Since Morocco legalized cannabis cultivation for medicinal and industrial uses in 2021, the number of cannabis farmers in the Rif region has surged, rising from 430 to 3,000 in a year, according to the National Agency for the Regulation of Activities relating to Cannabis (ANRAC).
In 2024, ANRAC approved more than 2,737 permits to 2,637 farmers in the northern cities of Taounate, Chefchaouen and Al Hoceima, compared to a mere 430 permits issued to farmers in 2023. It also issued 168 permits to 61 operators in 2024, including one pharmaceutical entity, 16 cooperatives, 37 companies, and seven individuals.
The overall surface area for cultivating legal cannabis crops has increased tenfold, from 286 hectares in 2023 to 2,700 hectares in 2024, according to the agency.
Investors such as Aziz Makhlouf have capitalized on the fast-growing industry, creating businesses such as Biocannat, a cannabis processing factory with 24 employees in Bab Berred, in the northeast city of Chechaouen.
Farmers who formerly relied on illegal sales of the plant and its resin are now opting for legal cultivation because it provides a steadier source of income, grower Abdesselam Ichou told AFP.
Farmers like Ichou are also pushing for the use of a local, drought-resilient variety of cannabis called beldia (meaning traditional/wild) rather than using imported species.
“Beldia is a major asset for us. We want to promote it as much as possible,” Ichou said. The first crop of beldia is expected to be harvested in August.
In 2020, producers of illegal cannabis raked in almost $350 million annually, according to official figures, a significant drop from the $540 million they earned annually in the early 2000s before the government cracked down on illegal production and trafficking.
Official figures estimate that legal growers can make a 12-percent profit compared to a four percent profit on the illegal market, according to official studies.
Experts say that widespread adoption of the legal production of cannabis may become a vital money-injecting economic resource for Morocco, benefitting both local populations which have historically relied economically on the plant, and the nation as a whole through a “drought-proof” asset.