Rabat – Morocco’s Ambassador to the UN, Omar Hilale, reaffirmed to the Security Council on Thursday Morocco’s commitment to food security in its region and globally.
“Food security represents a strategic priority for Morocco and is at the heart of the new development model for 2035,” Hilale said during a debate on peacekeeping and international security chaired by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The ambassador said that the issue is a priority for King Mohammed VI, who put in place the “Green Morocco Plan” and outlined strategic reforms for different sectors that can help achieve food security.
Among the strategies that the country has put in place, Hilale said, are the socio-economic development of rural areas and investments in the agriculture sector to provide employment opportunities for young people and women.
He went on to say that investing in the agricultural sector can create jobs, stimulate local economies, and support self-sufficiency for communities.
In addition to directly helping the agricultural sector in the country, Hilale highlighted Morocco’s related partnerships with other African nations, as well as other global allies. He noted that the kingdom has signed more than 38 agreements in the field.
He also stressed the importance of trade in solving food security issues and mentioned that Morocco supports the African Free Trade Area.
The Ambassador added that the country’s interest in eliminating world hunger stems from an awareness of food security challenges globally, and in the African continent specifically.
“Today, more than 800 million people worldwide suffer everyday from chronic malnourishment and one in five of them live in Africa,” the Moroccan diplomat said. “Sadly, the continent continues to import over $43 billion in food products each year and therefore remains dependent on imports to feed a growing population.”
Food crises have recently been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted supply chains, climate change affecting rainfall and farm lands, and most recently by the war in Ukraine which heavily impacted global wheat supplies, among other products.
“This situation causes an increase in prices globally and has major repercussions on the stability of more vulnerable countries,” Hilale said, highlighting that the scarcity of resources can also engender social unrest.
The ambassador further stressed the importance of unified cooperation between all countries in the world in order to combat the issue.
Read also: Morocco Can Help Solve Looming Global Food Security Crisis
Essential food products such as wheat have recently seen their prices climb as a result of the aforementioned global developments, but Morocco’s government has chosen to subsidize some of these products to protect citizens’ purchasing powers.
India recently expressed its commitment to help countries in North Africa and vulnerable regions to achieve food security by increasing wheat exports, even as the country banned exports of the product, driving up global prices.
A world bank report said recently that supply chain disruptions as a result of the Ukraine war threatens the food security of particularly vulnerable countries like Syria, Yemen, and Libya.
