Marrakech - President of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD/based in Rome) Kanayo Nwanze, commended the development dynamism going on in rural areas in Morocco and the synergy of efforts between local authorities and recipient populations of socio-economic projects.
The IFAD president told MAP after visiting some of the IFAD-funded projects he is satisfied with the results of these projects and with their impact on the target populations' living conditions. The Fund, which started cooperating with Morocco in 1980, has financed 13 projects in addition to 5 ongoing ones. Results achieved so far are leading the Fund to intensify its cooperation with Morocco and start new projects, together with other fund-donors, he said. "I have met rural women and they confirmed the improvement of their living conditions thanks to the socio-economic projects", he said noting that the construction of a kindergarten or a drinking water supply facility alleviates the burden on women and enables them to have income-generating activities. Cooperation between the IFAD and Morocco is based on financial assistance in the form of grants or easy loans for farming and rural development projects.