Board of Directors of African Development Bank approves fresh €114 million (US$131.89 million) grant for Morocco for the implementation of Support Program for inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development (Padidzar).
According to the Moroccan High Commission for Planning (HCP), water scarcity threatens agriculture, which generates 15% of the country’s annual GDP before tourism and industry. The challenges caused by drought is a result of climate change.
The Padidzar intends to boost the effectiveness of the traditional irrigation infrastructure by by enhancing water catchments at irrigation systems‘ heads, and decreasing water losses during transit in the seguias and distribution in irrigated areas.
In total, 25,000 hectares of small and medium-sized irrigation projects, as well as 50 kilometers of rural roads, will be renovated in seven areas of Morocco.
Drâa Tafilalet, Béni Mellal-Khénifra, Fès-Meknès, Marrakech-Safi, Oujda, Souss-Massa, and Tanger-Tétouan-El Hoceima will all benefit from the scheme.
The goal is to strengthen smallholders’ resilience in vulnerable areas of the Cherifian Kingdom by increasing incomes and creating job possibilities in irrigated agriculture.
Padidzar will also enhance and modernize mechanisms for mobilizing and exploiting available water resources, as well as their optimal utilization, in order to promote the sustainable development of irrigated areas.
It’s also important to promote value chains, enhance production systems that are more resilient to climate change, and strengthen institutional capacity through a more incentive-based regulatory framework for water conservation and the promotion of governance in this field.
It is expected that Morocco will use some of its AfDB funds to protect the Khettaras, the country’s water and soil resources. Khettaras are ancient earthen cisterns used for water storage.
The Khettaras have now been designated as a national treasure that must be safeguarded, and their inclusion on the UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural treasures is being considered.
This project is part of the Kingdom’s Generation Green Agricultural Strategy and the National Priority Program for Drinking Water Supply and Irrigation 2020-2027. (GG 2020-2030).
