The Tafraout Almond Festival aims to be a development engine for the almond territory and an opportunity to reconnect with this culture and support both its development and preservation.
The official kick-off of the 5th edition of the Almond Festival, organised from 6 to 8 March by the “Louz Tafraout” Association in collaboration with other partners, was given on Saturday in Tafraout (Tiznit province), under the banner “Land of almonds, land of the future”.
The 5th edition of the Tafraout Almond Festival offers a series of symposiums and conferences on this sector and a local products fair with the participation of associations, cooperatives and economic interest groups from the region, in addition to other cultural, artistic, sporting and recreational activities.
The almond sector, which occupies a national area of 157,000 ha, of which 137,000 is productive and 32,000 ha is irrigated, holds particular importance in the Green Morocco Plan in terms of development and promotion, through a series of measures and provisions aimed at improving productivity, extending dedicated areas, perfecting species and plants, diversifying outlets, optimising quality and strengthening inter-professional cooperation.
This sector, whose production of unshelled almonds for the 2013-2014 season is estimated at nearly 101,000 tonnes (an average yield of around 0.74 T/ha), nevertheless plays an important socio-economic role, as it contributes to the creation of approximately four million working days and generates a commercial value of about one billion dirhams.
The production basins, concentrated in the regions of Taza-Taounate-Al Hoceima, Souss-Massa-Drâa, Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz and the Oriental, represent more than 80% of the national area and provide more than 50% of the country's total production.
On the sidelines of this edition, work was launched on surfacing the road section connecting regional road 107 to Douar Aït Oussim, via Taghzout, for an amount of more than 3.77 million dirhams.
With a length of 10 km and a width of 6 metres, this project, launched in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture and Maritime Fisheries Aziz Akhannouch, who was accompanied by the Minister of the Interior Mohamed Hassad, will be completed in 8 months.
This project is part of the 2014 provincial rural roads programme which provides for the construction of 226 km targeting 22 communes (nearly 16,800 people) for a total amount of 109 million dirhams.
On the same occasion, the official delegation, also composed of the Wali of the Souss-Massa-Drâa region and Governor of the Agadir Ida Outanane prefecture Mohamed El Yazid Zellou, the Governor of Tiznit province Samir El Yazidi, the President of the Regional Council Ibrahim Hafidi, and local deputies and elected officials, reviewed the progress of the 2014-2015 provincial rural roads development project, which covers 80.8 km and concerns 14 communes (14,300 people) for an amount of 37.4 million dirhams.
Subsequently, the same delegation followed a presentation on the progress of the development and enhancement programme for the oases of Tafraout and Ammeln. This project, dedicated to improving the production of these spaces and consequently the income of the population, required an investment of 9.3 million dirhams.
Available data shows that the completion rate for clearing and development work in said oases is around 65%, compared to 72% for work related to land development, 72% for work related to the mobilisation of surface water and the reduction of flood risks, and 83% for the mobilisation of groundwater.
In the same vein, work was launched in Tafraout on the construction of a 300 m2 library (500,000 dirhams) and the project to create a museum and a cultural centre on an area of 3,500 m2 (6 million dirhams), two infrastructures that will expand and promote cultural action in this city.
Aziz Akhannouch had carried out, on Friday in the commune of Tighmi (Tiznit province), a visit to an olive plantation which, spread over an area of 50 ha, required an investment of approximately 4.2 million dirhams in modern equipment.
