Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 This show is brought to you in partnership with the agricultural credit of Morocco.
00:05 [Music]
00:33 Hello everyone, you are at the time of the Eco Media group, the time of the experts.
00:39 Welcome, thank you for following us to an exceptional event, an exceptional trip.
00:44 The team of the experts has moved to Meknes, Meknes, Berceau du Siam.
00:49 And through these four letters, Siam, we have the International Salon of Agriculture in Morocco.
00:56 And what does that mean?
00:57 That means some 1,500 exhibitors from five continents, each with their expertise.
01:04 That also means more than 70 countries represented here in the Ismailian capital, each with their productivity.
01:12 And that means finally 900,000 visitors waiting until the end of this exhibition fair,
01:18 namely on April 28th. This means the importance of this 16th Siam of the genre, its issues, its specificity.
01:28 And for a very good debate, I have the pleasure of welcoming Mrs. Myriam Trill,
01:32 Director of Sustainable Development and South-South Cooperation.
01:36 We are with Seymoustapha Chahal, Director of the Green Domain of the Agricultural Credit Group.
01:42 And finally, we are in the presence of Sirachid Ben Ali, President of the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture
01:49 and Rural Development, better known as the Comadère.
01:58 Thank you gentlemen for participating in this new issue of the Hours of Experts.
02:02 Mr. Chahal, I ask you the question of knowing, indeed, the Agricultural Credit Group was supposed to be there.
02:11 What does such an event represent for your group in the strategy of the banking institution?
02:24 First of all, the Agricultural Credit Group is the main player in the financing of agriculture and rural development.
02:29 It cannot be absent. The President of the Agricultural Credit Group is also the President of the Siam Association.
02:36 The Siam is a very important event for the agricultural world, for Morocco.
02:43 It tries to show the level of development of this sector in Morocco.
02:50 It meets partners, farmers, whether it is production, agriculture, agricultural services,
03:00 agricultural industry, international pavilion, etc.
03:06 We are here to exchange good practices, to exchange experiences,
03:13 and also to show the level of evolution achieved by Moroccan agriculture following the Morocco-Green Plan and the Green Generation.
03:22 Speaking of the Morocco-Green Plan, we must obviously think of the climate situation that is not only affecting Morocco,
03:29 but also many other countries, especially those of the Mediterranean group.
03:33 How is the group behaving in this already banking, agricultural and climate conjuncture, the one we already know?
03:42 Indeed, the conjuncture is difficult.
03:45 But beyond the conjuncture, I think what is important to say is that today it is no longer a conjunctural drought,
03:51 but a structural drought.
03:53 You know that this year, the Siam is under the theme of climate change
03:59 and the importance of adapting to this climate change.
04:03 We are all aware that we will have to change our ways of doing things,
04:08 our ways of producing, and our ways of consuming.
04:12 The agricultural fair also allows producers and consumers to be aware of this need.
04:21 The CRIDIA-L'École group stands alongside all the operators to support them in this green transition.
04:29 Climate, agriculture for sustainable and resilient production systems,
04:34 this is practically the theme of this 16th Siam 2024.
04:40 Sibénalie, what do you think about this theme?
04:44 How has it been defined?
04:47 I imagine it is a conjuncture, it is current.
04:50 What is your point of view as the president of the Commission?
04:54 I think it is the number one subject.
04:58 It really had to be this subject, because it is really the main theme.
05:03 Our problem comes from this, our daily life comes from this.
05:09 It has been going on for six years now.
05:12 It continues, we don't even see the end of the tunnel.
05:14 We are not alone.
05:16 Yesterday, while discussing with the French and Spanish ministers,
05:20 it is their main concern.
05:22 The Spanish, who is the guest of honour.
05:24 The French who came to force yesterday.
05:28 And of course, what we closed yesterday,
05:32 we told them that we are going to teach them a lot now with what we are experiencing.
05:37 We are used to it now, it has become something for us.
05:40 And Spain, I imagine, is undergoing the same climate conjuncture as we do.
