FAQ

It is an agricultural development project based on a participatory and integrated approach, it comes into a coherent and complementary set of components, and these actions are limited in time and space, with a view to improving the social and economic situation of the target population (poor and/or vulnerable small farmers). Pillar II projects are mainly based on government intervention through a partnership with beneficiaries grouped into professional organizations. The sector vision constitutes the key word in the formalization and identification of this type of project, which generally integrates the entire value chain "upstream - downstream" and takes into consideration the rational and sustainable management of natural resources through respect for the environmental aspect in addition to the consideration of the gender dimension with an increasing representation of women and young people.

Pillar II projects are divided into three types, namely: Conversion project: These are projects to convert existing production sectors into other sectors with higher added value. They concern farmers with low value-added crops in a conducive environment to speculation change. Intensification project: These projects are aimed at farmers practicing speculation with real development potential and requiring the intensification of existing ones. In to this are added the perimeters that have a significant production potential but suffer from an absence or insufficiency in terms of valorization of existing agricultural production. Diversification project: This type of project is developed with a view to guaranteeing additional production, making it possible to generate additional income for the farmers through the introduction of niche products or the development of local products.

The idea of a Pillar II project basically emanates and evolves in consultation with the beneficiaries and local actors (elected officials, cooperatives, local associations, chambers of agriculture...). The beneficiaries are invited to organize themselves into associations or cooperatives..., this gathering will ensure the role of representative and/or spokesperson of the farmers concerned by the project with the local services of the Department of Agriculture represented at the level of the area (Regional Directorate of Agriculture, Regional Directorate of the Agricultural Advisory, Regional Office for Agricultural Development, Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Agricultural Advisory Centre). Once the farmers' professional organization has been created, it should express its needs as a request in order to benefit from a Pillar II project and submit it to the local services of the Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries and Rural Development and Water and Forestry according to the project area, in other words (Regional Directorate of Agriculture, Regional Directorate of the Agricultural Advisory, Regional Office for Agricultural Development, Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Agricultural Advisory Centre).

Following requests from beneficiaries to the local services of the Department of Agriculture (Regional Directorate of Agriculture, Regional Directorate of the Agricultural Advisory, Regional Office for Agricultural Development, Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Agricultural Advisory Centre), the procedure for identifying and formalizing projects is now initiated, which will generate a series of data used to feed the outline projects according to production sector (animal and plant). These implemented sheets reflect the complaints of a given population; they will be pre-examined by the ADA Project Engineering Department before being submitted for examination and approval by the members of the Local Technical Committees in order to make a decision as to the opportunity of the projects.

The outline for the formalization of Pillar II projects is available via the local services of the Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries and Rural Development and Water and Forestry (Regional Directorate of Agriculture, Regional Directorate of the Agricultural Advisory, Regional Office for Agricultural Development, Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Agricultural Advisory Centre).

A Pillar II project considered as opportune is introduced into a project database gathering all the validated projects, the projects will be prioritized at the level of each region while waiting to be financed. Projects that receive the funds will be submitted to a second local technical committee to validate the related partnership agreements and their list of beneficiaries. It should be recalled that the signature of the latter - conditions for the release of funds - remains dependent on the availability of beneficiaries’ lists.

Various opportunities are available for investors in the agricultural sector under the Green Morocco Plan throughout all the value chains. These opportunities include:

 The access to farmlands through calls for tenders with specific requirements under the Public-Private Partnership, and the possibility of becoming a shareholder in partner companies.
 The development of agricultural production through aggregation contracts with farmers under the law 04-12 on Agricultural Aggregation;
 The development of Agribusiness in order to satisfy the increasing demand for seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural machinery, and irrigation equipment.
 Setting up processing units for the valorization of the increased production. These units can be settled in the Agropols (Logisitcs Platforms) located in the main production areas.

Investors in the agricultural sector benefit from promising business climate on the economic, regulatory, institutional and logistic levels through:

•  An incentive system dedicated to investment in the agricultural sector under the Agricultural Development Fund.

•  An adequate regulatory framework.

•  A specific tax framework to the agricultural sector with reduced tax rates: 20% for the Income Tax and 17.5% for the Corporate Tax.

•  An easy access to international markets through bilateral and multilateral trade agreements.

•  Trained human resources.

•  An adapted insurance and financing system.

•  Dedicated institutions providing support to investors throughout the implementation process of investment projects. The Agency for Agricultural Development (ADA) represents the focal point of the investment projects promoters in the agricultural sector.

Investors willing to benefit from the financial aids under the Agricultural Development Fund (FDA) must submit their applications in the single desks of the Provincial Directorates of Agriculture (DPA) or the Regional Offices of Agricultural Investment (ORMVA) that are located near their action area by following the main steps:

 Deposit a preliminary approval application including the administrative documents proving the legal link of the applicant with the farmland subject to the investment project, as well as the technical folder of the project.
 Once the investment has been made, the applicant must submit the subsidy application along with the detailed final invoices as well as the act of commitment of the applicant to maintain the investment and to keep the project operational, for at least five (5) years.

For any request regarding the ownership transfer for the companies managing state owned farmlands, partners must submit an ownership change request to the Agency for Agricultural Development which will be examined by an Inter-ministerial Technical Committee. Once the request is approved, the partner will have to present the new company statute for the company and an amendment to the partnership agreement will be established.
It is important to note that partners can transfer up to 66% of the company shares if the action plan is not yet achieved, and 100% of the shares after the investment is completed.