AgricultureID

Country agriculture profile · Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan

Morocco

Morocco’s agriculture is shaped by a steep gradient from the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts through semi-arid plains to the arid pre-Saharan south, with the Atlas Mountains dividing wetter zones from drier ones. Rainfed cereals — soft and durum wheat and barley — occupy the largest area but swing sharply with year-to-year rainfall, making drought the defining risk to the sector. Irrigated perimeters in the Souss, Gharb, and Doukkala support the high-value citrus, early vegetables, and olives that anchor export horticulture, while sheep and goat herding remains central to rural livelihoods across the mountains and steppe. National strategy, set out first in the Plan Maroc Vert and continued under Generation Green, has prioritised irrigation efficiency, value addition, and resilience to water stress.

Stable overview + dated statisticsUpdated: 2026-07-12

Farming systems (stable overview)

Climate zones

  • Mediterranean
  • Semi-arid
  • Arid / Saharan
  • Highland (Atlas Mountains)

Agroecological zones

  • Mediterranean and Atlantic coastal plains
  • Semi-arid rainfed interior plains (bour)
  • Atlas Mountains
  • Pre-Saharan oases

Dominant crop systems

  • Rainfed cereals — soft and durum wheat and barley — on the plains
  • Irrigated export horticulture (citrus, tomato, and early vegetables) in the Souss, Gharb, and Doukkala perimeters
  • Olive groves, both rainfed and irrigated
  • Date palms and argan in the arid south
  • Mountain and steppe fodder supporting grazing herds

Major livestock systems

  • Extensive sheep and goat pastoralism on rangelands and mountains
  • Smallholder and commercial dairy cattle
  • Poultry

Irrigation: Public irrigation perimeters fed by dams underpin high-value horticulture, yet the bulk of the cultivated area is rainfed and highly vulnerable to recurrent drought.

Latest verified data

Each value is the most recent available observation, shown with its own year and unit. Figures are periodically revised — treat them as dated, sourced statistics, not evergreen facts.

Latest available agricultural indicators, with year and unit
IndicatorValueUnitYear
Agricultural land66.74% of land area2023
Arable land15.4% of land area2023
Cereal yield1,240.1kg per hectare2024
Agriculture value added10.57% of GDP2024
Employment in agriculture(est.)28.27% of total employment2024
Irrigated agricultural land5.96% of agricultural land2019
Average precipitation346mm per year2022
Rural population37.2% of total population2024

Source: World Bank Open Data (World Development Indicators) (opens in a new tab) · dataset version 2026-07-01 · retrieved 2026-07-12

Cereal yield over time

201320192024
Morocco — Cereal yield (kg per hectare). Bars start at zero.
Show data table
Morocco — Cereal yield in kg per hectare by year
Yearkg per hectare
20131,828.3
20141,454.3
20152,140.7
2016936
20171,757.4
20182,263.2
20191,453.6
2020747.4
20212,328.7
2022943.3
20231,482.1
20241,240.1

Source: World Bank Open Data (World Development Indicators) (opens in a new tab) · dataset version 2026-07-01 · retrieved 2026-07-12

Derived indicator

Arable land as a share of agricultural land: 23.1 % of agricultural land (2023)

Derived value — formula arable-share-of-agricultural-land v1.0.0 (calc v1). Inputs: AG.LND.ARBL.ZS (15.4) ÷ AG.LND.AGRI.ZS (66.7). A derived ratio, not an observed statistic. Sensitive to rounding and to differing revision cycles of the two source series; omit rather than extrapolate when a common year is unavailable.

Documented crops & livestock

Agricultural institutions

  • National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA Morocco) — National agricultural research institute for crop, livestock, and resource-management science.
  • Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests — Leads national agricultural strategy, articulated first through the Plan Maroc Vert (Green Morocco Plan) and continued under Generation Green.

Data coverage & limitations

Covered by the World Bank WDI snapshots for land, production, yield, economy, inputs, and environment indicators, compiled largely from FAO and national sources.

  • Agricultural statistics are dated, versioned, and periodically revised; always read them together with their observation year and dataset version.
  • National statistical definitions — of agricultural land, irrigated area, holdings, and livestock categories — differ between countries and over time, which limits strict cross-country comparison.
  • Cereal harvests are highly sensitive to seasonal rainfall, and a single dry or wet year can swing national output dramatically.
  • Area and production estimates for rainfed smallholdings carry larger uncertainty than those for the managed irrigated perimeters.

Sources

This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.

  1. [1]World Bank Open Data — World Development Indicators (opens in a new tab)

    World Bank

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Agricultural statistics (WDI)

    Type:
    Intergovernmental organization
    Jurisdiction:
    Global
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  2. [2]FAO — Food and Agriculture Organization (opens in a new tab)

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Production systems, irrigation, and food-balance context

    Type:
    Intergovernmental organization
    Jurisdiction:
    Global
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12