05:43 Almost the same.
05:44 Even France is now starting to have the same problems.
05:47 And now it really becomes a serious problem.
05:50 I think the whole world is suffering.
05:54 We are seeing an evolution that we have never seen.
05:58 And we are no longer talking about hydric stress or drought.
06:03 The problem now is climate change.
06:07 We feel it in the real sense of the term.
06:09 And the best way to know is the extreme temperature
06:12 and the extreme phenomena that we experience every day.
06:16 It is a software that you have been practically brought to review.
06:20 This software will take into account these climatic factors,
06:24 factors of drought within the group.
06:27 Of course.
06:28 In fact, what you have to understand is that it is a process.
06:31 We are learning from these crises that we are experiencing.
06:34 The whole sector of the agricultural ecosystem is learning how to adapt.
06:40 And it will be a path.
06:41 I think it will be a path that will be relatively complex.
06:46 But we will have to evolve both practices and the way of financing them.
06:51 So within the group, we have put in place solutions,
06:54 special financing solutions.
06:57 We have a whole set of products, in particular a hand-held program
07:01 that allows the green transition of farmers
07:05 with four key products for organic agriculture,
07:10 circular economy and energy efficiency.
07:15 So all of this is a way of producing, let's say, greener,
07:21 which also preserves the profitability of our farmers.
07:25 But from the point of view of risks,
07:27 these are risks that we must integrate more and more
07:30 in the way we perceive an agricultural project.
07:35 When we invest in an agricultural project,
07:38 when the bank finances an agricultural project,
07:40 it is a project that is launched in 10 years, maybe in 15 years.
07:43 We have to project ourselves on the climate that it will have in 10 or 15 years.
07:50 We know that we can no longer rely on history as we have done so far.
07:54 That is to say that the historical series that we tended to scrutinize
07:59 to define agricultural trends have changed.
08:04 And today we have more and more difficulties.
08:07 We must rely on the work of scientists,
08:09 in particular the scientists of the GIEC,
08:11 to better understand these difficulties.
08:14 Céchard, we have seen climate conditions that are quite difficult.
08:19 It tends to reject young people who might be interested in this sector.
08:24 What has been done in terms of investment and also encouragement,
08:28 financing, in the direction of these young people
08:31 so that they can be interested in this specific segment?
08:34 I think there has been a cumulative impact of climate change,
08:37 but also COVID, but also the situation of dams, which are at a low level.
08:42 There is also inflation, income,
08:45 the disruption of international food chains, etc.
08:48 So, in fact, what we have experienced in the last four years
08:52 has never been experienced by Morocco, by farmers.
08:55 We all experienced the drought of the 80s, but it was different.
08:58 And so we need a new software for all partners
09:03 of the rural agricultural ecosystem, whether in Morocco,
09:06 whether in Africa, or even at the global level.
09:09 And so it questions all our certainties
09:13 and our ways of approaching agriculture
09:17 and perhaps of organizing the sectors among all stakeholders,
09:22 but also on the level of how to finance this new uncertain agriculture
09:26 so that it continues to become more profitable,
09:30 productive, attractive, but also resilient.
09:33 And so all of this is new.
09:35 And so we have to imagine new financial engineering
09:40 to support farmers.
09:43 It's a difficult period, I hope it won't be long.
09:46 It's the sixth year.
09:48 It's the sixth year, it's not easy.
09:50 So first of all, thank you to the farmers who have taken the course.
09:54 We continue to have vegetables and fruits in our fields,
09:58 which are there, the offer is there,
10:00 even if there are times when prices have increased.
10:02 But it is a daily work of our farmers, women and men of the rural world
10:06 that we must thank enormously.
10:08 And precisely, Sibounali, you are a man of the field,
10:10 president of the Commander,
10:12 what information do you have from the field?
10:15 What do the agricultural farmers tell you?
10:17 The situation is not going well, it's still not going well.
10:19 We had a little hope with the rains recently, in March.
10:23 It's a first.
