ALGIERS- The Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment of the African Union (AU), Josefa Sacko, said Monday, in Algiers, that Algeria has a resilient agricultural sector, allowing it to promote intra-African trade exchanges in this segment.

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Speaking at the opening of the 22nd International Agriculture, Livestock and Agrifood Exhibition kicked “Sipsa-Filaha,” Sacko affirmed that “Algeria has a resilient agricultural sector which can facilitate boosting trading as part of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”

Underlining that the resilience of the Algerian agricultural sector has been demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic, enabling the country to avoid major disruptions of the agricultural supply chain, Sacko said that “AfCFTA can serve as an efficient bridge to Algeria to market its agricultural products in the African integrated market and strengthen its commercial relations in an area which includes 1.4 billion inhabitants.”

Sacko also mentioned Algeria's strategy to diversify its economy and develop certain sub-sectors, noting that this approach "offers the country strong potential to strengthen its trade with Africa."

Highlighting the efforts made by Algeria to promote intra-African trade exchanges, particularly in logistics and transport, the diplomat explained that the Common African Agro Parks (CAAPs) that the African Union is working to launch can constitute "another avenue for Algeria to establish food corridors based on competitive regional value chains within the framework of the AfCFTA."

 Inaugurated by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, accompanied by the advisor to the Mauritanian Minister of Agriculture, whose country is this edition’s guest of honor, as well as the Minister of Economic Development of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), this 22nd edition of the Fair, which will continue until May 23, saw the participation of more than 700 exhibitors, representing 39 countries.

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