Morocco to turn 5200 hectares in Dakhla into irrigated area

Morocco is set to turn vast swathes of land in the southern provinces, the Sahara, into green productive areas with the recent launch of a tender to attract private investors to develop 5200 hectares in Dakhla into irrigated productive farms offering jobs to locals and supplying the domestic market, the agriculture ministry said.

The public-private partnership project will offer 10,000 jobs and yield an agricultural output of fruits and vegetables of up to 450,000 tons, the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

The project falls within the framework of Morocco’s development model for the southern provinces which also includes highways, renewable energy, boosting phosphates production, developing urban infrastructure and tourism as well as building the Dakhla Port, intended to bolster connectivity between Morocco and West Africa.

A desalination plant powered by a wind park will offer water needed for this project, which is intended to safeguard the region’s underground water.

The project will be achieved at a total cost of 2 billion dirhams, of which the private sector will contribute by 470 million dirhams.