10:24 We had a well-watered March.
10:26 Of course, it was very beneficial.
10:29 Very beneficial for a lot of speculation
10:33 and at the same time for certain regions.
10:35 We can talk about the northern regions,
10:37 three regions that are the ones that saved me.
10:39 But the rest of Morocco, Morocco is big
10:41 and the stake is enormous.
10:43 We must not see agriculture,
10:46 we don't see things the same way as in France, for example.
10:51 In France, we treat an activity like another.
10:55 Agriculture can be an activity like aeronautics,
10:58 we have our city.
10:59 In Morocco, we must know that behind us there are 16 million inhabitants,
11:03 16 million Moroccans who live directly or indirectly from agriculture.
11:07 And now we must not just ensure,
11:11 we must ensure food for the Moroccan citizen,
11:16 ensure water, drinking water for the Moroccan,
11:19 have an affordable price,
11:22 because we can say what we want, but our means are limited.
11:26 So, have an affordable price.
11:29 And better than that, it's preserving the 3.5 million workers
11:33 that are in the agricultural sector.
11:35 In addition to the 16 million people who live.
11:38 In France, it's just 3%,
11:41 we come from the United States, we are at 40%.
11:43 That's the equation, that's where it gets more complicated.
11:46 So now, there is the Eid coming,
11:49 we wonder what will happen after the Eid,
11:52 with the prices that have completely burned meat.
11:56 The farmer, he is down on his reserves,
11:59 he has exhausted his reserves, now he is down on his capital,
12:03 and that's what's going to hurt a lot.
12:05 Now we are eliminating capital.
12:07 That's it, the stake is very, very, very high.
12:10 Madame Trill, precisely these climate conditions,
12:12 this climate donation, brought you too,
12:14 within the group of the bank,
12:17 to review, there too, perhaps some conditions,
12:20 some donations that are imposed in one way or another to you.
12:24 Can we say today that the funding
12:27 may be linked to certain agricultural sectors much more than others?
12:31 Perhaps the first point I would like to emphasize
12:35 is that the agricultural credit,
12:37 its objective is to support farmers.
12:40 So it's not to block funding.
12:43 Because some sectors are much more...
12:46 For the moment, it is not the case.
12:49 What we did, we led a project
12:51 structuring over more than a year,
12:53 on climate risk,
12:56 to understand precisely what is the level of climate risk
13:00 to which Moroccan agriculture is exposed.
13:04 And the goal is to be able to support our farmers in this adaptation,
13:08 that is, to support them in understanding
13:13 the impact of climate change on their choice of investment.
13:19 So when investing,
13:22 they must be well aware of the problems they may face.
13:27 So we are not in a process where we are going to try to block investment,
13:31 but rather to support, advise, support investment
13:36 so that it is sustainable.
13:38 Sustainable for the farmer in the first place,
13:41 and for the environment in the second.
13:44 We have an environmental and social management system.
13:48 This environmental and social management system is exactly what we aim for.
13:52 That is, to ensure...
13:54 To ensure that the projects carried out by our customers
14:00 respect environmental and social standards.
14:03 Why? Because a project that does not respect these standards,
14:07 it simply means that it can fall under the law,
14:11 it can mean that it can fall under the law
14:14 of a ban on exercising or of any problem
14:19 that will prevent the project from generating profitability as expected by the project owner.
14:26 So this type of system allows us,
14:29 beyond securing sales commitments,
14:32 to support our customers in their strategic choices
14:36 when they implement their projects.
14:38 Does this kind of synergy exist between you,
14:42 who represent the rural world,
14:45 and you, who represent finance and investment,
14:48 how does it usually go when it comes to carrying out an investment operation, for example?
14:54 We are very close to the bank, so we work permanently with them.
14:58 We know it, that is, we don't need to be guided by that.
15:02 We now know where the problem is.
15:04 We know that there are sectors that we can no longer continue,
15:07 and these are sectors that have become so risky, and it's automatic.
