Algeria is one of the main wheat importers in Africa. If the long period of drought that occurred a year earlier put a brake on the growth of local production, the time has come to revive the sector.
In Algeria, the wheat harvest is forecast to stand at 3.3 million tonnes in 2022/2023. This is indicated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in its latest report published on September 30 on cereals with regard to the North African country.
The expected volume would mark an increase of 38% compared to the stock of 2.4 million tonnes harvested during the previous season, even though the area sown should stagnate at 2 million hectares.
This improvement can be explained in particular by a return to normal weather conditions after the long period of drought that occurred a year earlier. The USDA also expects an improvement in yield, which should increase to 1.5 tonnes/hectare against 1.2 tonnes/ha previously.
Despite these prospects, the country is still far from its production peak of 4 million tonnes of wheat reached in 2018/2019.
In Algeria, wheat consumption needs are around 11 million tonnes per year. In the country, grain imports cost about $2.25 billion in 2021, or a quarter of the total food import bill according to the USDA.
