Akhannouch: Rural Disparities Reduction Program Obtained Most Goals

Rabat – Morocco’s Head of Government Aziz Akhannounch reported on the progress of the rural disparities-reduction program on January 4.

Akhannouch addressed parliament in a monthly session on general policy. He emphasized the leadership of King Mohammed VI on the issue and stated that the program “has achieved several results for the benefit of the rural world.”

He noted that “five annual action plans have been launched particularly for the development of rural areas and mountainous areas with a budget of MAD 35 billion [$3.77 billion], i.e. 70% of the budget programmed until 2023.”

Initially, the rural disparities-reduction program targeted 11,066 territories, 142 rural centers, and 59 urban municipalities regularly serving rural people. It also targets 14 million rural inhabitants. Part of the program addressed the needs of mountain communities through the deployment of the Fund for Rural Development and Mountain Areas (FRDZM).

“The Fund for Rural Development and Mountain Areas (FDRZM)[…] has become a main mechanism and a financial base for the implementation of the integrated approach to rural development, “ Morocco’s PM reported. He added that the program “does not replace sectoral and regional budgets but which places itself at the service of convergence and integration.”

The program’s main goal is to improve the living conditions of the targeted population. Projects implemented under the program divided the targeted population into 6 categories based on their access to basic social services.

For example, ‘priority one’ municipalities lack basic services and require investments in several sectors, while ‘priority six’ indicates municipalities with all necessary basic social services.

In 2017, 128 municipalities were registered as priorities 4, 5, and 6. By 2021, 224 municipalities that were classified under priorities 1, 2, and 3 in 2016 were adjusted to priorities 5 and 6. This move raised the total of municipalities in categories 5 and 6 to 725 municipalities compared to 502 in 2016.

Overall, there was a recorded 44% increase in municipalities with all basic social services in 2021.

Since 2017, local authorities launched 8,134 projects in rural areas, including 7,066 infrastructure projects, and 1,071 vehicle acquisition operations (e.g., mobile units, school buses, and ambulances).

Notably, by the end of 2021, the government completed an additional 5,261 development projects to fight against territorial and social inequalities in Morocco.

To address current socio-economic challenges, Morocco adopted its New Development Model. In April 2019, the Special Commission on Development published a report explaining the new model.

Morocco’s monarch established the special commission in November 2019 “ to review the state of play of the Kingdom’s development and to sketch the guidelines of a new model for development,” the report states.

The model combines a results-driven approach to socio-economic issues, a capacity-building approach to develop individual and organizational capacities, and the concept of “responsibility and development” introduced by the King in 2019.

Additionally, it aims to enable the country to increase its competitiveness in the region, preserve natural resources, develop the education and health sectors, and deal with territorial and social inequalities.