Algeria - Agricultural SectorAlgeria - Agricultural Sector
The agriculture sector is a priority for the Government of Algeria (GoA) in its efforts to diversify the economy. Algeria’s agricultural development strategy places special emphasis on improving food production and quality in order to reduce Algeria’s import bill. The government encourages the continued development and modernization of the agricultural sector to achieve self-sufficiency and promote exports.
The agriculture sector contributes 12.3% to Algeria’s GDP (2018 estimates) and employs 20% of the population in rural areas. Algeria has 8.5 million hectares of arable land.
To boost agricultural development and production, the GoA is allocating public land for agricultural use to the private sector on concessional terms to encourage the establishment of modern agricultural farms particularly in cereals and dairy. The Ministry of Agriculture is engaged in programs involving land grants to private investors. Partnerships can be between Algerian public and private investors, Algerian private investors only, or a foreign investor with an Algerian partner.
As Algeria works to increase its domestic agricultural productivity, it still relies on imports to meet domestic need particularly for cereals and dairy. In 2018, the total amount of food imports was $8.57 billion. The Government is pursuing a strategy to control imports to offset the decrease in energy earnings and protect domestic production. In January 2018, Algeria dropped its import licensing system and introduced an import ban, which was replaced in January 2019 by a list of goods subject to a temporary additional safeguard duty (Droit Additionnel Provisoire de Sauvegarde or DAPs). This list included 1095 items (of which 658 were food and 437 industrial products) with their tariff codes and the corresponding DAPs rates. Food items represent 60% of the list. Most of the food items listed were processed and high value products.
On April 21, 2019, the Ministry of Commerce issued a new Ordinance of April 8, 2019, published in the Journal Officiel No.26 of April 21, 2019. This ordinance modifies the previous import policies subject to the temporary additional safeguard duty and the corresponding rates. This ordinance removed the additional duty on some food products such as; tree nuts, peanuts, butter, dried fruits and fresh or chilled beef.
The major U.S. agricultural exports to Algeria are bulk and intermediate commodities. Algeria remains a growth market for U.S. suppliers. Primary U.S. agricultural exports to Algeria include wheat, barley, corn, rice, pulses, soybeans, soybean meal, DDGs, materials and products destined for animal feed, live animals, milk powder, planting seeds, tree nuts, cotton and lumber. These commodities are not included on the DAPs list.
Market opportunities exist in the dairy industry, animal genetics, planting seeds, processing industry, as well as distribution chains. If U.S. exporters overcome the price competition from European exporters, they will increase market share.
Because of its geographic proximity to Europe and its lack of direct shipping lines between the U.S. and North Africa, U.S. exporters face stiff competition from EU suppliers.
For more information, please reach out to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service in Algeria, by email AgAlgiers@fas.usda.gov or by telephone at (213-770) 08-2111/2112. Please visit our website at: www.fas.usda.gov.