Morocco will take centre stage at the 61st Agriculture Show, opening on 22 February in Paris, marking the first time a foreign country has been honoured as a guest of the renowned French fair.
The "Salon de l'Agriculture" showcase is a major annual event in France, attracting some 600,000 visitors over nine days, and for the first time in more than 60 years, the fair will welcome a foreign country as guest of honour.
"I looked at the European level, and at all the fairs, the international aspect of exchanges is emphasised. We cannot remain closed off from the world," Jérôme Desprey, president of the show, said on Friday.
"We see this with the deterioration of our trade balance, which weighs on our agriculture. The Agricultural Show is also business, with the presence of interprofessional organisations and sectors," Desprey added.
When asked about this choice in the context of tensions between France and Algeria, French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard explained earlier this month that it was the decision of the show organisers, while asserting that it was a "good choice," which "continues the visit" of President Emmanuel Macron in October to Morocco.
France and Algeria have been embroiled in a deep diplomatic crisis since Paris announced, at the end of July, its support for Morocco’s autonomy plan in Western Sahara, a territory with an undefined status at the UN and the site of a decades-long conflict between Morocco and the Sahrawi independence movement, the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria.
Macron renews French support for Moroccan rule in disputed Western Sahara
"We are within the framework of the International Agricultural Show. I want us to stay as much as possible within the agricultural field," added Genevard.
In addition to geopolitical issues, the tensions between French and Moroccan cherry tomato producers were also raised.
Cherry tomato production
Last year, French farmers singled out Moroccan tomatoes, like Ukrainian sugar, as a symbol of unfair competition.
The French Producers of tomatoes and cucumbers organisation also denounced "environmental and social absurdities," arguing that the irrigation of this crop in Morocco exacerbated the "overexploitation of most underground water resources," while the country was experiencing its sixth consecutive year of drought.
During Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Rabat, "we agreed on the principle of relaunching the Franco-Moroccan tomato committee [...] French and Moroccan producers must find their rightful place," said Genevard.
Morocco’s booth in the international pavilion will be expanded and will feature products from "Moroccan terroir," including argan oil, olive oil, saffron, and dates, listed the General Director of the Agency for Agricultural Development (ADA), El Mahdi Arrifi.
In return, France will be the guest of honour at the next International Agricultural Show in Morocco in April.
(with AFP)
