Siam 2025. Morocco-France, a fertile alliance around agriculture

The partnership between Morocco and France continues to gain momentum. The recent visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, from October 28 to 30, 2024, marked a major turning point, raising these bilateral relations to the level of a «reinforced exceptional partnership ». This is among the reasons why the Paris International Agricultural Show honored Morocco this year.

For the first time in its 61-year history, this event is highlighting a foreign country. Morocco is also the guest of honor at this year’s World Livestock Summit, to be held from October 7 to 10 in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

This annual show brings together professionals from around the world to exchange innovative ideas, present exceptional animals, discover the latest innovations, and promote best practices in livestock farming. In return, Morocco is highlighting France at SIAM, proof of the consolidation of many years of cooperation on all levels.

Moreover, trade between the two countries reached a historic record in 2024, increasing by 6% to 14.8 billion euros. According to the French Customs Administration, transactions have more than doubled in ten years.

This currently makes Morocco France’s top partner in Africa and second in the MENA region after Turkey. Likewise, for Morocco, France is its leading partner in Africa.

French imports rose by 13% to7.4 billion euros last year, though agricultural imports, especially cereals, fell by 2%, mainly due to a poor harvest and strong competition from Russian wheat.

In 2023, Morocco was France’s fifth-largest cereal importer, with 562 million euros (2.3 million tons). The top spots go to Belgium, China, Spain, and the United States. Morocco is also the second destination for French soft wheat, just behind Belgium.

10 years of trade surplus

Moroccan exports reached 7.4 billion euros, a slight decrease of 0.7%, but a 50% increase in five years and 80% in ten years. For France, imports from Morocco are equivalent to those from Canada and Brazil combined. The trade balance tipped in favor of France last year with a surplus of 47 million euros, after ten years benefiting Morocco. In 2023 alone, the trade deficit reached 842 million euros.

In agri-food, Morocco is France’s 9th supplier. Agricultural products account for nearly 20% of French imports from Morocco, just behind automotive products at 25%. Conversely, Morocco ranks 14th among buyers of French agri-food products. France mainly sources agricultural products, especially fruits and vegetables, from Morocco, with an 8% share, behind Spain (19.5%) and ahead of the Netherlands (7.4%).

Not just tomatoes…

The flagship product is the tomato, which accounts for 72% of France’s imported tomatoes. This product also represents 60% of Moroccan fruits and vegetables imported by France, thanks notably to the free trade agreement between Morocco and the EU, signed in March 2012, which exempts Moroccan tomatoes from customs duties.

Besides tomatoes, France also imports significant quantities of cucumbers and zucchinis from Morocco, for which Morocco is France’s second supplier. Peppers and chilies rank second (7%) after tomatoes, followed by watermelons (6%).

Beyond strict trade, partnership agreements have been signed between the two countries. At the 16th SIAM, several conventions, memoranda of understanding, and framework agreements were signed in cereals, dairy, livestock, oilseeds, and academia.

In summary, a roadmap for cooperation and partnership in agriculture and forestry has been established, aiming to make it a lever for mutually beneficial sustainable development, fostering concrete political, sectoral, economic, technical, technological, educational, and scientific collaborations.

The common goals: promote food security and sovereignty while ensuring sustainable management of natural resources.

Digital agriculture at the heart of cooperation

The collaboration goes further. At the Paris SIA, the two countries signed a partnership agreement to promote innovation and knowledge transfer in digital agriculture. The partnership between «Ferme Digitale » and the Digital Pole of the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture is a key step in strengthening Franco-Moroccan cooperation in AgriTech, with the main goal of facilitating the exchange of experiences, skills, and know-how in this sector.

Both parties also committed to increasing the visibility and integration of startups and technology providers in both Morocco and France.