Sweet pepper – one of the few crops with increased exports from Morocco in 2023/24

According to EastFruit, Morocco’s greenhouse vegetable exports have suffered a severe setback due to climate change and extreme weather events. The country, which had been expanding its exports at a rapid pace, has seen a sharp decline in its tomato shipments, while its cucumber exports remain stagnant. However, sweet pepper is one of the few crops that has seen an increase in exports compared to the previous season!

From July to November 2023, Morocco shipped 48 thousand tons of sweet pepper, a 9% increase from the same period of the previous season. On the other hand, tomato exports dropped by nearly 20% to 206 thousand tons, and cucumber exports stayed at 6.7 thousand tons.

The first months of the 2023/24 export season were not very fruitful for Moroccan exporters, despite their impressive performance in the past. For instance, between 2017 and 2022, Morocco’s cucumber exports tripled, and in 2022, the country became the world’s third-largest tomato exporter, surpassing Iran and Spain!

Read also: Morocco’s olive crisis: why exports plummeted and imports soared in MY 2022/23

However, maintaining such growth rates will be more challenging for local exporters in the face of climate change. The country’s greenhouse industry, which generates hundreds of millions of US dollars every year, is increasingly affected by persistent droughts, water shortages, hurricanes and other natural disasters. For example, in 2022, Morocco earned $266 million from tomato exports alone, and another $30 million from sweet pepper and cucumber exports.

It is also worth noting that the EU countries are the main customers of Morocco’s greenhouse products. They accounted for about 70% of the total exports of tomatoes, sweet pepper and cucumber from July to November 2023. The UK and sub-Saharan African countries are the second and third most important markets, with a share of 16.5% and 12% respectively.