Algeria and Italy announced the signing of a €420 million partnership on July 6, 2024, for an Italian investment project in the south of Africa’s largest country. The goal: to produce wheat and strengthen Algeria’s food security, according to a joint press release.
The project will be carried out by the Italian group Bonifiche Ferraresi and the National Investment Fund to produce cereals and legumes. The press release mentions an area estimated at 36,000 hectares in the wilaya (prefecture) of Timimoune.
Increase production areas
The project will focus on the production of wheat, lentils, dried beans, and chickpeas, as well as the establishment of processing units for the manufacture of pasta and storage silos. According to the same source, it will be launched in 2024 and will increase exports and create more than 6,700 jobs.
Through the implementation of this plan, Algeria aims to achieve self-sufficiency in durum wheat by increasing production areas to 500,000 hectares in the South.
Algerian Minister of Agriculture Youcef Cherfa told APS on Tuesday that Algeria has set itself a three-year deadline to transform these 500,000 hectares, which will be reserved for strategic crops, to ensure the country’s food security and reduce its heavy dependence on imports.
Developing desert lands
In addition to this agreement with Italy, the development of these Algerian desert lands will be carried out, according to Youcef Cherfa, in partnership with international companies, including Qatari companies.
The Algerian-Italian agreement signed on Saturday is part of the “Mattei plan”, named after Enrico Mattei, founder of Eni (the Italian public energy giant), who, in the 1950s, advocated cooperation links with African countries.
Algerian Ministers of Agriculture and Finance Youcef Cherfa and Laziz Fayed co-chaired the signing ceremony with Italian Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida.
