Agricultural Show: "Come and invest in Morocco, we can all work together", says Rachid Benali, president of the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture

Morocco is the guest of honor at the Salon de l'agriculture for this 2025 edition. An opportunity to put the country's wealth and resources in the spotlight, while local specialties fill a richly decorated stand: mint tea of ​​course, honey pastries, but also fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables that are also the subject of discord at the show, while many French farmers denounce the unfair competition from Moroccan market gardeners.

If Rachid Benali, president of the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture, says he is " very well received by visitors and professionals", he defends Moroccan farmers, accused of not respecting the clauses of an agreement signed 25 years ago between Europe and France.

franceinfo: This agreement provides in particular for an exchange of tomatoes for cereals, while France has a deficit in this area and demand continues to increase. France takes over in the summer with cereals, since it is too hot in Morocco. The French Minister of Agriculture, Annie Genevard, considers for her part that seasonality is no longer respected.

Rachid Benali: To my knowledge, there is no seasonality in the agreement. There are trades and an agreement that provides that from a certain tonnage there are customs duties that apply to production, and as for any country. No agreement, nor any other decision blocks the export of tomatoes, just as no agreement blocks the imports of wheat that we make all year round. I think we have focused too much on tomatoes. There are other trades between France and Morocco.

"We are very pleased to have resumed exchanges with France; exchanges at the political and diplomatic level, and this relationship is very beneficial for everyone."

Rachid Benali, President of the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture

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Originally, this agreement concerned tomatoes that could be called "classic". However, there is a problem with cherry tomatoes, since exports of Moroccan cherry tomatoes to Europe, via France, have increased two and a half times since 2018, or around 150,000 tonnes each year. What do you say to people who think that you export too many cherry tomatoes to Europe?

It is true that we have multiplied these exports by two and a half. But we could say the same thing about wheat imports. Morocco continues to be a demander, and a demander for other products, with the issue of global warming behind it. In France, whether for milk or meat, you have enormous potential. It is a potential that we must take advantage of. The challenge now is to really develop trade.

To return to the tomato: France and Morocco have announced the resumption of the Tomato Committee, a committee that has been dormant since 2020, and which brings together the French and Moroccan sectors. What do you expect from it? A new agreement?

No, no change of agreement. The committee will simply meet to make decisions, implement the usual procedures, but there are no renegotiations of agreements planned, far from it. These are simply discussions that will allow us to better formalize exchanges and partnerships.

The union that is most virulent against you is the Rural Coordination. We remember the demonstrations in 2024 in the South-West against Moroccan tomatoes. A union that gained momentum during the last professional elections: do you think that you are still welcome in France? Do you fear for the future?

Not at all. I see the future in rosy light. There is enormous potential, and climate changes that affect us all. We must transform these climate changes into more and not less. Because we are talking about tomatoes today, but if we certainly have climatic conditions that allow us to have better yields in terms of its production, on the French side, it is the same thing with wheat once again.

"Today in France, we produce wheat for less than 200 euros per tonne, whereas in Morocco, we cannot produce for less than 300 or 350 euros per tonne. This does not mean that we are going to stigmatize French wheat."

Rachid Benali, President of the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture

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Morocco needs France, France needs Morocco, we understand that well. Are you suffering from the drought? Will you be able to produce as much tomorrow as today?

We will succeed and we will succeed because we have everything we need. We are working on sustainable agriculture and clean energy. This is what I say to farmers: come and invest in Morocco, we can all work together. We really have to share with the French.