Rabat – Mohamed Sadiki, Morocco’s Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests has announced that the investment budget for the Department of Agriculture is set to reach MAD 18.17 billion ($1.7 Billion) under the 2024 draft finance law (PLF), up by 3% in comparison with 2023.
Sadiki made the announcement during his presentation of the ministry’s 2024 sectoral budget proposal to the House of Representatives’ Productive Sectors Committee on Wednesday in Rabat.
The budget for investments in the Department of Agriculture would increase by 11% to MAD 13.67 billion ($1.3 billion), while the budget for Water and Forestry would increase by 15% to MAD 1.5 billion ($146 million) from 2023, the minister said, adding that sea fishing should see an investment budget of MAD 366 million ($35.7 million) in 2024, up 26% from the current year.
He cited the 29% decrease in the budget for rural development that followed the Program to Reduce Territorial and Social Disparities in Rural Areas (PRDTS), which ends next month.
Sadiki further detailed that the Department of Agriculture will invest MAD 760 million ($74 million) in health safety, MAD 461 million ($45 million) in education, training, and research, MAD 6.41 billion ($625 million) in irrigation and agricultural land development, MAD 5.9 billion ($576 million) in the development of agricultural production sectors, as well as ($12.3 million) in cross-sectoral support and multipurpose services.
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The cash allocated to the completion of the PRDTS will total MAD 1.9 billion ($185.4 million), of which MAD 734 million ($71.6 million) will be used for the inclusive development and opening up of rural and mountain regions.
For water and forestry, the funds will be directed toward maintaining initiatives to safeguard and improve forest and green resources, the minister explained.
This can be done by creating and improving national parks, bolstering the network of protected areas, creating and safeguarding wetlands, enhancing nature protection and management capabilities, rehabilitating wild animals, planting and clearing forests, halting desertification, and promoting fishing and aquaculture in inland waters.
With regard to the marine fisheries industry, Sadiki noted that several initiatives are planned as part of the investment budget for 2024.
These initiatives include MAD 188.05 million ($18.3 million) in support for supervised institutions, and MAD 22 million ($2 million) in programs to develop fisheries and aquaculture and to improve resources.
In addition, Sadiki declared that the budget for management would rise by 2% to over MAD 4.45 million ($434,000). This would bring the ministry’s total budget to around MAD 22.62 million, up 3% compared with fiscal 2023.
