As food systems face increasing pressure from climate change and global uncertainty, Morocco’s increased cooperation with IOFS signals a shift toward knowledge-based proactive engagement rather than reactive crisis management.
Food security today is no longer a narrow question of producing sufficient calories or responding to episodes of undernourishment. It has become a multidimensional development challenge, closely intertwined with rural livelihoods, economic resilience, social stability, and regional cooperation. Climate change, supply chain disruptions, demographic pressures, and geopolitical fragmentation are forcing countries to rethink food systems not only as a matter of survival, but as a foundation for long-term development and cooperation.
Across the Islamic world, these challenges are particularly pronounced. Many Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) face persistent vulnerabilities in agriculture, rural development, and food access, while others possess advanced production systems, technological capabilities, and access to global markets. Bridging these disparities requires institutional platforms capable of fostering cooperation, knowledge exchange, and coordinated action.
In this evolving landscape, Morocco occupies a unique and strategic position. Located at the intersection of Africa, the Arab world, and Europe, Morocco is not only geographically central but historically and culturally positioned as a connector across regions. As the Morocco moves toward the deepening of its involvement with the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS), the OIC’s dedicated platform and a specialized institution for food security and agricultural cooperation , a timely opportunity emerges to reframe food security cooperation beyond emergency response and toward sustainable rural development and cross-regional integration.
Food security as a development and stability Issue
Food security challenges in the regions of OIC member states are deeply structural. While acute hunger and undernourishment remain pressing concerns in several countries, particularly in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, food insecurity increasingly manifests through rural poverty, youth unemployment, forced migration, and regional inequality. In this sense, food security is inseparable from broader questions of development and stability.
Rural areas across many OIC Member States are characterized by low productivity, limited access to markets, weak infrastructure, and vulnerability to climate shocks. These conditions create a cycle in which agriculture fails to generate adequate income, prompting rural-to-urban migration and exacerbating social pressures in cities. Food insecurity, therefore, is not only an agricultural issue but a driver of economic fragility and social instability.
Addressing these challenges requires a shift from short-term food assistance toward development-oriented strategies that strengthen rural economies, integrate farmers into value chains, and create sustainable employment. This shift, from food security as a humanitarian concern to food security as a development strategy, has become increasingly relevant for middle-income countries seeking long-term stability rather than short-term relief. Countries that have managed to combine agricultural productivity with rural development, market access, and institutional coordination offer valuable lessons for the wider OIC community. Morocco is one such country.
Why IOFS matters in this context
IOFS was established as a specialized institution under the OIC to address food security, agricultural development, and rural resilience in a coordinated and strategic manner. Unlike agencies focused on direct implementation or humanitarian relief, IOFS functions primarily as a facilitating and coordinating platform.
Its core mandate includes policy coordination among member states, sharing best practices, strengthening institutional capacity, and fostering cooperation in areas such as agricultural productivity, food systems resilience, and rural development. IOFS brings together countries with diverse experiences, ranging from food-deficit and climate-vulnerable states to net exporters with advanced agricultural systems. IOFS does not duplicate existing national or international efforts; rather, it complements them by providing a structured space for coordination and collective learning.
This facilitative role is particularly important in a fragmented global environment where bilateral initiatives often remain isolated and knowledge transfer is uneven. By creating a common institutional space, IOFS enables Member States to align strategies, learn from each other, and design cooperative frameworks that go beyond ad hoc projects.
For countries like Morocco, strengthened participation in IOFS endeavors offers both an opportunity to contribute experience and to benefit from structured cooperation across the OIC geography.
Food security challenges in the OIC and Morocco as a bridge
Food security challenges within the OIC are unevenly distributed. Severe food insecurity is concentrated primarily in African OIC Member States, where climatic vulnerability, conflict, and limited agricultural infrastructure continue to undermine food systems. Outside Africa, only a few OIC Member States face similarly acute challenges.
At the same time, many OIC Member States have limited access to advanced agricultural technologies, innovation ecosystems, and global markets. Europe, by contrast, represents a major export destination for agri-food products as well as a key source of know-how, technology, and innovation in areas such as sustainable farming, value chain integration, and food safety standards.
Morocco is uniquely positioned to bridge these gaps. Its agricultural sector is deeply integrated with European markets, particularly through the Mediterranean and EU trade frameworks, while maintaining strong economic, cultural, and political ties with African and Arab countries. This dual orientation allows Morocco to translate European standards, technologies, and market practices into forms that are adaptable and relevant for OIC Member States, especially in Africa.
In this sense, Morocco is not merely a transit country or exporter, but a knowledge and policy intermediary capable of connecting regions with different levels of development and institutional capacity.
Morocco’s unique position
Morocco’s strategic relevance cannot be understood through geography alone. Situated at the northwestern tip of Africa, at the western edge of the Arab world, and directly adjacent to Europe across the Mediterranean, Morocco has historically functioned as a crossroads of civilizations, trade routes, and agricultural exchange.
