This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:
Hibapress
As part of Morocco’s participation in the Paris International Agricultural Show (SIA) as a country in the spotlight (February 22-March 2), a partnership agreement to promote innovation and the transfer of knowledge -Faire in the digital agriculture sector between the kingdom and France was signed on Sunday, in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, Ahmed El Bouari.
The partnership sealed between the “digital farm” and the digital center of the Ministry of Agriculture is a key step in strengthening Franco-Moroccan cooperation in the field of Agritech, with the main objective of facilitating the exchanges of ‘Experiences in agricultural technologies, transfer of skills and know-how in this sector.
It aims to promote the dialogue and the emergence of common projects by mobilizing all the actors to boost innovation and expand the prospects for commercial development on the two markets.
The two parties also undertook to strengthen the visibility and integration of startups and technology suppliers, both in Morocco and France.
“The idea is to collaborate on agriculture, which nourishes us, but which is currently going through difficult periods due to the lack of water and resources,” said MAP, Loubna El Mansouri, director From the digital center to the Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests.
The objective is to produce more with fewer resources, she said, by jointly exploring the potential of technologies such as artificial intelligence, IoT and Big Data to transform agriculture.
On the French side, the vice-president of the digital farm, Justine Lipuma, indicated that this convention “has the challenge of working on returning from experience and being able to think together, two projects, one that will be presented at the International Salon Agriculture in Morocco (Siam) of Meknès and a second at the time of the Digital Farm (LFD), our annual day ”.
And to add that the objective is to set up concrete projects in this partnership, in order to work together on the use of digital in agriculture for more efficient and resilient agriculture.
The signature ceremony was preceded by a round table which brought together startups, institutional actors, interprofessions, researchers and experts from the public and private sectors of the two countries around the theme “Agridigital: Building bridges between France and Morocco ».
Speaking on this occasion, Mr. El Bouari said that Morocco has fully committed to this dynamic through the Green 2020-2030 generation strategy, which places digitalization at the heart of its priorities.
“Our objective is to optimize the use of resources, improve product traceability and facilitate access to markets through digital tools,” said the minister. By integrating these technologies, he explained, “we aim to improve the governance of our resources, water-to-energy, in particular in a context of having to produce more and less resources”.
This commitment, he noted, joins a vision shared with France, which also works for innovative, sustainable and resilient agriculture.
The exchanges having punctuated this meeting focused on the strategic axes and the initiatives on which France and Morocco could collaborate to further develop agridigital and promote more resilient agriculture.
Among the proposed actions are the sharing and transfer of technology and know-how to improve agricultural practices and resource management, the development of training in Agritech by establishing links between university establishments of the two countries, improvement Access to financing to encourage investment in Agritech start-ups and research as well as the promotion of North-South and South-South cooperation in Agridigital.
Participated in the round table, on the Moroccan side, the president of the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture and Rural Development (Comader), Rachid Benali and the Director of the Digital Pole at the Ministry, Loubna El Mansouri. On the French side, the representatives of the General Directorate of the Treasury, the French Tech, BPI France and key players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, such as the digital farm and the founders of startups.
