(Ecofin Agency) - In an interview with El Watan, land right consultant, Ahmed Ali Abdelmalek, said that since 1962, when Algeria got its independence, 282,700 ha of agricultural lands were used for other means than they had been initially planned to.

“From 1962 to 2015, 282,700ha of agricultural lands were used for housing, collective social equipment, roads, tourism and industrial infrastructures. It should be noted that this area does not concern illicit constructions or places occupied by various groups of squatter settlements. This data, a non-exhaustive one, is the root of general concern and worries. It is quite understandable given that Algeria has only 4% of arable lands across its territory, thus 8.4 million hectares.”

The scarcity of arable lands in Algeria is indeed one of the government’s major concerns. Concerns that drove it to introduce the new constitution which was adopted in March 2016 and includes measures that aim to boost preservation of agricultural lands.

Souha Touré