15:11 The best example is that this year we are used to having,
15:17 in terms of cereals, something like 4.6 to 5 million hectares.
15:22 This year we were at 2.5 million.
15:24 This means that people are really starting to be afraid.
15:26 It's useless to take that risk.
15:29 So now they have gone to do something else, other products maybe.
15:33 Others stop completely.
15:36 Is Morocco still an agricultural vocational country, despite everything?
15:39 Despite everything, yes.
15:41 That is, by force of law, we are not.
15:45 It's not a choice.
15:47 But still, 40% of the population lives in rural areas.
15:51 You said it, there is a dry moment.
15:53 Despite the crisis, despite the climate conditions, the climate shock,
15:58 we are practically missing nothing on the markets.
16:01 Thanks to the farmers.
16:03 Thanks to the farmers.
16:05 To the sacrifices of the farmers.
16:07 Can you explain to me, is it the role of the banks or the genius of the farmers?
16:11 It's a set.
16:13 It's a common work that is done.
16:16 There is no agriculture without funding.
16:19 Now, you have to see that our water supply is 5.6 billion cubic meters per year.
16:26 So far, the maximum we have been able to hold is 3.6 billion.
16:30 This year, the year before, we were at less than 600 million.
16:33 This year it will be even worse.
16:36 You see a little bit how we are managing.
16:39 We manage the unmanageable.
16:42 We are talking about an internal financing circuit.
16:47 I imagine that you are also expanding this financing method
16:52 through large foreign groups.
16:55 There was a convention that was signed by Mme Trill with the AFD, the French Development Agency.
17:00 What is the content of this agreement, of this convention?
17:05 Yes, absolutely.
17:07 We are forced to forge partnerships.
17:11 Not only financial partnerships, but the bank is part of an ecosystem.
17:16 In this ecosystem, there are also what are called the buyers of funds, among which the AFD.
17:21 The French Development Agency signed a convention for 70 million euros.
17:29 The objective is to support the resilience of our food systems, the resilience of our agriculture,
17:36 adaptation to climate change, and at the same time, support or strengthen food security.
17:44 The objective is to be able to finance, but also to have technical assistance for the STIDAMA program.
17:55 We will be able to extend this program, which not only provides loans,
18:00 but also technical assistance and a premium on investment, thanks to this partnership with the AFD.
18:05 We also have other partners, including the European Investment Bank.
18:09 I was talking earlier about the project on climate risks.
18:12 We did it in partnership with the European Investment Bank.
18:16 Agricultural loans enjoy the trust of a number of international fund buyers.
18:23 Why? Because it is the agricultural bank.
18:26 You know that these partners have development missions.
18:30 In Morocco, agricultural development is key, and the locomotive, as Simon Ali reminded us.
18:38 Agricultural loans allow us to transfer the funds of these fund buyers to small farmers,
18:46 to medium farmers, and to all Moroccan farmers, which would not be possible live.
18:53 This expertise of the agricultural credit in financing agriculture is something that we are very proud of today,
19:02 and which we also share at the African level.
19:04 Yesterday, there was also a ministerial conference of the AAA initiative,
19:10 the Initiative for the Adaptation of African Agriculture,
19:13 which shows that the issue of agricultural adaptation is a continental issue.
19:20 Morocco has this initiative, supported by the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture,
19:27 which aims to share and exchange on the subject of adaptation to climate change at the continental level.
19:35 The agricultural credit is part of this initiative as a founding member.
19:39 Mr. Chahar, Mrs. Trell spoke about the case of small farmers.
19:43 How can this category represent a specificity for the agricultural credit group?
19:51 You know that the agricultural credit is not a commercial one like all other banks,
19:58 but it is invested by a public service mission.
20:02 What is this MSP that we call MSP?
20:05 It is to support all Moroccan agriculture, including small farmers who do not always have a bankable file,
20:12 who do not always have guarantees.
20:14 We have a financing system through the class A bank, which is the agricultural credit,
20:21 through Temwil Fidah, which is a specialized financing institution for small farmers who do not have guarantees,
20:28 and we have the Arvou Foundation.
