Madar (Rabat) - Morocco's Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries and Food Sovereignty, Khalid Hatimy, made a field visit on Sunday, 15 November 2026, to the province of Chtouka-Ait Baha, the country's leading tomato-producing area, to assess the constraints facing the sector, according to a MAP dispatch carried by La Vie Eco.
In a statement to the press, the minister said the visit aimed to identify the problems at each stage of the chain, from production to marketing, in order to "protect" the Moroccan market with "reasonable" prices and quantities to supply the domestic market and strengthen food sovereignty, while continuing exports.
He said the ministry would take measures to reach "strategic solutions serving the sector while ensuring a certain balance between the farmer, the consumer and the intermediaries".
The minister visited a tomato seedling nursery in Sidi Bibi, where he was briefed on work to improve plants' resistance to diseases and viruses, adaptation to climate change and productivity, as well as a round-tomato farm in Inchaden and a large fruit and vegetable processing station.
The visit comes as the sector has been under strain for several months. On 11 November, before the productive sectors committee of the House of Representatives, Hatimy said the area planted with tomatoes in Chtouka-Ait Baha had fallen from 8,000 to 4,000 hectares, according to Atlasinfo.
