ICARDA at the Salon International de l’Agriculture au Maroc (SIAM) 2024

Once a year, the Moroccan imperial city of Meknes becomes the theater of the Salon International de l’Agriculture au Maroc (SIAM), one of the biggest agri-events in Africa, which nearly one million people visited in 2023. 

At SIAM 2024, themed "Climate and Agriculture: Towards Sustainable and Resilient Production Systems," the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is partnering with ICARDA to showcase our collaborative innovations made possible via the support and partnership of Morocco’s Ministry of Agriculture through the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA Morroco) and other partners. The ICARDA/FAO booth, honored in 2023 by H.E. Aziz Akhannouch, Prime Minister of Morocco, and H.E. Prof. Mohamed Sadiki, Minister of Agriculture, will join over 1400 other exhibitors this year from over 70 countries in the International Pavilion.  

ICARDA’s delegation will highlight our pioneering research on climate-smart crops, the biodiversity conservation of our world-class genebank, the crucial role of women cooperatives for resilient agro-food systems, and the key role of young scientists in shaping tomorrow’s agricultural solutions in the face of accelerating climate change. The delegation will also showcase ICARDA’s significant contribution to “Generation Green 2020-2030”, a government-launched strategy to advance Morocco's agricultural sector. This strategy serves as a guiding framework for ICARDA's work in Morocco.  

SIAM 2024 Events Co-Hosted by ICARDA or with ICARDA participation:

• High-Level Conference on Agricultural Research – Tuesday, 23 April 2024, 9:00 – 15:00

  This event is hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Generation Green 2020 – 2030. ICARDA’s Director General, Aly Abousabaa, will speak about “Research orientation and organization of international and regional systems and complementarity with national agricultural research systems.”

• Strengthening the Resilience of Women in Agri-Food Systems Through Collectives – Tuesday, 23 April 2024, 15:00 – 17:00, at the “Agora pour la Résilience” – The event will be held in Arabic - 

  This event is hosted by Oxfam, ICARDA and FAO and builds on partnerships under the PRIMA MountainHer and Medwealth projects with the participation of institutions targeting rural development with a focus on local women’s cooperatives.

   

• Soil health for resilient farming – Wednesday, April 24, 10:00 – 12:00, at the “Agora pour la Résilience” 

  The event will be held in French - This event is co-organized by ICARDA, INRA, and FAO Morocco to develop an Alliance to advocate for a legal framework to conserve soils as nonrenewable resources under the new ICARDA-FAO LOA. Also, ICARDA will present the new Soils4Med EU-PRIMA project and the main outcomes of the Global Soil Partnership in Morocco, MENA, and Africa.

   

• Conservation Agriculture and Climate Resilience in Morocco: Strategies and Opportunities for Wider Adoption – Wednesday, April 24, 14:00 – 18:00, at the “Agora pour la Résilience” 

  The event will be held in French - This policy-science dialogue is co-organized by Morocco’s Centre de Compétence en Changement Climatique (4C), the CGIAR initiatives CLIMBER, Excellency in Agronomy (EiA) and Fragility to Resilience (F2R) as well as ICARDA and INRA and aims at gathering major stakeholders to draft the future scientific agenda for climate-resilient conservation agriculture in Morocco.

   

• “Reaching 1 million Hectares of Conservation Agriculture together” – Thursday, 25 April, 9:00 – 13:00, at Room Rose

  The event will be held in French and Arabic. This event is hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, INRA and the Office of the National du Conseil Agricole (ONCA), ICARDA, and the World Bank, with the participation of universities and private partners and NGOs, farmers, and extension agents. During the event, a conservation platform will be presented and a certificate ceremony for ONCA agents will be organized. 

   

• “Young Scientists for Tomorrow’s Resilient Solutions” – Friday, 26 April, 15:00 – 17:00, at the “Agora pour la Résilience”

  The event will be held in Arabic – At this event, young researchers will present their innovations to shape the resilient agriculture of tomorrow. The event is organized by ICARDA in collaboration with the Mohamed VI Polytechnic University, the Faculty of Science Rabat and the Hassan II University. 

During the SIAM, ICARDA and INRA will present a book about Sustainable Farming Systems in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas of Morocco, with a preface of H.E. Prof. Mohamed Sadiki, Minister of Agriculture of Morocco. The book summarizes the main research findings of the Moroccan Collaborative Grants (MCGP) program in dryland areas in Morocco to promote the resilience of the Moroccan farming systems.

ICARDA Morocco is dedicated to developing and implementing scientific solutions to alleviate poverty, promote sustainability, enhance food, water, and nutritional security and generate employment, and ensure equitable livelihoods for rural populations. Our focus on innovation, particularly the utilization of digital tools, facilitates youth employment in village enterprises and empowers women cooperatives as drivers of rural income. Additionally, we conduct research and develop new value chains for healthier food options while advocating for and supporting the significant advancement of green technologies.

ICARDA established its partnership with the government of the Kingdom of Morocco by opening a country office in Rabat in 1985, launched its Research Platform for Rainfed Agriculture in 2013, and inaugurated the Rabat genebank in 2022. The Institut National de Recherche Agronomique (INRA) has been ICARDA’s key partner among other governmental institutions and universities.

ICARDA’s Delegation at SIAM 2024: 

• Aly Abousabaa (ICARDA Director General and CGIAR Regional Director for Central & Western Asia & Northern Africa (CWANA); 

• Rachid Moussadek (ICARDA Systems Cropping Senior Scientist & Joint Researcher); 

• Dina Najjar (ICARDA Senior Gender Scientist); 

• Filippo Bassi (ICARDA Principal Investigator Genetic Innovation); 

• Hafssa Kabbaj (ICARDA Research Associate Genomic Selection of Durum Wheat); 

• Andrea Visioni (ICARDA Pre-breeding and Physiology Scientist), 

• Ajit Govind (ICARDA Senior Climate Scientist and Systems Modeler); 

• Fatima Ezzarah Rachdad (ICARDA Research Assistant for Wheat Spring Bread); 

• Nada Oussoulous (ICARDA Consultant & Project Assistant); 

• Malika Laghrour (ICARDA consultant & project Assistant) 

• Nada Abdelhamid (ICARDA Communication Officer)