FAO.org

The Government’s Green Morocco Plan (Plan Maroc Vert) underlines agriculture’s important role and sets strategies to promote the sector’s development. Despite these efforts, however, important challenges remain. An important one refers to the availability of appropriate financial services for rural actors engaged in agriculture. The average capital required yearly to finance agriculture is estimated at 30 billion Dirhams. The Moroccan banking sector finances only 17 percent of such demand and Credit Agricole du Maroc is responsible for about 80 percent of this share of financing to agriculture. A significant part of the rural population composed of poorer households continues to see its financial needs satisfied mainly by informal financial service providers given the inability of the formal financial sector to reach rural areas with appropriate and sustainable products. This case study documents a particularly innovative model for providing financial services to poorer rural households dependent on agriculture – the Tamwil El Fellah (TEF) model developed by the Groupe Crédit Agricole du Maroc (GCAM – the Morocco Agricultural Credit Group). TEF has built on the long-standing experience of financing the agriculture sector and the network of agencies and human resources of GCAM, putting in place its own business model with risk management mechanisms adapted to its specific client segment: farmers with small and medium-scale agribusinesses. The analysis presented in this study aims to highlight important principles that can be applied by financial institutions and supporting organizations to promote inclusive rural and agricultural financial services the context of developing countries.