Olive processing is carried out by a modern and semi-modern sector comprising 928 units, with a total capacity of 1,906,000 tonnes per year, and by a traditional sector consisting of around 11,000 maâsras (oil mills). The operation of these maâsras is largely intermittent, depending to a great extent on the volume of the olive harvest. Olive preservation is carried out by 75 modern canning plants, with a total capacity of 203,000 tonnes per year, and by artisanal canning workshops. to 250,000 tonnes. The production of table olives sold on the local market is characterised by a diverse range of products: green olives, black olives, semi-ripe olives, pitted olives, candied olives, stuffed olives, etc. Exports (avaegre for 2021–20)24 Olive oil production for export amounts to 10,000 tonnes, with the main destinations being the European Union (46%), the United States (43%) and Canada (5%). Exports of industrial table olives total 97,000 tonnes, of which 66% go to the European Marketing Domestic market Olive oil production is mainly destined for the domestic market, accounting for around 85%, with a predominance of the informal The development of the Moroccan olive sector has been supported by coherent public policies aimed at improving the competitiveness, sustainability and quality of its products. Union, in particular to France and Belgium, 22 per cent to the United States and 3 per cent to Saudi Arabia. Olive pomace oil exports amount to 13,000 tonnes, mainly to Spain. sector. In years of high production, exports can account for a significant proportion. In fact, throughout history, olive oil has been the main source of our edible oil requirements. It was only from the 1960s onwards, with changes in the habits of Moroccan households, that olive oil consumption began to decline in favour of increased consumption of seed oils. These now account for over 80 per cent of domestic consumption of edible oils, a large proportion of which is imported. The olive oil market remains unregulated and prices fluctuate from year to year, depending on production. As for table olives, around 70% of the production leaving canning factories is exported, with the remainder consumed locally. Most of the table olives destined for the domestic market are sourced from small-scale, artisanal units in the informal sector, which produce around 200,000 Imports (avearge for 2021–202)4 Annual olive oil imports total 7,160 tonnes, with 57 per cent coming from the European Union, 33 per cent from Tunisia and 10 per cent from Turkey. Imports of table olives remain negligible, barely exceeding 1,300 tonnes per year. Agricultural strategies adopted by Morocco The development of the Moroccan olive sector has been supported by coherent public policies aimed at improving the competitiveness, sustainability and quality of its products. Driven by the Green Morocco Plan (2008–2020), this momentum has led to significant progress, notably the expansion of the area under cultivation, the modernisation of olive groves, the improvement of cultivation practices, as well as the organisation of producers and the development of value-added chains3. 3 ‘Agrégation’, as used in the original and in this context, is an innovative model of contractual organisation underpinning the Green Morocco plan, which links producers (aggregates) to a private partner or a professional organisation (aggregator) that operates a value-added 32 CULTIVAR ANALYSIS AND PROSPECTIVE STUDIES No. 35 Olive groves and olive oil
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