Morocco

Morocco Wants Swift Moves to Offset Drought
Reuters, April 5, 2000

Socialist Prime Minister Abderrahmane El Youssoufi told Morocco's bureaucrats Wednesday to get cracking on action to counter the worst drought in a decade. "The realization of the anti-drought program should not at any stage suffer from slow procedures," he said in a four-page leaflet obtained by Reuters. Ministries and local authorities should speed up funding for water pipelines and for small and medium-sized rural firms, the prime minister said. The cabinet allocated 6.5 billion dirham ($631 million) last month to combat water shortages in rural areas and create jobs to head off a drought-driven drift to the cities. The government expects gross domestic product to grow only three percent this year, instead of the 6.4 percent predicted before the rains failed. Agriculture accounts for 20 percent of Morocco's GDP, which was 365 billion dirhams ($35.19 billion) in 1999. Half of the country's 10 million workers are employed in agriculture.

Germany Grants Morocco $43 Mln to Fight Drought
Reuters, June 28, 2000

Germany said on Wednesday it had granted Morocco 90 million marks ($43.29 million) in loans and a donation to fight the impact of drought. The Moroccan government has said it will devote more than $630 million to offset the drought, which has battered the important farm sector.