Improving Agricultural Market Performance:
Developing Agricultural Market Information Systems
50
4.2 OVERVIEW OF MIS IN ARAB GROUP MEMBER COUNTRIES OF OIC According to COMCEC (2017), the size of agriculture relative to the rest of the economy in the
Arab Group of OIC countries is relatively smaller than it is in the Asian and African Groups.
Largely because of this, the Arab Group countries, comprising mainly the Middle East and North
Africa (MENA) countries, rely on food imports. The Arab Fund for Economic and Social
Development (2012) estimates that these countries import more than 50% of grain (especially
wheat), 72% of sugar, 68% of vegetable oil, 31% of dairy products and 14% of meat products.
Thus, a surge in international food prices is likely to impact negatively on the poor in these
countries as they spend about 65% of their income on food (World Bank, 2012). The
transmission of global food price increase to domestic consumers tends to be cushioned because
governments in many of these countries often regulate prices (ibid.).Against this background, it is not surprising that MIS in the Arab Group of OIC countries tend to
focus on enabling policymakers to manage food security, as illustrated by the case of Morocco
which is discussed in this section. To underpin this effort, many of the Arab member countries
of the OIC, tend to concentrate on developing institutions which facilitate government actions in
the market. Citing the example of Tunisia to buttress this point, COMCEC (2017) notes the
existence of a range of institutions for implementation of agricultural price support measures,
including direct market interventions. It notes, however, that in recent times some of the Arab
OIC countries are increasingly favouring the development of more market-supporting
institutions (COMCEC, ibid.). This may be due to the fact that focusing on government actions to
regulate food prices has its costs. For example, Ghanem (2012) notes that subsidizing imported
food commodities represents a fiscal risk at the country-level and often restricts domestic
capacity to increase food production.
4.2.1 NATIONAL 2GMIS IN MOROCCO: ASAAR One of the reasons for reviewing MIS in Morocco is the fact that it does not only have a national
agricultural MIS but is also part of the regional network, the Mediterranean Agriculture Market
Information Network (MED-AMIN). Agriculture is an important sector in Morocco. Its
contribution to GDP of 13.6% in 2016 is dwarfed by that of services, which accounts for 56.8%,
but it employs almost as much of the national workforce as that of the latter – estimated in 2014
at 39.1% compared to 40.5% by services. Accordin o a report in the Grain Agricultural
Information Network (GAIN), published in March 201 , a “Green Morocco Plan” was launched
by the Government of Morocco in 2008 with the ai f “turning agriculture into one of the
cornerstones of the country’s economic development”. The plan aims to increase production of
strategic grains such as barley and wheat; reduce imports, thereby enhancing grain self-
sufficiency; and improving food security.The GAIN (2016) report also notes that whilst investing in output and productivity growth, the
government also initiated actions to improve marketing, especially by smallholder producers.
Part of these measures include promoting an agricultural MIS which ensures greater
transparency in the market, thereby improving decision-making by economic actors, including
enabling them to take advantage of any arbitrage opportunities. The Ministry of Agriculture and
Maritime Fisheries hosts the Système d’Information Des Prix Agricoles au Maroc (ASAAR). ASAAR
13 GAIN is published by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agriculture Service