A farmer uses a hay-collecting machine in a field in the Zehiliga region of Morocco. Rising fertiliser costs are threatening the livelihoods of many farmers – Copyright AFP Abdel Majid BZIOUAT<\/p>\n
Hicham RAFIH with Ismail BELLAOUALI in Rabat<\/p>\n
Like many Moroccan farmers, Mehdi el-Maazi was hopeful that rare heavy rains would yield an abundant harvest this year \u2014 but those hopes were quickly shattered as the Middle East war sent fuel and fertiliser costs soaring.<\/p>\n
Morocco, where agriculture employs about a quarter of the working population and where drought had persisted for seven consecutive years, recorded\u00a0massive rainfalls last February and December.<\/p>\n
Across the rural region of Marchouch, about 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Rabat, landscapes that had long been parched have turned green again, and farmers have taken back to working their fields.<\/p>\n
Following the rains this winter, the country expected a strong cereal harvest, with output estimated to reach nearly nine million tonnes \u2014 more than double last year\u2019s. Overall agricultural output was also set to rise by about 15 percent from last season.<\/p>\n
But the war in the Middle East, which began in late February, has disrupted maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, not only sending global energy markets into a tailspin but also choking fertiliser supplies.<\/p>\n
Prior to the war, Maazi would normally spend around 1,200 dirhams ($130) per hectare on diesel to run his tractor. Now, he said, the cost has climbed to 1,800 dirhams.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were happy at first about the arrival of the rain,\u201d said the 32-year-old lentil farmer. \u201cBut with the increase in diesel prices, everything changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Farmers also say higher fuel prices are driving up the cost of nearly everything needed to produce crops.<\/p>\n
Abdelkader Toukati, another farmer in the area, said he hoped \u201cthe price of diesel will fall before the beginning of the harvest season\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Working to pay for fuel\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n
High prices have meant that workers\u2019 wages have also risen and even \u201cthe cost of renting harvesting machines doubled\u201d, Toukati added.<\/p>\n
Abdelaziz Drissi, who rents out agricultural machinery, also complained that there was little to no financial reward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no longer any profit,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are only working to pay for fuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rising energy costs have had a direct impact on key farming supplies, driving up prices for seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and animal feed.<\/p>\n
Livestock breeder Abdessadaq el-Fayd said grain feed prices had sharply risen in recent months.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used to buy it for 90 dirhams\u201d per sack, he said. \u201cToday, it costs 110 to 120 dirhams.\u201d<\/p>\n
A recent report by the kingdom\u2019s High Commission for Planning projected economic growth of five percent in the first quarter of 2026, up from 4.1 percent in the previous quarter, driven in part by agricultural activity.<\/p>\n
In an effort to alleviate rising costs, the Moroccan government in March announced aid for transport operators.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And last month, Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch pledged to \u201cimprove distribution chains so that prices remain at a reasonable level\u201d.<\/p>\n
But farmers interviewed by AFP said the measures have yet to rein in prices.<\/p>\n
Rachid Benali, president of the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the price hikes \u201cmainly concern fuels and nitrogen fertilisers\u201d.<\/p>\n
But while the high costs\u00a0\u201cwill have no impact on either volume or quality\u201d of harvests, they \u201cwill automatically be reflected\u201d in produce prices at markets, he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A farmer uses a hay-collecting machine in a field in the Zehiliga region of Morocco. Rising fertiliser costs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[1140,15800,162,5765,25187,5766,18694,176,2057,158,165,21740,2561,2280],"class_list":["post-246479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-morocco","tag-agriculture","tag-distribution","tag-economie","tag-energie","tag-engrais","tag-gaz","tag-guerre","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-maroc","tag-morocco","tag-petrole","tag-secheresse","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/116615738927576676","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}