20:30 This means that any project manager, any farmer in Morocco can access Chinese financing,
20:36 regardless of their size, their branch, their region.
20:39 This does not exist in all countries.
20:42 This is a pride in Morocco, this is what we share with African countries as export.
20:47 This has contributed to the offer we talked about earlier.
20:52 Is this offer specific to young promoters to help them invest in a sector that is not obvious today?
20:59 No, first of all, it means that in Morocco, the agricultural structure
21:04 only allows 75% of farmers to have less than 5 hectares.
21:09 So it's the majority, it's a family farm, it's a small-scale agriculture, but it's them who make Morocco.
21:16 People who have very large land are few in number.
21:21 So our agriculture is a small-scale agriculture.
21:26 I don't like the word "small", but let's say large farmers who have small farms like in China.
21:35 So the agricultural loan today represents 80% of the loans granted to the agricultural sector.
21:42 So it's a heavy responsibility, we do it with pride.
21:46 We try to do it well through this exercise that we have accumulated since 1961,
21:52 through good relations with all the interprofessions and all the stakeholders of the agricultural ecosystem,
22:01 to achieve this mission.
22:03 So they are at the heart of our strategy, through the products, through the financing channels,
22:08 through the leasing measures when there are difficult periods, etc.
22:13 Sibene Ali, young promoters who are interested in agriculture are more numerous today.
22:18 Do they expose you to conditions that you may not have heard of before?
22:24 No, of course it's normal, it's not like before.
22:28 There is a very significant reluctance.
22:31 They think twice before coming to agriculture now.
22:35 But still, there are always project leaders, there are people who are interested.
22:39 And we have always said that it is during the crisis that we do good things.
22:44 So there is always someone who thinks he is going to do a good thing.
22:48 So there is always a potential.
22:50 So here you have two representatives, two managers of a large bank.
22:54 What message would you give them?
22:58 It's the moment that you may not have had the opportunity to say.
23:02 To persist, to continue.
23:04 They will not start.
23:06 What is missing?
23:08 I was going to say "perfect".
23:10 What is missing?
23:12 Frankly, it's a little more flexibility, a little more speed in the files.
23:19 To be a little faster.
23:21 To support, to not support farmers during this very difficult period.
23:26 Go ahead.
23:28 In my opinion, the acceleration of the modernization of Moroccan agriculture will go through the years.
23:36 Exactly.
23:37 If we look at the age pyramid, 65% of farmers are 70 years old.
23:43 So they need to grow.
23:45 When you are 70 years old, you no longer invest, etc.
23:47 You are not very open to new technologies, etc.
23:50 So when a young farmer settles, he settles with a real ambition to modernize, to grow, to develop.
24:01 He has the facility of technological tools, etc.
24:04 I think that young people, of course, need agriculture to remain attractive for them to come to the agricultural sector.
24:10 If it is no longer attractive, they will go to the cities, they will no longer resume their farms, etc.
24:14 We need this intergenerational transition for Moroccan farmers.
24:20 It's not the other way around.
24:22 In France, this is what is happening today.
24:24 This is one of the conditions that is taken in the file processing, Mrs. Trippe.
24:28 Young people have a file, perhaps to draw a perspective on the long term.
24:34 Young people have specific financing devices, such as the Musasmel Karawi, which was put in place.
24:42 This allows to facilitate access conditions in terms of rates and guarantees for farmers.
24:49 This allows farmers to take this first step, or young people to take this first step towards the agricultural sector, which has advantageous conditions.
24:59 We have talked a lot about climate change.
25:01 Some regions of Morocco are much more polluted, I would say, much more flooded than others.
25:07 There are these famous water highways.
25:09 Is there a kind of highway in the Comaderie to help the less flooded regions compared to others?
25:18 In the Comadere, we participate with the government every time there is something.
25:23 We propose, by the way, the project of the CED, which was originally proposed by the farmers, if we make the request.
