Moroccan olive growing in the grip of doubt

Olive oil crisis in Morocco: producers sound the alarm about global warming. The Moroccan olive sector is going through an unprecedented crisis. In 2024, the effects of climate change, combined with a dramatic increase in production costs, have plunged olive oil producers into a desperate situation. Prolonged drought, insufficient cold hours and heat waves have seriously affected harvests, causing prices to soar and threatening the viability of farms. Rachid Benali, president of the Moroccan Interprofessional Federation of Olives (Interprolive) spoke in a long interview with LeBrief.ma. For six years, Morocco has been facing a persistent drought that has deeply marked the agricultural landscape mainly in the regions of Marrakech and Fez-Meknes. Olive groves, which depend largely on rainfall, are suffering particularly. “The trees have suffered a terrible blow,” says Rachid Benali, president of the Moroccan Interprofessional Olive Federation (Interprolive). According to him, the ...