The agricultural sector in Morocco is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. For example, the production of essential crops such as cereals is extremely exposed to climatic risks since they are mainly produced in lands characterized by limited soil and water resources.

Given that agriculture plays a crucial role in the Moroccan economy, contributing with about 13 percent to GDP, any temporal or seasonal variation of the climate immediately affects national economy and food security. In fact, Morocco is already experiencing increasing temperature and decreasing precipitations.  In order to implement appropriate adaptation measures it is essential to first understand the potential impacts of climate change on national and community levels. 

Morocco was selected for the first full deployment of MOSAICC in a country, with the main aim to assess the economic impact of climate change on agriculture. The pilot study, developed by FAO in collaboration with EU and Moroccan institutions, was launched in 2013, covering the whole country and using all the components of the MOSAICC platform. Following the installation of the system, experts in relevant national and regional institutions were trained to run the models autonomously.

Thanks to the pilot project in Morocco, the testing and debug of the system, the first stable version of MOSAICC could be released and is now being implemented in other countries.

FAO continues the collaboration with its national partners in Morocco to carry out a climate change impact studies to raise awareness of the impacts of climate change and the need for adaptation.