The National Agency for the Regulation of Activities Related to Cannabis (ANRAC) meeting in a board meeting on Thursday, December 26 in Rabat, took stock of the technical and financial progress made for the year 2024, while presenting its program of action for the 2025 campaign. The monitoring and control operations carried out by the agency during the year 2024 have demonstrated that all cannabis-related activities carried out by farmers and operators comply with regulatory requirements in force.
The main actions carried out in 2024 focused on increased support for farmers, the implementation of regulatory procedures for the use of seeds of the local variety «beldia»the mobilization of financing offers for small farmers as well as the organization of market exploration missions and the promotion of Moroccan cannabis products on the international scene.
For the year 2025, the agency is committed “to increase its efforts in order to strengthen the actions carried out and to promote the initiatives necessary for the structuring of the cannabis sector within a legal framework allowing farmers to carry out their activities in complete safety and profitably, while guaranteeing those involved conditions conducive to access to international markets, with a view to contributing to the socio-economic development of the regions concerned by the regulation”we detailed.
Encouraging figures
In 2024, the agency studied and processed 4,158 license applications, granting 3,371 licenses, including 3,056 licenses benefiting 2,907 farmers for the cultivation and production of cannabis, compared to 430 licenses granted in 2023.
The agency also granted 315 licenses to 158 operators, distributed as follows: 77 licenses for processing activity, 83 licenses for marketing, 67 licenses for export, 35 licenses for import of seeds, 50 licenses for transport, a license for the export of seeds and two licenses for the creation and operation of nurseries. These operators are divided between 35 cooperatives, 87 companies and 36 individuals.
Concerning the 2024 season, the agency validated the import of 7.6 million cannabis seeds, based on 30 import licenses granted by the National Food Safety Office (Onssa) to 21 importers . Additionally, a license was granted for the use of 1,717 quintals of seeds “bellies” on the basis of 112 licenses allocated by the same office to 112 cooperatives.
In 2024, 2,169 hectares of legal cannabis were cultivated by 2,647 farmers grouped within 189 cooperatives, of which 1,701 hectares were cultivated with the local variety call by 1,767 farmers organized in 109 cooperatives, and 468 hectares were cultivated with varieties imported by 880 farmers distributed in 80 cooperatives. The production of legal cannabis reached 4082.4 tonnes, with an average yield of 20 quintals per hectare. This production is divided into 2786.7 tonnes of variety call with an average yield of 17 quintals per hectare, and 1295.7 tonnes of imported varieties with an average yield of 28 quintals per hectare.
