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Algeria
AGRICULTURE
Algerian independence and the subsequent departure of French
colons and other settlers signaled the collapse of the agricultural
sector. Agriculture used to be Algeria's dominant sector. Since
the beginning of French colonization until the early 1960s, it
satisfied almost all of the country's food requirements. It was
critically handicapped, however, by the sudden loss of foreign
managers and skilled labor. Perhaps more important was the disruption
of a profit-motivated system that was not content with self-sufficiency
but that also managed to export some products. Whereas Algeria
produced more than 90 percent of its grain needs in 1962, the
1989 rate stood at 25 percent. Before the advent of the oil and
gas era, the agricultural sector accounted for 63 percent of export
revenues. But the importance of agriculture dwindled steadily
as hydrocarbons became the driving force of the economy and the
government's development policy favored heavy industries over
agriculture-related projects. Similarly, agricultural employment
dropped from 40 percent of the total labor force in the 1960s
to 24 percent in 1990. The percentage of GDP provided by agriculture
in 1990 was estimated to be between 7 and 11 percent; it was clear
that agriculture's impact on the economy had declined appreciably
since colonial times.
Nevertheless, agriculture remains highly significant. In the
early 1990s, at least 22 percent of the population lived in rural
areas and depended on agriculture as a means of livelihood. But
a number of natural factors beyond the government's control have
had a negative impact on Algerian agriculture, among them unreliable
rainfall patterns, floods, and drought. The country's arable land
is limited to less than 3 percent of its total area-- about 7.5
million hectares. Another 12 percent of Algeria's total area is
suitable only for forestry and grazing. Because 40 to 50 percent
of the cultivable land is usually left fallow in any one season,
only about 1.7 percent of the total area (about 4.2 million hectares)
is actually cultivated; more than half of the cultivable area,
2.7 million hectares, is used for grains alone. In addition, only
one-tenth of the cultivable land receives adequate rainfall. In
1989 the government, finally recognizing that irrigation projects
were essential to allow more intensive cultivation and substitution
of higher-yielding vegetables for grains, provided more than 1.8
billion cubic meters of water by irrigation to increase agricultural
production.
Data as of December 1993
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