Ahmed El Bouari, a leader in the National Rally of Independents party, emphasized that for his party, the agricultural sector is not an electoral topic to be mentioned every five years, nor a political tool. Instead, it is a "national project that must remain far from opportunistic and electoral exploitation." He considered that support mechanisms were fundamentally created to serve the farmer, not for marketing or electoral signaling.
During a large rally of the National Rally of Independents party attended by about 13,000 people in the city of Tetouan, in the presence of the Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch, party president Mohamed Chouki, Speaker of the House of Representatives Rachid Talbi Alami, and a number of party leaders and activists, the Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests began his speech by expressing his satisfaction with the government's decision to remove the additional hour. He noted that he felt its comforting effects immediately upon its application on Sunday morning.
The RNI leader responded to voices criticizing government support for the agricultural sector, calling for this support not to be turned into an "accusation" or a taboo subject. He explained that providing support to farmers and herders is a duty to protect the livelihoods of thousands of rural families and ensure the continuation of food production that all Moroccan families need, especially in light of the exceptionally harsh conditions the sector has faced due to seven consecutive years of drought.
El Bouari praised the courage and resilience of over 1.4 million farmers and herders nationwide, who continued to work day and night to ensure the supply of food products to the markets. He stressed, in response to questions about exports, that exports have "never been at the expense of the national market," but rather are a fundamental component of the production system that contributes to job creation in rural areas and attracts investments.
The speaker reviewed the achievements in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, noting that dealing with farmers' issues requires the highest levels of responsibility and seriousness, as agriculture is an essential part of the Kingdom's strategic security. He highlighted that over 2,350 km of rural roads in the region have been developed and their isolation removed, irrigated areas have been expanded by over 32,000 hectares, over 53,000 hectares have been planted with fruit trees, and 33 units for processing local products have been established.
He also pointed to the readiness of the Loukkos agricultural hub to operate and the ongoing work at the food hub in Tetouan, along with the modernization of livestock markets and the structuring of slaughterhouses. He affirmed that investments allocated to the region reached about one billion dirhams and contributed to injecting over 2.5 billion dirhams, which positively reflected on improving the income and living conditions of over 700,000 citizens in rural areas, most of them small farmers.
