Near East

The 2024 crop season in Morocco is progressing under difficult conditions. Dry and hot weather during January and February has driven production to record lows, especially in the southern parts of Morocco. Post forecasts MY2024/25 production at 1.55 MMT for common wheat, 0.75 MMT for durum wheat, and 0.65 MMT for barley.

FAS/Cairo (Post) forecasts Egypt’s wheat imports in marketing year (MY) 2024/25 to increase by 2 percent from the previous marketing year, due to population growth and the availability of more foreign currency in Egyptian banks.

Since March 25, 2024, the Government of Israel has notified the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) several times on regulatory proposals related to European Standards.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is accepting fiscal year 2024 applications for the Food for Progress Program. This Program supports agricultural development activities in countries and emerging democracies that are committed to introducing and expanding free enterprise in the agricultural sector.

USDA and USAID will deploy $1 billion in Commodity Credit Corporation funding to purchase U.S.-grown commodities to provide emergency food assistance to people in need throughout the world.

FAS has designated Benin, Cambodia, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Tunisia as priority countries for the Food for Progress program in FY 2024.