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Join on Telegram Rabat – In the wake of the skyrocketing food prices in Morocco in recent months, the Economic, Social, and Environmental Council (CESE) is calling on the government to regulate middlemen operating in the food market as they are likely behind the spike in food products.
In a recent analysis, the CESE noted that the rise in food prices is partly due to the dysfunctioning role of the marketing channels in the food market and the unregulated role of middlemen who engage in speculative practices that drive food prices.
“The marketing system of agricultural products, which remains marked by a set of weaknesses and organizational and functional dysfunctions, was one of the factors that contributed to the increase in prices of major food products,” said the CESE’s report.
The council further added that the rise in food prices was also the result of the “inadequate management of water resources, which was exacerbated by drought, the lingering effect of the COVID-induced economic crisis, and the spillover from the Ukraine war.”
While the government has taken a number of steps to bring down the soaring prices, the council pointed out that these measures are still to yield tangible results.
“The government has taken a series of emergency measures, such as price control operations and the fight against speculation, the regulation of exports to secure the supply of the domestic market, support for professionals in the road transport sector, and the lifting of customs duties and VAT on imports of red meat (cattle) in order to compensate for the decline in local supply,” the report noted.
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However, all of these policies have so far failed to absorb the increase in food prices amid rising production costs for farmers.
To address the ongoing rise in food prices, the council recommended that the government boost the competitiveness of the marketing channels of food production by regulating them and opening them to new companies.
Among its recommendations, the council also called on the government to develop more channels of optimal, transparent cooperation between different stakeholders. The goal of such a move would be to promote local trade, and encourage small and medium-sized farmers to join cooperatives, drawing on the approaches adopted by the sugar and dairy industries.
The report further advised the government to establish a legal framework for the storage of agricultural products, either for consumption or for later cultivation, with the aim of fighting against hoarding practices that aim to sell products at a higher price later.
