Morocco’s King spurs initiatives to develop rural middle class

King Mohammed VI of Morocco had in recent months urged measures to promote the development of a rural middle class via promoting agricultural activity and making loans easier to access in the countryside.

After calling for a revamp of the agricultural promotion strategy in Morocco, building on the achievements of the Green Morocco Plan, the King oversaw the launch of a new plan dubbed Generation Green 2020-2030, which aims at creating 350,000 jobs.

The new plan is thus designed to foster a rural middle class that will benefit from access to one million hectares after the King gave instructions in that regards in October 2018.

The goal is also to boost Morocco’s agricultural exports to 6 billion dollars while bolstering agricultural GDP to 25 billion dollars.

Encouraging agricultural production and investments goes hand in hand with protecting the environment, adopting climate resilient practices and sustainable agriculture.

Morocco also launched an initiative to protect its 9 million hectare forests including planting 130,000 hectares with trees in an initiative that would create 27,000 forest-related jobs.

The King also urged making loans easier for young entrepreneurs including those in rural areas. The preferential rate offered to young investors and project holders was set at 2% in urban areas and 1.75% in rural areas.

A special fund was created to guarantee these loans worth 6 billion dirhams with Hassan II fund for social and economic development adding 2 billion dirhams exclusively earmarked to investors in rural areas.

These measures are implemented as Morocco seeks a new development model that is geared to encourage entrepreneurship, reduce disparities and fight poverty.