Announcement of Morocco to Use Thirty Million Dollars Loan for Agricultural Development on December 16, 1982

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.* Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE 83/25 Contact: Ciro Gamarra December 16, 1982 (202) 477-8035 MOROCCO TO USE $30 MILLION LOAN FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT Crop yields, livestock production, and forestry development will be promoted in rural Morocco with the support of a $30 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the World Bank announced today. Almost 85% of the project area's population of 118,000, living in the administrative units of Oulmes and Rommani in Khemisset province, northeast of Rabat, are small farmers. Poor seeds and inadequate supplies of fertilizer have led to low average cereal and grain yields, and livestock resources have an equally low productivity. The project should increase crop production on some 80,000 hectares of privately owned land mainly by altering the land-use system and by iitroducing better soil management techniques. This effort will be backed up by measures to reorganize and strengthen the extension and research services. The area under grain legumes should increase from 18,000 to 24,000 hectares and production of fodder from 7,000 to 16,000 hectares. Livestock development under the project will concentrate on the introduction of animal health, genetic improvement, and fodder production on the ranges and in the forests. A major activity in the country, animal husbandry contributes about 36% to agricultural gross domestic product. To serve the herders and their animals, 61 water points will be constructed and water supply extended to 10 rural centers. In order to improve forest productivity, about 8,000 hectares of commercial plantations (pine and eucalyptus), as well as 4,000 hectares of protection plantations (pine and other species), will be established. The plantations and the fire control measures implemented will also improve soil conservation. Logging wil be facilitated by the construction of about 150 kilometers of forest tracks. Morocco has borrowed $561.5 million for 16 agricultural projects. The IBRD loan of $30 million is for 17 years, including four years of grace, at a lending rate linked to the Bank's borrowing costs. The loan also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.75% on undisbursed balances and a front-end fee of 1.5% on the amount of the loan. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.