In recent years, the French agrifood sector, the most important of the European Union (EU), goes from bad to worse, pulls down whole of the French economy and could negatively impact the economies of Eurozone. But this vital sector of the French economy does only what he used to do long ago. Just after World War II, European countries among those who suffer from hunger have passed laws to implement food self-sufficiency. But in the early nineteen sixty already, prospective studies clearly showed the divergence between the growth curves of world population and the food resources of the planet; the population growing more rapidly than the food resources. The European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was then established to, among other things, boost agricultural productivity in concerned European countries. Since that time, France has been the country that has benefited envelopes of financial aid from the CAP more than any other country of the EU. This has enabled thousands of French farmers acquire appropriate equipment and have a decent lifestyle or enviable one they could not afford if they were judged only by their competitiveness. But today, the French agri-food sector is in distress whose genesis dates back to there over fifty years.
By withdrawing in the fifties from Morocco and other African colonies, France handed over the power to an elite Francophile and put the agricultural sectors under guardianship so to have easy access to raw materials needed by its industry and export afterwards those very foods once processed to countries of origin. In this respect, if the French trade balance has been consistently in surplus, this is primarily due to its export of processed food products. The French-speaking elite of ex-colonies were the main target market in Africa and the Middle East. Other countries with high tourism potential but low agri-food performance, such as Greece, can also be added to this list. The purchasing power of the elite of the countries in question, with tourists and European businessmen who stay there, could very well afford the relatively high food prices “Made in France”. The combined effects of CAP aid and sales on these very welcoming markets in Africa and the Middle East have had a doping effect on the French agricultural business. However, not enough efforts were undertaken in parallel to improve performance at work of French producers of food. This type of export was nevertheless able to be maintained for more than half a century thanks in particular to “appropriate” standards, sanitary and others, custom made by France and adhered to by local governments, to promote French processed foods for export to markets of ex-colonies. So, processed foods from the metropolis in question have had until very recently a flexible and rapid Moroccan customs transit over any other comparable products regardless of their origin or quality. But lately, a new regulation in Morocco of Anglo-Saxon inspiration broke with the habit. Equivalent rules being introduced in other ex-French colonies and a growing aspiration of consumers in Africa eager to buy foreign goods with good value for money, reduce every day a little more the privileges that the “Made in France” has enjoyed to date. As a result, and for the first time since the Second World War, France has difficulties selling its food products in traditional foreign markets as well as in French local market.
In recent months, things are even more spoiled following the closure of the Russian market for European food and the recent deterioration in business activity in Greece, which continues as we speak. So, while in the past France was rarely seen doing the complete opposite of Germany, President Francois Hollande did not hesitate just lately to affirm its determination to keep Greece within the Eurozone at the very moment as the exit of Greece (Grexit) from the European Monetary Union, largely desired by the German people, was formally proposed by their government within the Eurogroup. Besides the fact that Greece is a good customer of French agribusiness, it was evident that the Hellenic government had no solution to overcome its crisis apart from devaluation of a currency that he doesn’t have. France is at the same point with its farmers who are definitely not competitive and for which state has not a currency to devalue so to restore such competitiveness. Finally, if Greece were to accidentally leave the Eurozone to return to its ancient currency “Drachma” very devalued, French food exports would be unaffordable for the Greeks who would be forced to turn to much cheaper equivalent foods from Turkey. But Turkish agribusiness operators are those very people who take daily more market shares to food products “Made in France” in the region of Africa / Middle East. So, allowing Turkey to have a foothold in Greece is simply out of the question for France.
Today there is no longer any doubt that the French agricultural sector, deprived of CAP that became unbearable financially to other members of the EU, makes French food products too expensive for small grants of Africa sub-Saharan citizens. But it will be several years in the most favorable cases for these countries to be able to ensure basic food needs of their populations. Meanwhile, the young Africans unemployed and hungry have no other choice but to migrate to the north. Since there is nothing to eat in Libya in the grip of a full-blown disorder, they are trying to reach Europe at the risk of their lives. What is notable, these people stop now in Morocco because there are room and maybe even work. Our country is therefore the most appropriate African state which has the potential in infrastructure and a favorable climate for food production and exports to sub-Saharan countries at affordable prices for their citizens. But we have to learn from the setbacks of the French farmers and do what to be done to be more competitive if we are to succeed in this urgent mission.
