In Morocco hills, cannabis farmers bet on budding industry

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The marginalised Rif region has long been a major source of illicit hashish smuggled to Europe while Moroccan authorities, wary of social unrest, have often turned a blind eye.

KETAMA, MOROCCO - In the hills of northern Morocco, vast cannabis fields are ready for harvest, but farmers complain that a government plan to market the crop legally is yet to deliver them any benefits.

But a domestic crackdown on growers, slow progress in issuing licences for legal production and strong competition from European operators has left Rif farmers out in the cold. Souad, who still helps her sons on the family plot despite being in her 60s, holds tentative hope that this will help her community make a better living.Demand for the Moroccan product has dropped as legal, highly regulated, production in Europe has fed the market.

"Farmers are the weak link in the supply chain -- we're the ones who pay the price" for involvement in the illicit market, Karim complained.Nourredine, another cannabis grower, said he too holds out hope that legalisation of the drug could help farmers in the Rif. The state estimates that growers could receive some 12 percent of revenues from regulated cannabis production, compared to just four percent on the black market, according to state news agency MAP.On Tuesday ANRAC, a new government agency inaugurated in June to regulate the industry, issued the first 10 licences to firms that will process the plant for therapeutic purposes.

 

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