Legal cannabis cultivation in Morocco's Chefchaouen province has surged in 2025, with farmers expanding cultivated areas, increasing cooperative membership, and establishing new processing units, according to the National Agency for the Regulation of Cannabis Activities (ANRAC).
The province's total licensed cannabis farmland reached 1,347 hectares this year, up from 616 hectares in 2024. Nationally, Morocco now has 4,751 hectares of legal cannabis cultivation. A total of 1,435 farmers participated in Chefchaouen across 104 cooperatives, compared with 606 farmers in 54 cooperatives last year.
Most of the cultivated area, 1,222 hectares, is dedicated to the local "Beldiya" strain, while 125 hectares are planted with imported varieties, according to ANRAC. The expansion has boosted rural economic development and strengthened the integration of mountain communities into Morocco's legal agricultural economy.
Ousama Ghrous, quality control technician at the Bio Cannat cooperative, said the cooperative operates a licensed processing unit in Bab Berd, where it receives raw cannabis from local farmers under contractual partnerships. The facility produces cosmetic and dietary supplement products, which are marketed nationally and exported through a licensed shop in Tangier.
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