HM the King and Rwandan Pres. Chair Ceremony to Launch Morocco-Rwanda Agriculture Partnership Program
PERSISMA, Kigali – HM King Mohammed VI, accompanied by HH Prince Moulay Ismail, and president of the Republic of Rwanda, H.E. Paul Kagamé, chaired, on Thursday in Kigali, the ceremony to launch an agriculture partnership program between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Rwanda. At the Beginning of the ceremony, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Aziz Akhannouch gave before the two heads of states a presentation on the broad lines of this program which was elaborated in conformity with the Royal Instructions to help Rwanda benefit from Morocco’s experience in terms of small agriculture, mainly the expertize related to the Moroccan Green Plan.
Launched in April 2008, the ambitious Moroccan Green Plan was aimed at turning the Agricultural sector into an important lever for socio-economic development, said Akhannouch, noting that this strategy has contributed to increasing the income of thousands of small farmers and improving their living conditions.
The Morocco-Rwanda agriculture partnership program is based on sharing the Morocco expertize to meet the Rwandan potential, said the minister, noting that this program seeks to promote technical cooperation in the fields of irrigation infrastructure and animal health.
It is also meant to help Rwandan farmers benefit from the expertize of Morocco’s “groupe Crédit agricole”, the “Mutuelle Agricole Marocaine d’Assurances” (MAMDA) and OCP group regarding, respectively, the integration of small farmers in systems of funding, and of multi-risk insurance and the setting up of a database on soil fertility (fertility card). The minister underlined that Morocco, which will host next November in Marrakech the 22nd conference of parties to the UN framework convention on climate change (COP22), proposes an ambitious initiative on the adaptation of African agriculture and the reinforcement of its resilience to face climate change.
Afterwards, HM the King and the Rwandan head of state chaired the signing ceremony of four agreements on the implementation of the Morocco-Rwanda agriculture partnership program.
They are: a memorandum of understanding in the field of agriculture, signed, on the Moroccan side, by agriculture and fisheries minister Aziz Akhannouch, chairman of MAMDA board Hicham Belmrah and president of groupe Crédit agricole’s board of directors Tariq Sijilmassi and, on the Rwandan side, by minister of agriculture and animal resources Géraldine Mukeshimana.
The second agreement is a memorandum of understanding to establish a harvest insurance. It was inked by Aziz Akhannouch, Hicham Belmrah and Géraldine Mukeshimana.
The third is also a memorandum of understanding in the field of fertilizers between the Rwandan ministry of agriculture and animal resources and OCP Ltd. It was inked by CEO of OCP Ltd Mostapha Terrab and Géraldine Mukeshimana and concerns an industrial investment in blending units to produce fertilizers adapted to the Rwandan soil and cultivation.
The fourth is also a memorandum of understanding between Morocco’s Groupe Crédit Agricole and the Development Bank of Rwanda. It was signed by Tariq Sijilmassi and director general of the Development Bank of Rwanda Alex Kanyankole.
The ceremony was attended by the official delegation accompanying the monarch, members of the Rwandan cabinet and several civil and military high-ranking figures.