For centuries, agricultural production, rural organization, and market culture have formed the backbone of Moroccan society. Farming systems adapted to diverse climates, from coastal plains to mountain regions, have shaped not only economic structures but social stability and cultural identity. Food and rural life have long been central to Morocco’s development model.
This layered identity – African, Arab, Mediterranean – gives Morocco a distinctive capacity to engage across regions with credibility and cultural fluency. In the context of food security and rural development, this civilizational depth matters. It allows Morocco to act as a bridge not only in technical or economic terms, but also in institutional and social dialogue.
A timely partnership
For IOFS, Morocco strengthens representation from the Western Mediterranean and North Africa, adding a country with strong links to both African food systems and European markets. For Morocco, IOFS offers a platform to scale its experience in rural development, agricultural policy, and market integration to a broader OIC context. In fact, the IOFS is an excellent platform for the country to pursue its principled position on triangular cooperation to benefit African Member States.
The timing is significant. As food systems face increasing pressure from climate change and global uncertainty, institutional cooperation is becoming more urgent. Morocco’s increased interest in IOFS signals a shift toward proactive engagement and knowledge-based cooperation rather than reactive crisis management.
As IOFS considers strengthening its regional presence to better address diverse food security realities across the OIC, countries with strong institutional capacity, regional connectivity, and established partnerships stand out as potential coordination hubs.
Morocco’s geographic position, experience in agricultural cooperation, and engagement across Africa, the Arab world, and Europe make it a conducive environment for such regional approaches, should Member States collectively move in that direction. Any future steps in this regard would build on consultation, consensus, and the shared objective of improving effectiveness and responsiveness.
The Morocco–IOFS partnership centers on knowledge transfer, technical cooperation, and institutional strengthening. Morocco has already established itself as an agricultural innovation hub within the Islamic world.
Through institutions such as INRA Morocco, and in collaboration with ICARDA, it has advanced rapid seed breeding, drought-resilient crops, irrigation modernization, fertilizer value chains, greenhouse systems, and solar-powered irrigation models that serve as practical references for other African and OIC Member States.
This cooperation is operational and expanding. In April, Morocco will host a regional conference on food waste and loss for Arabic-speaking countries under IOFS–AOAD cooperation, focusing on practical policy tools to reduce post-harvest losses and improve supply chain efficiency. Later in the year, a Regional WEFE-Nexus Workshop for Olive Cooperatives will bring together stakeholders from Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, and Türkiye, in cooperation with INRA, TIKA, and ICARDA, to promote integrated water–energy–food models through solar irrigation and efficient resource management. In October, a study mission on government support mechanisms and innovative approaches for agri-food SMEs will provide exposure to Morocco’s advanced export promotion tools and public support programs for rural enterprise development.
Cross-regional cooperation opportunities
The Morocco–IOFS partnership opens new possibilities for cross-regional cooperation. One of the most promising avenues lies in strengthening South–South cooperation among OIC Member States, particularly by linking African countries with shared agro-climatic challenges to practical development experience.
Beyond traditional South–South frameworks, Morocco enables dynamic triangular cooperation models linking Morocco, African partners, and IOFS, and extending further to the wider Islamic world and Europe. During an official visit to Rabat in May 2025, I had the opportunity to meet with Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita, who emphasized that Morocco’s strategic vision is not confined to geography but rooted in its historic role as a connector.
Bourita emphasized Morocco’s capacity to serve as a bridge—first between Africa and IOFS, and subsequently between the Islamic world and Europe—anchoring cooperation in pragmatism, mutual benefit, and shared development objectives. Such triangular and cross-regional models can combine financing, technology transfer, and policy coordination in ways that single-region initiatives cannot, transforming food security into a platform for broader economic integration and stability.
Rural development–centered food security policies are particularly well suited to this approach. By focusing on value chains, employment generation, and institutional capacity, IOFS may leverage Morocco’s experience to support broader development outcomes across Member States.
In this context, IOFS functions as a natural platform for bringing together diverse actors, aligning interests, and facilitating cooperation that extends beyond national borders.
A strategic fit, not formal step
Morocco’s strengthened participation in the IOFS represents far more than a routine act of institutional engagement. It reflects a strategic alignment between a Member State with deep, long-standing experience in agriculture and rural development and an organization mandated to foster cooperation, coordination, and resilience in food security across the OIC geography.
Together, Morocco and IOFS have the potential to reframe food security as a driver of rural development, regional stability, and cross-regional partnership. By moving beyond a narrow focus on undernourishment and toward a holistic development perspective, this partnership can offer practical, scalable models for OIC Member States.
In an era of growing uncertainty, such strategic alignments are not optional, they are essential for building resilient, development-oriented food systems across regions.
Author: Ambassador Berik Aryn
