`In Morocco, a Program to Improve Agricultural and Industrial Practices in the Olive Sector - Olive Oil Times
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In Morocco, a Program to Improve Agricultural and Industrial Practices in the Olive Sector

By Isabel Putinja
Dec. 10, 2015 11:45 UTC
Summary Summary

The Moroccan Interprofessionnel Olive Federation, in part­ner­ship with other orga­ni­za­tions, con­ducted a train­ing pro­gram for over 1,000 pro­fes­sion­als in var­i­ous olive pro­duc­ing regions, cov­er­ing top­ics such as pro­duc­tiv­ity, qual­ity, pests, dis­eases, and legal aspects. This pro­gram is part of the Green Morocco Project, aim­ing to mod­ern­ize and increase olive pro­duc­tion in the coun­try, which has almost dou­bled since 2008 to 1.5 mil­lion tons annu­ally, mak­ing Morocco the sec­ond-largest global exporter of table olives.

Over 1,000 pro­fes­sion­als from across the coun­try par­tic­i­pated in a train­ing pro­gram last week orga­nized by the Moroccan Interprofessionnel Olive Federation (Fédération inter­pro­fes­sion­nelle maro­caine de l’olive – Interprolive), in part­ner­ship with the National Office of the Agricultural Council (Office national du con­seil agri­cole – ONCA) and the National Office for the Sanitary Protection of Food Products (Office national de sécu­rité san­i­taire des pro­duits ali­men­taires – ONSSA).

Covering top­ics such as pro­duc­tiv­ity, qual­ity, pests and dis­eases, and legal aspects, the train­ing pro­gram was con­ducted on 43 sites in the olive pro­duc­ing regions of de Fès-Meknès, Marrakech-Safi, Béni Mellal-Khénifra, l’Oriental, Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceima, and Rabat-Salé-Kénitra. The ulti­mate objec­tive of the pro­gram was to fos­ter a qual­ity pro­duc­tion of olive prod­ucts like oil and table olives.

Representing five per­cent of the coun­try’s gross domes­tic prod­uct, olive pro­duc­tion is one of the focal points of the Green Morocco Project, or Plan Maroc Vert. Launched in 2008, one of the focal points of the plan has been the olive sec­tor, with the aim to mod­ern­ize it and increase pro­duc­tion. Actions have included capac­ity build­ing for the 2014 to 2016 period, under which this train­ing pro­gram falls.

Since 2008, Morocco has almost dou­bled its olive pro­duc­tion to 1.5 mil­lion tons and cre­ated over 300,000 new jobs. Today there are 784,000 hectares of olive groves, and 120,000 tons of olive oil and 90,000 tons of table olives pro­duced annu­ally. The coun­try is the sec­ond-largest global exporter of table olives, export­ing 64,000 tons of olives, as well as 17,000 tons of olive oil.

Under the objec­tives of the Green Morocco Plan, the aim is to increase olive cul­ti­va­tion to an area of 1,220,000 hectares, while increas­ing pro­duc­tion to 2.5 mil­lion by 2020.


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