Algeria- Satellite images from the US Space Agency (NASA) revealed the formation of a lake in the middle of the Algerian desert in the “Wadi Saoura” region after the largest rainfall in decades.
Geological and archaeological evidence indicates that vegetation, wetlands, and even lakes once covered large areas of the Sahara Desert.
With the Algerian desert being a source of the most important renewable and non-renewable natural resources and a center for the most important oil and gas projects that have for years been a major resource for the country, Algeria seeks to enhance the capabilities of the agricultural sector in the region and transform a desert described as barren into a food basket that contributes to achieving the food security strategy.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said earlier that Algeria has arable areas in the desert of approximately 3 million hectares.
The area of land eligible for reclamation and attracting investment projects in southern Algeria is 1.5 million hectares.
The agricultural sector contributes 18% to the gross domestic product, with a value exceeding 4.74 trillion Algerian dinars ($35 billion), according to statements by the Algerian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Youssef Charfa.
Agrarian revolution in the south
The head of the Chamber of Agriculture (Agriculture) of the state of Ghardaia and the representative of the south in the Algerian Chamber of Agriculture, engineer Rabah Ould El Haddar, confirmed that Algeria’s move towards agricultural investment in the south was an alternative and an outlet imposed by climate changes and the lack of rainfall in recent years in other regions of the country, in addition to two factors. They are the vast areas in the south and the availability of groundwater.
In his interview with Al Jazeera Net, Rabah Ould El Hadar said that Algeria is witnessing an agricultural revolution aimed at enhancing food security and achieving self-sufficiency, especially in strategic crops, in which the Algerian desert will be a food basket complementary to agriculture in the north, the steppes, and the high plateaus.
The head of the Agricultural Chamber of Ghardaia Province noted Algeria’s progress towards achieving the strategy and its positive results, which was embodied in green circular shapes in fields spread across the Algerian desert.
He pointed out that some decisions supported agriculture in southern Algeria, especially providing facilities to local and foreign investors and facilitating the import of specialized tools and machinery suitable for desert agriculture, in addition to motivating farmers and supporting fertilizers, raising storage capabilities in these areas, and connecting new farms to electricity for thousands of kilometers, while specifying new oceans. For agriculture.
Open workshop and experiments
The head of the Chamber of Agriculture of the state of Ghardaia confirmed that desert agricultural experiments have proven successful by controlling production factors, providing large crops throughout the year in important crops such as fodder, grains and legumes.
In the same context, it is considered that the entry into force of the gene bank soon will provide a great addition as it represents a reservoir of plant strains and varieties adapted to the climate of the region and resistant to diseases that contribute to raising production.
The representative of the south in the Algerian Chamber of Agriculture says that southern Algeria has become an open workshop consisting of green fields in which potatoes, wheat, and summer and winter agricultural products are grown with technological control and a sustainable and integrated study of desert agriculture, which reflects on local development and reduces the import bill.
In turn, the agricultural expert, Lala Boukhalfa, pointed to a number of successful experiments in the Algerian desert, such as grains that rank first, in addition to the desert state of Oued Souf alone covering 40% of the market’s potato needs, noting the possibility of producing 1,800 quintals per hectare of tomatoes. In the south.
Strategic partnerships
Laalla Boukhalfa confirmed to Al Jazeera Net that there is interest in Algeria in completing the process of achieving food security after it has met its needs for various foodstuffs by 75%, while it remains linked to importing some strategic materials of widespread consumption, such as grains, milk, and red meat.
He touched on Algeria’s tendency to produce what it currently consumes of these imported materials, which cost the state treasury more than 10 billion dollars.
He added that achieving food security comes by concluding partnerships that make the desert its center, such as the Algerian-Qatari project with the “Baladna” company on an area of 117 thousand hectares in the state of Adrar, dedicated to the production of grains, fodder, milk and red meat, and another project being prepared with a Saudi partnership that aims to establish an agricultural center that excels. It has an area of 20 thousand hectares in the state of Mania, specializing in strategic agriculture and raising dairy cows.
In addition to this, the Italian-Algerian project aims to exploit agricultural areas estimated at 36 thousand hectares in the state of Timimoun, specializing in the production of durum wheat, legumes, and durum wheat derivatives.
The expert expected that these projects would achieve all the goals set for them, and would contribute to achieving self-sufficiency in all produced materials, as the three partners possess the necessary experience through their successful experiences in this field.
He touched on the distribution of more than 120,000 hectares within the investment framework, while expanding the cultivated areas to 500,000 hectares, which indicates that the development policy in the south has begun to bear fruit.
