Abstract

Morocco’s ranking as the 9th top performer in the 2024 Climate Change Performance Index demonstrates strong climate leadership, yet agricultural emissions remain a critical decarbonization frontier, accounting for 22.8% of national greenhouse gas emissions. Building on this foundation, this presentation synthesizes evidence from six high-performing nations in the Climate Change Performance Index—Denmark, Sweden, India, Estonia, the Netherlands, and the Philippines—to identify transferable agricultural mitigation pathways adapted to Morocco’s semi-arid, smallholder-dominated farming context. Through comparative policy analysis of national communications and peer-reviewed research, we identified four key innovation pillars: advanced livestock methane mitigation (targeting 15–30% reduction through feed additives and selective breeding), systematic soil carbon monitoring (achieving 0.3–0.8 tons of carbon per hectare annually through the adapted Dutch BISQ protocol), precision nitrogen management (18% N2O reduction using India’s Site-Specific Nutrient Management approach combined with regulatory frameworks), and integrated renewable energy systems (addressing the 40-percentage-point gap between current 12% and 2030 target of 52% renewable energy penetration). This presentation delivers four detailed, multi-phase implementation roadmaps spanning 2025–2035 that operationalize international best practices within Morocco’s institutional, financial, and agroecological constraints. Key implementation challenges addressed include regulatory gaps in Law No. 28-07 permitting methane-reducing additives, limited extension service capacity (1:1250 agent-to-farmer ratio), and financing barriers affecting 94% of smallholder producers. The roadmaps specify technical requirements, regulatory reforms, financial mechanisms, and cross-ministerial coordination frameworks designed to support Morocco’s Nationally Determined Contribution target of 45.5% emissions reduction by 2030 while benefiting the country’s 1.5 million smallholder farmers and strengthening climate resilience in water-scarce environments.