Generation Green: Launch of agricultural and rural development projects in the province of Al Hoceima
Hibapress
The Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, Mohamed Sadiki, made a field visit to the province of Al Hoceima on Sunday.
The minister, who was accompanied by the governor of the province of Al Hoceima, the president of the Chamber of Agriculture of the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, elected officials, as well as a large delegation of ministry officials, launched several agricultural and rural development projects as part of the Generation Green strategy, and discussed the progress of the provincial agricultural plan.
He thus reviewed the details of the progress of the Provincial Agricultural Plan of the Generation Green strategy for the province of Al Hoceima, and chaired the launch of the province’s 2024-2025 investment program, which ‘part of the Generation Green strategy.
With an investment amount of 300 million dirhams (MDH), this investment program includes several agricultural and rural development projects.
In this context, Mr. Sadiki chaired the distribution operation of 15 tank trucks for the benefit of 15 territorial municipalities as part of the Program to Reduce the Impact of Rainfall Deficit (PRIDP).
These are the municipalities of Snada, Abdelghaya Souahel, Zawyat Sidi Abdelkader, Chekrane, Tifrouine, Sidi Boutmim, Issaguen, Bni Aamart, Bni Boufrah, Bni Gumil Maksouline, Ait Kamra, Bni Abdallah, Rouadi, Imrabten and Izmouren, the most impacted by the rainfall deficit.
With a budget of 22.19 million dirhams, this program, which benefits 9,624 beneficiaries, aims to protect livestock, manage the water deficit, introduce high value-added plantations and enhance agricultural land.
It includes the hydro-agricultural development of small and medium-sized hydroelectric schemes, the distribution of subsidized barley and the distribution of tank trucks for watering livestock. At the level of the Snada territorial commune, the minister took note of the 2024-2025 solidarity agriculture program. With an investment amount of 154 MDH, this program targets in particular small farmers in mountain areas, falling within 12 territorial communes of the province of Al Hoceima.
In this regard, the minister launched work to plant 630 hectares of cacti resistant to cochineal, scheduled for 2024.
With an investment of nearly MAD 7 million, this program also includes the establishment of a demonstration platform for new cactus-resistant varieties. It should benefit 1,185 beneficiaries from the communes of Snada, Bni Boufrah, Izmouren, Bni Gmil Maksouline, Bni Gmil Mestassa and Rwadi.
As part of the support project for beekeeping cooperatives, Mr. Sadiki chaired the operation to distribute beekeeping equipment to 30 cooperatives, which bring together 150 beneficiaries from the communes of Sidi Bouzineb and Bni Aamart.
This project aims to improve honey production and its valorization, organize the sector and support marketing. It will improve the income of beekeepers and limit the rural exodus.
In a statement to the press, the minister stressed that this visit focused on monitoring the progress of the provincial agricultural plan of the “Green Generation strategy”, launched by HM King Mohammed VI in February 2020, at the level of the province of Al Hoceima, as well as the launch of several agricultural and rural development projects.
Mr. Sadiki specified that this provincial plan, with a budget envelope of more than 600 million dirhams, records a “very significant” rate of progress, noting that it includes a component linked to solidarity agriculture which concerns small farmers, producers and breeders.
This plan, he continued, also aims to promote plant sectors resistant to climate change, such as cactus, carob and almond, which have the capacity to adapt to the climatic conditions of the province, putting emphasis on the component relating to the improvement of living conditions in rural areas, through the program for the construction of rural roads in the province.
The minister assured that this program will make it possible to open up rural populations, facilitate the marketing of agricultural products, improve the living conditions of populations and limit the rural exodus.
In this context, Mr. Sadiki took note of the progress of the rural road construction program in the province for the period 2023-2025. This program includes the construction of 110 km for an amount of 110 MDH, carried out in two phases.
The first tranche concerns the construction of 50 km of rural roads for the benefit of 27 douars, belonging to 18 territorial communes at a cost of 50 MDH for the benefit of 13,500 beneficiaries, while the second tranche concerns the construction of 60 km for the benefit of 28 douars in the territory of the province for the benefit of 60,500 beneficiaries, for an amount of 60 MDH.
On this occasion, the minister chaired the launch of construction work on 3 km of track in the Bni Boufrah commune, for the benefit of 900 beneficiaries and 3 km of track in the Larbaa Taourirt commune for the benefit of 800 beneficiaries.
“These are important projects aimed at improving the living conditions of the rural population, creating wealth, improving farmers’ income, and this is in line with the objectives of the provincial agricultural plan,” noted the minister.
For his part, Dr. Sbaghi Mohamed, national coordinator of the cochineal-resistant cactus multiplication program and research director at the National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA), highlighted the importance of the 630-year-old planting project. ha of cochineal-resistant cacti for 2024, as part of the solidarity agriculture program, noting that field visits will be organized to support farmers in the implementation of this ambitious project, with a view to improving the quality of the product.
