CASABLANCA, MOROCCO — This week, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is leading a delegation of 50 agricultural businesses and organizations on a trade mission to Morocco — the second largest export market for US agriculture in Africa.

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service Administrator, Daniel Whitley, heads up the delegation.

"I am honored to lead this delegation to Casablanca as we work to strengthen vital connections, grow US agricultural exports and showcase the broad array of products American agriculture has to offer," Whitley said.

The delegation arrived in Casablanca, Morocco, on Dec. 2, setting out to expand US farm and food exports to the country as well as to other West African markets.

Last year, US sales of farm and food products to Morocco topped $619 million, representing 16% of US exports to Africa. Since the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement was established in 2006, US agricultural exports to Morocco have doubled, noted the USDA.

Morocco is a major importer of bulk and intermediate commodities from the United States. Its expanding food processing sector and rising consumer demand are creating new potential for sales of consumer-oriented products. US exporters have opportunities in numerous sectors, including beef, dairy, feed grains, live animals and genetics, rice, seafood, seed potatoes, soybeans, and tree nuts.

One of the participants in the trade mission is Matt Copeland, US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Africa representative. USMEF’s participation in the trade mission is made possible through funding from USDA’s Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP).

A full list of participating organizations can be found here.