GEF Morocco agriculture project increases crop yields in face of changing climate
Special Climate Change Fund helps Plan Maroc Vert: supporting adaptation for the most vulnerable
In the region around Settat, a city between Marrakesh and Casablanca, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) financed the purchase of direct seeding machines so that small farmers could seed without laboring the soil. In a region impacted by a warming climate, this improves the soil structure so it can retain more rainfall in the root zone.
Small-scale farmers have seen their yield raise by 50 percent in wet years and by 100 percent in dry years compared to traditional seeding. Based on these results, the government designed a nationwide subsidy that reduces the cost of the direct seeding machines to that of traditional seeding machines so as to allow small-scale farmers to access the technology.
The GEF CEO, Naoko Ishii, along with GEF council members and media representatives visited the adaptation project which is financed by the GEF’s Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), a fund that was conceived at the UNFCCC COP7 in Morocco in 2001. The field visit took place during a break in the COP22 negotiations in Marrakesh.
Thanking the donors, government, partners and the farmers themselves, Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, said she was “proud to see what we’ve done”. She noted that “the investment has produced tangible results that has spread to other parts of the country.”
The impact of the GEF SCCF seed funding is one of many successful adaptation efforts in Morocco piloted by the project, Integrating Climate Change into the Implementation of the Plan Maroc Vert (PICCPMV). Part of an increased awareness of the Moroccan Government to address adaptation needs, it is funded with a GEF grant of $4.3 million and is implemented by the World Bank. The project was designed to support tangible adaptation interventions such as goods and services aimed at benefitting small-scale farmers in five target regions, and to develop capacities of public and private institutions to integrate climate change adaptation efforts in such projects.
Oussama El Gharras, an agricultural engineer at the National Institute for Agronomic Research (Institut National de Recherche Agronomique – INRA) remarked during the visit, “This project was primarily designed to address the negative effects of climate change and to increase the resilience among our hard hit agricultural communities to adapt to the new reality. But it has gone far beyond that: not only has it led to a switch from traditional farming methods to more advanced ones including the use of state of the art technology, it has also shown that the approach can be replicated throughout Morocco and therefore was the beginning of a large scale transformation of agricultural practices that have the power to deal with the changing climate, namely increased droughts and degradation of soils.”
In Morocco, and elsewhere, the impact of rising temperatures due to climate change can be seen through more extreme weather patterns, diminishing water resources and crop yields. With the poorest often most at risk, adaptation to climate change is essential in order to combat its adverse effects on the most vulnerable.
Cereal production that relies on rainfall varies greatly depending on the rainfall pattern. In 2015-16, there was a delay in the rains which resulted in a 70 percent reduction in nationwide cereal production for Morocco compared to the previous year. This led to the need to import 4 million tons of grains. At the same time, irrigating cereals is not an option, due to scarce water resources. The challenge is to use rain better to increase and stabilize cereal production.
Le 23 Décembre 2016
SOURCE WEB Par Thegef
Les tags en relation
Les articles en relation
Céréales: une récolte exceptionnelle
La campagne céréalière a atteint un niveau remarquable. La diminution des surfaces a été largement compensée par l’augmentation du rendement. Les détai...
Céréales: La production chute
La production des trois céréales principales est estimée à 52 millions de quintaux durant la campagne agricole 2018-2019, soit une baisse de 30% en comparai...
Deux Marocaines primées par l’UNESCO
Le programme “Pour les femmes et la science” a remis des bourses à cinq lauréates de la cinquième édition Maghreb, au cours d’une cérémonie tenue me...
Safran de Taliouine : Plus qu’une épice
Le Maroc est connu pour sa richesse en produits du terroir dont chaque région possède sa part spécifique en genre, diversité, et qualité. Le Souss-Massa ne...
Réchauffement climatique Les enjeux des énergies renouvelables
Le Maroc opte pour un modèle de croissance «sobre en carbone» Cela passe par des mesures dans le secteur de l’énergie et de l’eau Gabriella Izzi: ...
Maroc Vert
Par Nadia SALAH Il n’est pas si fréquent dans cette petite colonne de pouvoir relever les mérites d’une politique: il ne faut surtout pas s’en priver...
Séisme d’Al Haouz : les leçons d’un drame analysées par trois experts
L’Office national marocain du tourisme (ONMT) répond à l’appel à la solidarité nationale Mustapha Sehimi, professeur de droit et politologue, Nabil Mekk...
Maroc : l’emploi agricole en milieu rural au cœur de la 14e édition du Salon de l’agriculture
La 14e édition du Salon international de l’agriculture au Maroc (SIAM 2019) se déroulera du 16 au 21 avril à Meknès sous le thème, «l’agriculture, lev...
Agriculture et pêche au Maroc: de puissants révélateurs de l’importance de la relation de bon v
Le secteur de l’agroalimentaire fait du Royaume du Maroc un nouveau pôle d’attractivité, tant pour l’Europe que pour l’Afrique. Agriculture et pêc...
Tournesol, colza, deux cultures d’avenir
Le tournesol et le colza boosteront la production de cultures oléagineuses au Maroc à travers l’initiative Maghreb Oléagineux, portée par Terres Univia de...
Maroc : la production de dattes est passée de 90.000 à 127.000 tonnes
La production de dattes au Maroc est passée de 90.000 à 127.000 tonnes. Le Plan Maroc Vert a accordé une importance particulière à la filière phoenicic...