Morocco has delivered 1,000 tonnes of DAP fertilizer to Mali, fulfilling a commitment made in July to support a farming sector that provides work for around 80% of the country’s active population.
The shipment was handed over at Mali’s Office of Agricultural Products (OPAM) in the presence of Morocco’s ambassador in Bamako, Driss Isbayene, and Agriculture Minister Ibrahima Samaké.
The donation was agreed during the fourth Morocco-Mali Joint Commission for Cooperation, held in Bamako on July 24.
Agriculture accounts for between 35% and 40% of Mali’s GDP, with authorities seeking to raise productivity as farmers contend with climate change, water shortages and deteriorating soils.
Isbayene said access to fertilizer was an important part of that effort.
“This gesture by Morocco towards Mali aims to support this brotherly country in its efforts to strengthen food security and develop sustainable agriculture,” he said.
DAP, which contains nitrogen and phosphorus, is used at sowing to promote root development in young cereal crops.
For OPAM chief Colonel-Major Moussa Démé, the shipment represented “1,000 tonnes of hope for producers”.
“This is concrete support that will allow many farmers to improve soil fertility, strengthen their production capacity and, as a result, increase their yields,” he said.
Samaké said Bamako wants to take agricultural cooperation with Rabat further, citing soil fertility, seeds, mechanisation, irrigation, food processing, agricultural value chains, training and technology transfer among the areas that could be covered.
The fertilizer shipment also comes amid wider cooperation between Rabat and Bamako.
Youssouf Dramane Koné, representing Mali’s foreign minister at the handover, said several Moroccan missions had visited the country since April 10, covering health, agriculture, energy and water.
M. K. Diemba/Le360 Afrique