25:31 It's a project, a water transfer over 67 km, which is being finalized.
25:37 We are in it, we always propose new solutions, possibilities, where there is a little more.
25:45 Unfortunately, in the majority, there is not much.
25:49 We are in Chitibre, practically everywhere, in all the basins.
25:52 Seychelles, what would be ideal for a bank, in an environment that would be ideal there too?
25:59 How to make agriculture able to maneuver the levers that will perhaps arrange for you, facilitate your work, at least in terms of production?
26:12 I come back first to regionalization.
26:15 I think that each region has its own potential in terms of production.
26:21 The supply chains can be distributed geographically in different ways.
26:25 We must exploit the potential of each region as best we can.
26:29 And we, as a financial body of the rural world, as a bank, we have...
26:35 And these are advice you give to farmers?
26:38 We have a level of decentralization through regional management and sales points.
26:45 We deal with almost 98% of the files on site.
26:48 Only 2% go back to the headquarters.
26:50 I think that for the bank, it is a great advantage, and even for farmers.
26:57 It's like adapting to the real needs of each sector and each region.
27:02 When you finance the Oasis, it's not the mountains, it's not the plains, it's not the small plots, etc.
27:09 So we have the products and the financing approach really dedicated to each type of agriculture in each type of region.
27:18 And we must exclude no one.
27:20 As I said earlier, you have to find the appropriate financing channels and the financing product to secure the bank.
27:26 Agriculture represents 50% of the global portfolio of the bank.
27:31 We finance 80% of the credit grants that the banking system gives to agriculture, or at least lends to agriculture.
27:40 So we are concerned, we are engaged, and what we would like is that there is more improvement in the marketing circuits,
27:55 in the market of goods, etc., to give farmers the means to keep the largest share of the added value.
28:05 This is perhaps a problem of small agriculture.
28:08 When we look at the intermediaries, when we really calculate the sale price to the plot and the purchase price to the consumer,
28:17 there is really a gap.
28:19 And it does not benefit neither the consumer nor the small farmer.
28:23 Farmers must be able to secure the markets to make money for the farmer, so that agriculture remains attractive.
28:34 We talk a lot about marketing, financing, productivity.
28:39 What about the bank's strategy in terms of encouraging the modernization of agricultural equipment?
28:47 I imagine that I do not know what the percentage of the level of modernization here in Morocco is.
28:57 Just to bounce back on what has been said,
29:01 today, in order for agriculture to continue to be profitable,
29:04 we really have to look for the margins where they are.
29:10 That is, at each level, at each passage between an intermediary and another, try to find the margins.
29:16 First of all, at the level of exploitation, we must optimize all means of production.
29:21 To maximize at the level of exploitation first.
29:25 And that also goes through a change in practices.
29:28 We have the semi-direct program today, which is led by the Ministry of Agriculture.
29:34 It concerns cereals.
29:35 One million hectares as a goal by 2030 in semi-direct.
29:40 This is a change in practices at the level of exploitation,
29:44 because it allows for better productivity at the level of the plots,
29:50 in a context of climate change and drought.
29:54 So, the effort must start at the level of exploitation to improve.
29:59 You were talking earlier about certain sectors.
30:02 Indeed, the choice must be made in a reasonable way,
30:05 to have cultures that are adapted to the type of soil, to the type of climate there is.
30:12 This is the first step.
30:14 And then, try to shorten the number of intermediaries between the producer and the consumer,
30:22 and maximize the niches at each level.
30:30 I think this is something that is part of the Green Generation.
30:34 Because we have modern agriculture, which is put forward,
30:38 and which also allows to optimize everything that is done at the level of exploitation.
30:42 Modern agriculture.
30:44 This year, it is the first time that we have a pavilion dedicated to digital agriculture on the show.
30:50 And then there is also the work that is done on the wholesale markets,
30:55 the work that is done on the support, the advice,
30:58 which is provided to farmers to optimize their production methods.
31:06 We talked earlier about conventions that are signed with certain partners abroad.
