Press Release

Morocco pursues rural development with US$9.81 million OPEC Fund loan

19/2006 March 21, Vienna, Austria
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The OPEC Fund for International Development today signed a US$9.81 million loan agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco to help finance a multi-pronged rural development scheme in the eastern part of the Middle Atlas Mountain range.

The agriculture sector in Morocco is beset with a number of constraints, which include widespread poverty, inadequate infrastructure, degraded natural resources and lack of rural financing services. As part of its national development strategy, government is aiming to promote socio-economic development in remote, rural regions, placing a strong emphasis on fostering community participation, particularly among women.

Project activities will target the eastern part of the Middle Atlas Mountain range, covering 12 communes in north Boulemane Province comprising some 14,743 households. One component will enhance local capacity-building by carrying out activities ranging from the establishment of Village Development Plans to carrying out awareness-building and training schemes. To enable communities to manage natural resources more effectively, small and medium-scale irrigation schemes will be newly-built or rehabilitated, and soil and water conservation works implemented, such as stabilizing river banks to prevent flooding and terracing 1,500 ha of slopes.

Drinking water supplies in isolated villages will also be set up. Intensification and diversification of agricultural production activities will also be undertaken, where farmers can learn, among other things, how to increase cultivation areas for food crops, improved animal husbandry methods and intercropping techniques. Grazing and rangeland will be rehabilitated, water points for livestock developed and shelters built to protect livestock during the winter months. Rural financial services and micro-enterprise development schemes will also be created, which will include enhancing women’s entrepreneurship skills through training and counseling. Also envisaged is the promotion of rural tourism and helping micro-enterprises establish links to marketplaces.

The Kingdom of Morocco has previously received 13 loans from the OPEC Fund, supporting projects in the agriculture, education, energy, health, national development banks and water supply and sewerage sectors. The country has also benefited from technical assistance grants in the areas of agriculture and energy.

Today’s agreement was signed in Vienna by HE Dr. Omar Zniber, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Austria, and by HE Mr. Jamal Nasser Lootah, Chairman of the Governing Board of the OPEC Fund.