The Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests is planning to extend insurance coverage for the agricultural sector by 84,000 ha.
The programme relating to multi-risk climate insurance aims to cover nearly 1.3m ha of crops in 2023-2024. Previously, the programme covered an agricultural area of 1.2m ha, reported Agence Ecofin.
According to the authorities, agricultural insurance covers beneficiaries against risks linked to several climatic events, including drought, cold and frost, but also strong winds, sandstorms and stagnant water.
The government is targeting an area of 1.25m ha in which cereal crops (durum wheat, soft wheat, barley, corn), legumes (chickpeas, lentils, beans) and oilseeds (sunflower and rapeseed) are cultivated. This represents an increase of 50,000 ha compared to the previous year.
Regarding fruit crops, the stated goal is to cover 46,200 ha distributed between citrus fruits, rosacea, olive trees, figs and pomegranate trees, i.e. 34,000 ha more than the area covered previously.
The agricultural sector accounts for 10% of Morocco’s GDP.