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Morocco is setÌýto lose 53 percent of itsÌýyearly grain production due toÌý, agriculture minister Mohamed Sadiki Ìýparliament last week.

The kingdom experienced its this year. ByÌýend of March,Ìýreservoirs had received just 11 percent of what they would in an average year. Agricultural production has been severely affectedÌýasÌýÌýpercentÌýof crops areÌýrain-fed.

More than half of the cereal productionÌýcould be lost,Ìýone year after a record-high production of 10.3 million tons.Ìý

ThisÌýmassive crop failure will pushÌýMorocco to increase grainÌýimports this year to cover domestic needs, despiteÌýtheÌýrising priceÌýof wheat and barley on global markets.

The government alsoÌýlaunched a support program worthÌý10 billion dirhams ($1 billion US dollars)Ìýto support farmers facing heavy financial losses. Agriculture makes up some 14 percent of GDP and is the top employer in rural areas.

To increase its food sovereignty in the future, Morocco said it aims toÌýcreate a "strategic stock" of basic commodities including cereals, sugar and cooking oils.Ìý

Droughts are expected to become more frequent and more devastating across the Middle East in the coming years, according to the ÌýbyÌýthe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a body of experts tasked with studying the dynamics and impactsÌýof climate change.

A 2021 report from foundÌýthat in less than 20 years, upwards of 700 million people may be exposed to droughts lasting as long as six months.

Exceptionally severe droughts were also recorded last year in Syria, Iraq and .