Timetable of the Morocco ASP

June 2007: National NGO meeting: 19-20 June 2007, Rabat, 18 participants attended the National NGO Meeting. During the meeting the PMU gave an update on progress of the Moroccan ASP, there were presentations and dicussions on the activities of NGOs, functionality of the NGO network, and feedback on the NGO exchange event. Looking forward, discussion and workplans were established for NGO involvement beyond 2007, and the Secretariat was designated as The Association Ribath Al Fath with Benis Abdelhadi as the National NGO Facilitator.

May 2007: First Supervision Mission: 14-18 May 2007, the first Supervision mission in Morocco was held, to build capacity and plan for the implementation activities. Representatives from the Moroccan PMU, the NGO Coordinator, and all ASP Patners were in attendance. The mission included a local field trip for participants to gather first hand experience of an obsolete pesticides stockpile, an indication of what needs to be cleaned up and prevented from recurring.

April 2007: NGO Workshop: 16-19 April 2007, the Moroccan PMU was host to the ASP-P1 NGO workshop in Rabat. 36 participants from P1 countries, PAN-Afrique, PAN-UK, AGENDA and WWF atttended the meeting. Current and planned activities of the ASP were discussed, as well as specific NGO activities in each P1 country. The aims of the workshop were to: exchange experiences, learn about problems, solutions and opportunities encountered across the P1 countries; provide training on financial management; develop plans for future engagement at the country level; and identify support needs from PAN. 

April 2007: Inventory Training/Implementation: Hosted by FAO.

February 2007: Signing of Grant Agreement: 7 February 2007, the Moroccan Ministry of Finance signed the Grant Agreement.

January 2007: Ecotoxicological Training: 26 January - 10 February 2007, NGO particpants from Morocco attended the PAN hosted Ecotoxicological Monitoring Training of Trainers (ToT) in Theis Senegal. From the meeting an ecotoxicological network was established, serving as a framework for skills and knowledge sharing. 

December 2006: Regional Information Day: 14 December 2006, Khenifra, as part of the awareness raising on obsolete pesticide disposal and prevention of new stocks in Morocco, a Regional Information Day was orgnazed. Posters, leaflets, cd-roms, and discussions were used to disseminate this information.  

November 2006: Start-Up Mission: 27-30 November 2006, the start-up mission took place in which ASP Partners, the Moroccan Project Management Unit (PMU), other government officials, local Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and local industry all participated. Presentations from the mission are detailed in the document library.

October - December 2006: Awareness Raising: 15 October 2006 - 31 December 2006, the project 'Awareness raising on obsolete pesticide disposal and prevention of new stocks in Morocco' was undertaken by Association SEEPOM. The aims of this project were to inform stakeholders about the dangers of pesticide use and alternatives, and encourage users and distributors to declare possible obsolete pesticides by informing them of the opportunities created by the ASP. Materials used included a poster on ASP and stockpiles, obsolete pesticide leafletsm, a 'Pesticides and Alternatives' CD ROM, and a regional information day on the ASP held at Khenifra.

May 2006: Negotiations complete: 15-16 May 2006, ASP negotiations were successfully completed in Rabat.

April 2006: Operational Manual: The Moroccan Operational Manual is completed.

For more information on the Morocco ASP, please contact:

• Project Coordination: Mr Chouibani Mekki, Ministère de l'Agriculture, email: chouibani-m@menara.ma
• NGO Activities: Mr Bennis Abdelhadi, Association Ribat Al Fath pour le Développement Durable, telephone: (+212) 61 38 4848

Country Information 

The Kingdom of Morocco is a North African country divided into 16 administrative regions, bordering Algeria to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the North, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Two Spanish exclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, also border Morocco to the north, and the southern boundaries are disputed as Morocco claims ownership of Western Sahara, administering most of the territory since 1975. The fourth most populous Arab country, the official language of Morocco is Arabic, along with wide spread use of Spanish and French. Morocco had an estimated population of 33,241,259 in 2005, and a land area of 446,550 km², that comprises 40 million hectares of agricultural land plots. Agriculture plays a major economic and social role in Morocco producing barley, citrus fruits, vegetables, and olives, whilst employing about half of the active population.