By Cary Sifferath, USGC Regional Director in Tunisia

Morocco’s severe drought has sparked intense mitigation planning by the Moroccan government. The United States is in a strong position to supply distiller’s grains, corn gluten feed, corn or sorghum for compound feeds. While Morocco is a market in which the United States has recently faced growing competition from Europe, Russia, the Ukraine, and South America, the extended drought is creating intensified supply pressures and thus opportunities for U.S. exports.

As early as late January an initial relief package was developed for the Eastern Plateaus and the Southern provinces of Morocco. Totaling $11.9 million, the subsidies were used for distributing 60,000 metric tons (2.8 million bushels) of feed to livestock farmers in these regions.

The lack of rain in February forced the authorities to widen the program and include all other regions. The Government has now allocated for subsidies of $182.1 million, out of which $71.4 million was given to regional departments of agriculture to proceed with sourcing feed and making it available to livestock farmers. The U.S. Grains Council will be working with grain procurement authorities to help them source their additional feed needs from the United States.

According to USGC sources, if dry conditions continue, the Ministry of Agriculture will call for additional government funding to cover for various relief efforts and provide opportunities for employment that might be lost. Dry conditions have continued throughout most of April, but there is no news yet of the government’s plan to increase the relief budget.

As a reference, in 2000, one of the driest years in recent Moroccan history, the relief program budget culminated at approximately $237million.