Tractor sales: Alarming collapse | L’Economiste
In 2024, only 718 tractors were sold, down 18% on the previous year. This is a far cry from the 4,269 units sold in 2013.
This steady, almost linear fall reflects the structural challenges that cast a shadow over the sector’s future. The downward trend that began more than a decade ago has led to a market contraction of almost 90% since 2010. The Moroccan Association of Agricultural Equipment Importers (AMIMA), which represents over 90% of companies in the sector, is sounding the alarm.
This drop in tractor sales has direct repercussions on the market for the ancillary equipment, which is strongly correlated with demand for tractors. Indeed, this further contraction in sales has led to a sharp drop in demand for the ancillary equipment needed for ploughing, sowing, treatment, haymaking, and harvesting operations. This situation threatens the entire agricultural machinery ecosystem in Morocco, according to the association, jeopardizing agricultural machinery and equipment importers, their sales networks and direct and indirect jobs in the sector. AMIMA is aware of the urgency of the situation, and is calling for an overhaul of public policies in favor of agricultural machinery.
It calls for innovative solutions: flexible financing mechanisms for small farms, public-private partnerships to make modern technologies accessible, and better structuring of the second-hand market to ensure quality. While the rainfall deficit has certainly contributed in part to the drop in farmers’ purchases of agricultural equipment, one of the reasons lies in the new measures linked to the granting of agricultural subsidy agreements in principle in connection with membership of the National Social Security Fund (CNSS), as well as the application of VAT on agricultural products and equipment, these measures having come into force on October 06, 2022 and January 28, 2023 respectively.
Faced with budgetary constraints, Moroccan farmers, most of whom are smallholders, struggle to access new machinery that is often beyond their financial reach. In the absence of “ an effective system of subsidies or appropriate financing ”, many turn to the second-hand market, which is more affordable but often problematic. The ageing fleet of tractors also hampers agricultural productivity, limits the adoption of modern techniques and, in some cases, forces farmers to revert to manual methods, say our sources.
Amine Boushaba