31:12 This is the strategy, I imagine, of the Agricultural Credit Group.
31:16 What is being done in the direction of our compatriots, those who are settled abroad,
31:21 to be able to make them more and more interested in this activity that may seem to be neglected?
31:28 Maybe to say that the Moroccans of the world are of rural origin,
31:35 we must remember that whether in Italy, etc., it is where they come from.
31:38 So already, they are in our perimeter.
31:43 They know us and we know them.
31:46 Maybe they can invest today in Europe, etc., to settle as a bank,
31:51 there are procedures and it costs, but we try to welcome them,
31:56 to welcome them during the period when they are there,
32:00 that is to say, the summer plus the rites, etc.
32:03 We are in contact with their parents in the transfers,
32:08 but it is true that we must perhaps do a more serious or deeper work
32:13 to bring them back to invest in modern operations.
32:18 Five million Moroccans abroad, is that a good time to start thinking about this?
32:25 There are Moroccans abroad who are investing a little.
32:31 But has agriculture explained to them at its fair value?
32:34 Because many invest in sectors.
32:39 They invest more in other sectors than in agriculture.
32:43 Has this fair value been explained to them?
32:46 They invested a lot before this crisis,
32:51 but of course it's like anyone who does business,
32:55 now it doesn't bring much, they invest a lot less.
32:58 But before, they invested a lot.
33:01 We have a lot of investment, and by the way, the investment continues.
33:04 The investment in agriculture continues, it continues very well.
33:07 And we must not forget that we have invested in Morocco,
33:10 something equivalent to 110 billion dirhams.
33:14 One third came from the state and two thirds came from the private sector.
33:20 So all these investments, there were also many Moroccans abroad who invested.
33:24 Madam Trill, my last question is for you, to all lords and all honors.
33:29 The agricultural sector remains a carrier, through everything that has been said since earlier.
33:34 Does this sector still remain a carrier for a large bank like Agricultural Credit?
33:39 Of course, agriculture is the DNA of Morocco's Agricultural Credit.
33:46 It is a locomotive for the national economy.
33:50 Some figures have been recalled on employment in the rural environment,
33:55 on rural population in Morocco.
33:58 It's a crisis, we learn from crises, we evolve with crises.
34:02 It challenges us a little bit.
34:04 Maybe we haven't understood what climate change means until we're really in it.
34:10 Can you explain to the farmer, to the agricultural operator, what changes are occurring?
34:15 I think the farmers are in it, they explain to us, they explain to us.
34:18 We have scientific and theoretical data.
34:21 But you still take into account certain factors dictated by them.
34:24 So farmers are experiencing the climate crisis, the climate shocks, and the extent of these shocks.
34:31 We have talked about a lot of droughts, but there are also floods.
34:34 It's one of the risks we're facing.
34:36 There are hail, there are a lot of climate problems that await us.
34:43 But today we are better armed.
34:46 There is a debate today that is brought to the highest level of the state.
34:51 There is a subject, a lot of awareness is being raised.
34:58 The conference is proof of this.
35:01 We continue to believe that the agricultural sector is a national cause for food security in our country and food sovereignty in Morocco.
35:13 So the school credit is even more committed to the side of the sectors and interprofessions.
35:20 For the best, above all.
35:21 Inshallah.
35:22 Thank you all for your interventions, Mrs. Marie-Hélène Dril, Director of Sustainable Development and South-South Cooperation.
35:29 Mr. Moustapha Chahar, thank you very much.
35:31 Director of the Green Domain within the Agricultural Credit Group.
35:35 And finally, Mr. Rachid Ben Ali, President of the Comadair Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture and Rural Development.
35:42 It's the end of the "Hour of Experts".
35:45 An episode has been made since the 16th SIAM, the International Agriculture and Rural Development Fair in Morocco.
35:56 And we are in Meknes.
35:59 Thank you for following us.
36:01 See you soon.
36:02 This program was presented to you in partnership with the Agricultural Credit of Morocco.