, endangering the livelihoods of the area’s small-scale farmers.

Recipes for Change: Lamb tagine with Moroccan truffles

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The Highlands of Eastern Morocco, located approximately 1000-1400m above sea level, stretch over four provinces (Oujda, Taourirt, Jerada and Figuig). It is an environmentally and socioeconomically fragile area.

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Since 1979, IFAD has financed 14 rural development projects for a total of US$268.6 million.

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