The Algerian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohamed Abdelhafid Henni, announced during a press briefing on the sidelines of his inspection visit on Tuesday April 25, 2023 in the wilaya of Relizane that more than 200,000 hectares of agricultural land is being developed for their next distribution to investors in the wilayas in the south of the country. In Algeria, as in the majority of North African countries, wheat is the main cereal grown. The country, which is 70% dependent on imports, is relying on increased private sector investment to boost its production.
Thus, the executive plans to distribute by June 2023, 200,000 hectares of newly developed agricultural land for the benefit of private sector investors. In this regard, Mr. Henni added that the files of the investors obtained the qualification through the digital platform launched by his ministry to receive the requests for exploitation of the agricultural lands within the framework of the private investment in the south of the country. .
Distributed in the wilayas of Adrar, El Ménéa, Timimoune, Ouargla, Illizi and Djanet located in the south of the country, these areas developed by the National Office of Agricultural Lands (ONTA) will be dedicated to the cultivation of cereals. “The objective of this operation is to reach one million hectares of land cultivated with cereals in the south of the country by the end of 2024”, with an expected yield of 70 to 80 quintals per year. hectare, explained Mr. Henni. According to the official, a specialized commission has been set up to study the files of the various investors who are interested, specifying that the operation of distribution of agricultural land to investors in the wilayas in the south of the country will be completed “before the end of June next “.
In the North African country, the FAO estimated the cereal harvest for the 2022/2023 campaign at 4.1 million tonnes, with wheat representing around 73% of the stock, or nearly 3 million tonnes. It should be remembered that in 2021, imports of the latter commodity had cost the executive about $2.25 billion.
