Morocco’s revenues from the olive exports remain far below Tunisia’s export revenue of half-billion dollars per year.
Rabat – The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forestry, Aziz Akhannouch, has said that the olive sector covered19% of Morocco’s domestic edible oil use and generated an annual average of MAD 1.8 billion (approximately $180 million) from exports for the period 2013-2017.
Akhannouch was speaking at the opening of the 6th National Olive Forum in the city of El Attaouiya, Sraghna province, southeastern Morocco. The Forum started on Wednesday, December 4 and ends on Saturday, December 7.
The minister noted that the olive trees represent 65% of the national arboreal sole and remain the most produced fruit in Morocco. The sector is an important source of employment, providing more than 51 million workdays annually, equivalent to 380,000 permanent jobs, he added.
According to the minister, the achievements reflect the positive impact of the strategic choices set out in Morocco’s Green Plan for the development of the olive oil sector in Morocco.
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Akhannouch also highlighted the approach adopted by the sector’s professionals who have worked with the state to establish value chain integration.
Value chain integration is the process by which olive enterprises collaboratively implement, plan, and manage the flow of goods, services, and information from point of origin to point of consumption. It aims to increase value from a customer perspective and optimizes the efficiency of the chain.
The Moroccan state developed a program for the olive oil industry for the period 2009-2020. The program involves developing the production and quality of olives, maintaining the value and price of the olives, and improving the sector’s framework conditions in terms of creating new businesses.
The Moroccan government is committed to supporting the sector’s professionals in exporting their goods by handing out grants for the 2017-2021 period.
Morocco’s revenues from exporting olives and olive oil remain much lower than Tunisia, whose earnings from olive oil exports are close to half a billion dollars a year.
