Five local products out of about twenty, identified by a study launched in 2010 in the Fès-Boulemane region, have just been the subject of an in-depth diagnosis intended to determine the improvements that could be made to the value chain, the marketing circuit and price formation.

Falling within the framework of the implementation of the strategy for the promotion of local products, this diagnosis focused, according to the Regional Directorate of Agriculture, its initiator, on honey, capers, the olive tree of Outat Elhaj, Lmta and Azzaba, the Tafegight apple and the Chaari fig.

This analysis has thus made it possible to detect a number of findings common to all the sectors studied, essentially the low level of processing, the poor quality of packaging and bottling, the lack of control over costs and sales techniques, the predominance of marketing within unstructured networks of trust and the multitude of intermediaries, explains the DRA.

The analysis of the five products, one by one, shows that for the honey sector, 70% of production is sold in networks of trust of beekeepers, in poor quality packaging and at lower prices than those charged by resellers within their own networks. The study determines an average loss of earnings for beekeepers of 30 DH per kg.

At the level of the caper sector, two important circuits were identified by the analysis. A dominant circuit where capers pass through commission agents who collect for the benefit of industrial units and a second less important one (30% of the flow), which is that of collector-canners (cooperatives and individuals) who supply industrial units in quantities varying according to the working capital available to these canners.

Among the avenues envisaged, the study indicates that the significant share of temporary canners makes it possible to propose a way of developing a partnership between large processing units and professional producer organisations, the strengthening of the storage and conservation capacity of the latter and the training and awareness-raising of pickers and collectors on good practices for harvesting and collecting capers.

The analysis of the value chain of the olive sector of Outat Elhaj, Lmta and Azzaba showed that the more producers value their production themselves, by getting closer to the final consumer, the better they come out as winners. It also deduces that the largest share of the value added is generated after conditioning olive oil. Which value is estimated at 16 DH per litre of conditioned oil against 2 DH per litre sold in bulk and 0.5 DH per kg of olives sold after harvest.

Concerning the Tafegight apple sector, the examination of price formation made it possible to note that the distance of the area from large consumption centres and the low level of supply prevent the influx of large buyers and thus makes producers suffer the prices of the few rare buyers who are interested in the area. The analysis notes, however, that the natural cold of the area represents a great potential offered to producers who can, by simple storage in fruit stores, earn 3 DH per kg of apple by shifting the sales period towards spring. As for the Chaari fig, the diagnosis reveals that this sector remains poorly valued (sale of the product in a fresh state) and that the margin is distributed between producers and resellers. Although it is quite significant currently, the producer's margin could be improved if the sector is organised, the supply is consolidated and the product is labelled. To summarise, the analysis made it possible to identify significant margins for improvement and increase in producers' incomes. Objectives that involve improving the quality and presentation of finished products, creating connections with structured markets and strengthening the managerial and commercial capacities of producers, while reducing the presence of intermediaries. It is also a question of accompanying farmers in the implementation of distinctive signs of origin and quality (SDOQ) and their promotion to the local and national consumer.

The valorisation of local products constitutes a component of pillar II (solidarity support for small-scale agriculture) of the regional agricultural plan (PAR), a local declination of the Green Morocco Plan.

For its implementation, the PAR will mobilise, by 2020, an amount of 10.6 billion DH for the realisation of 108 projects (55 in animal production and 53 in plant production), it is recalled.