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Khalil

AGRICULTURE

After a year of catastrophic droughts resulted in Morocco’s worst harvest in recent history and caused Morocco’s GDP growth to shrink to 3% from 7.9% the previous year, 2008 has been a period of relief and recovery for Moroccan farmers. The cereals harvest, mostly wheat, reached 5m tonnes – a dramatic improvement over 2007, when just 2.2m tonnes were grown. This is in line with the last decade’s average but was still far from the 1996 record of 10m tonnes. The drought meant that Morocco brought in five times the average amount of wheat imports in the beginning of 2008, which coincided with skyrocketing prices for cereals worldwide and strained the government’s Compensation Fund (Caisse de Compensation), a subsidy meant to stabilise the price of staple supplies. The agriculture sector is the foremost job provider and, together with agro-industry, accounts for approximately one-fifth of the country’s GDP and some 35% of exports. Although agriculture is an important sector, the country is not self-sufficient and Morocco imports a percentage of its cereal, sugar, meat and milk consumption. The sector is heavily dependent on the weather, but its performance should be aided by improvements in irrigation and water conservation. The government’s new Green Morocco Plan (Maroc Vert) should boost the sector’s productivity, turnover and investment levels.

This chapter provides an interview with Jacques Diouf, Director-General, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Khalil

HEALTH & EDUCATION

The health of the Moroccan population in general is good. Life expectancy has risen to 71 years, infant mortality is 36 per thousand, the population growth rate is down to 1.4% and widespread vaccination programmes protect children from common childhood diseases. But modern lifestyles are starting to take their toll as well, and alarmingly, a third of the population over the age of 20 already has high blood pressure. Nearly 7% of the same age also suffers from diabetes. Financing the public health system costs more than 5% of the state budget and currently amounts to nearly DH1.5bn ($195m), two-thirds of which is in the form of direct subsidies. The Ministry of Health is planning on regular annual budget increases of about 13% to modernise the system. Health care is available in a wide variety of establishments ranging from basic primary care facilities to luxury private clinics. Morocco has an estimated 18,000 doctors but with a population of over 30m, this gives a modest ratio of 1/1800 inhabitants. The Ministry of Health is making expansion plans, but there is a shortage of doctors to staff the new facilities. This will be one of the main challenges for the future of Morocco’s health care system, particularly as it seeks to provide care for the kingdom’s large rural population.

At the end of a 10 year plan (2000-2009) to bring all-round improvements to national education at all levels, serious difficulties continue to hinder Morocco’s progress. Overall enrollment is up and about 95% of children enter the primary system, but there are not enough teachers with adequate training and physical resources are poor in many areas. The kingdom has adopted an Emergency Plan (Plan d’Urgence) with civil society, including local authorities, social partners and non-governmental organisations, playing a greater role in supporting educational programmes. Significantly, the private education sector will be expected to help further reduce the burden on the national education authorities. The new goals aim for 81% successful completion of primary school by 2011, a 71% pass rate at the end of the basic nine-year programme, 54% successful completion of the secondary cycle by 2017 and a 46% baccalaureate success rate by the same date. As Morocco works to improve its education policy all sorts of strategies will be employed, including reforms, bigger budget resources and additional involvement by society.

In this chapter, Rachid Benmokhhtar Benabdallah, President, Al Akhawayn University, provides a viewpoint on reforming the education system.

Khalil

BUSINESS GUIDE

In conjunction with KPMG, OBG explores the taxation system, examining the environment for investors. OBG also introduces the reader to the different aspects of the legal system in Morocco, in partnership with Kettani Law Firm. The legal coverage provides a viewpoint with Nadia Kettani, Partner, Kettani Law Firm.

THE GUIDE

A beginner's guide to Moroccan hammams and an article on the introduction of parking metres are followed by a section including information on hotel, government and other listings, alongside useful tips for visitors on topics like currency, visas, language, communications, dress, business hours and electricity.

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