Case Study: Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests achieves rapid national drought relief for 750,000 farmers with Microsoft SharePoint

Turning a potential crisis into success: Morocco’s farmers aided by SARA

The Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests faced a 2016 national emergency when a severe drought cut grain production by around 70%, threatening the livelihoods of millions in a country where agriculture represents 14% of GDP and is the main income for 75% of rural households. The ministry needed a fast, scalable way to identify needs and deliver subsidies and supplies across remote regions without diverting resources from other national priorities.

The ministry’s IT team built SARA, a national subsidy and delivery platform using Microsoft tools (SharePoint, SQL Server, Datazen), in under three months and operated it across 511 collection points. SARA enabled mobile data collection, transparent, targeted distribution and ongoing monitoring—resulting in delivery of 850,000 metric tons of barley to 750,000 farmers, higher operational efficiency, and lasting capabilities (including Datazen dashboards and SharePoint-based e‑government workflows) for future data‑intensive programs.

Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests

Majid Lahlou

CIO