2020-21 Campaign: Ministry Banks on 10% Increase in Agricultural Food Exports

18 September 2020 Printable Version

Rabat - Exports of agricultural food products should post a growth in volume during the 2020-2021 campaign of 10% compared to the previous campaign, said on Friday the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests.

Despite the problems related to the lack of water in some regions and the international context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020-2021 agricultural food products export campaign, which began on September 1, 2020, presents "promising prospects", underlined the ministry in a press release following a meeting held Thursday, via teleconference, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests.

For citrus fruits, good export prospects are expected on international markets, with a relatively limited offer from Morocco's main competitors and sustained demand for this product rich in vitamin C in the current context marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, noted the ministry.

For the previous 2019-2020 campaign (from September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2020), the agricultural food product export sector recorded "good performance", despite a difficult international context due to the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.

In fact, the value of exports of agri-food products (excluding fishery products) reached during the 2019-2020 campaign, approximately 39.5 billion dirhams, up 8% compared to 2018 ( 36.6 billion dirhams) and 130% compared to 2010 (17.2 billion dirhams).

Exports of market garden products posted a volume of around 1,416,000 tonnes during the 2019-2020 campaign, marking an increase of 12% compared to the 2018-2019 campaign (1,266,000 tonnes), the press release added.

As for tomato exports, they have increased by around 5%, from a volume of 539,000 tonnes during the 2018-2019 campaign to 567,000 tonnes during the 2019-2020 campaign which has just ended.

Red fruits recorded remarkable growth in 2019-2020. Their exports reached during the lastest 2019-2020 campaign a volume of around 89,000 tonnes with a growth of 22% compared to the 2018-2019 campaign (73,000 tonnes).

The ministry also reported a good performance in the export of watermelon, the volume of which reached approximately 241,000 tonnes during the 2019-2020 campaign, against 168,000 tonnes during the 2018-2019 campaign, i.e. an increase of 44%.