On Thursday in Rabat, Morocco and Japan signed an exchange of notes for a loan agreement worth 64.577 billion Japanese yen (approximately 3.9 billion dirhams) to finance the hydro-agricultural development project in the southeastern area of the Gharb plain. The exchange was signed by Fouzi Lekjaa, Minister Delegate in charge of the Budget; Nakata Masahiro, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Morocco; and Toyama Kei, Director General of the Department of the Middle East and Europe at JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). The signing took place in the presence of Ahmed El Bouari, Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development, and Water and Forests, as well as Kawabata Tomoyuki, Resident Representative of JICA in Morocco. This initiative is part of Morocco's national strategies for hydro-agricultural development, notably the Green Generation 2020–2030 strategy and the National Program for Drinking Water Supply and Irrigation 2020–2027. The project aims to promote water-efficient irrigation methods, particularly drip irrigation, to strengthen sustainable water management. The loan will support a major development program covering 30,000 hectares in the Gharb plain, designed to increase irrigation efficiency and boost agricultural production. It includes the construction of primary hydro-agricultural canals, auxiliary structures, and measures to safeguard existing infrastructure. Overall, the project will reinforce Morocco's food security by expanding and securing irrigation in the Gharb plain, addressing mounting pressure on water resources, and mitigating the effects of drought, while further deepening Moroccan-Japanese cooperation in sustainable and inclusive agricultural development.
