The Moroccan region of Fez Meknes experienced a violent hail storm on the night of Saturday, June 6, 2020, which affected most of the provinces of the region, except for the province of Taounate. The intensity of the storm in some areas caused damage to various crops and some agricultural infrastructure.

Immediately after the storm, the provincial committees made up of the departments of the Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests and representatives of the Regional Chamber of Agriculture of Fez-Meknes, as well as representatives of the Moroccan Interprofessional Federation of Olivo (INTERPROLIVE) and the Interprofessional Federation of the Fruit Tree Industry in Morocco (FEDAM), went to the field to examine the situation and identify possible impacts on different crops.

Initial global estimates show that the affected area could reach 9,100 hectares distributed among 27 rural communities in the region, particularly in the provinces of Meknès, Sefrou, Ifrane, El Hajeb, Fez, Moulay Yacoub, Taza and Boulemane. The damage that occurred after this storm related to fruit trees (rosacea and olive trees), vegetable crops and cereals. Damages ranging from 20% to 80% were recorded, depending on the crop and the province.

It should be noted that damage is minimal on farms equipped with anti-hail nets or located in areas equipped with anti-hail generators.

It should be noted that the Fez-Meknes region has 6,260 hectares equipped with hail networks subsidized by the Fund for Agricultural Development, for a provision of 310 million dirhams, and 68 hail generators, managed effectively and efficiently by the Federation users of anti-hail generators.

It should be borne in mind that most crops affected by hail benefit from the multi-risk climatic crop insurance program that the ministry has established to support farmers and paid for by the Mutua de Seguros Agrícolas de Marruecos (MAMDA ).

In this context, farmers who have previously subscribed to this insurance with MAMDA were invited to make individual statements about the damage and present them to the Provincial Agriculture Directorates within a period not exceeding 5 days as stipulated by procedure.

The departments of the Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, the representatives of the Regional Chamber of Agriculture of Fès-Meknès, as well as the representatives of the Interprofessional Federation of Oliva of Morocco (INTERPROLIVE) and the Interprofessional Federation of the Fruit Arboriculture Sector in Morocco (FEDAM), are still mobilized to monitor and evaluate the impacts caused by this natural disaster and prepare a detailed report on the subject. Then, meetings will be held with interested agricultural stakeholders.

A specialized multi-stakeholder committee will review the available data and take appropriate action accordingly.