“In the name of Allah, the Merciful,
Prayers and peace be upon His Messenger,
-Mr. Speaker of the Council of the Nation,
-Mr. Speaker of the People’s National Assembly,
-Mr. Prime Minister,
-Mr. President of the Constitutional Court,
-Ladies and Gentlemen, members of the Government,
-My sisters the farmers, my brothers the farmers
The celebration of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the National Union of Algerian Farmers (UNPA) coincides with the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the glorious Liberation Revolution.
This occasion reminds us of the sufferings of our countryside and rural areas, the sacrifices of their honourable inhabitants and men’s unwavering attachment to the land and the honour of Algeria. An authentic and rooted attachment in the country of glory, generosity and resistance. All my esteem to farmers and all my recognition to the blessed efforts of those who produce wealth.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our country has made food security a strategic challenge that we must take up in a world where food has now become a formidable and highly influential weapon. Out of a concern for fairness, I want, first and foremost, to hail the efforts of farmers who demonstrated, during the exceptional circumstances resulting from the health crisis (Covid-19 pandemic), an acute sense of patriotism and a heightened awareness of the nature of the challenge.
Indeed, they worked to ensure the availability of agricultural products, at a time when the entire world was experiencing an unprecedented paralysis that led to a serious staple food shortage.
They rose to the challenge with the help of the State, which supported them in their production efforts, as well as investors and the sector’s players who believe in the country’s capabilities and in the necessity of achieving the national objectives we have set together to ensure our country’s security and enshrine the concept of sustainable food security as a pillar of our national security.
On this basis, and for the development of the sector, I have repeatedly emphasized the strategic dimension of steering towards modernization and the exploitation of modern techniques for the revival of agriculture and rural areas, the development of the country’s enormous agricultural potential and the increase in production, because we firmly believe in the necessity of progressively establishing sustainable and safe alternatives capable of reducing Algeria’s dependence on oil revenues.
This opportunity allows me today to recall the decisions and measures that we have taken, and that we keep monitoring the implementation on the ground, for example:
-The increase in the subsidy level for some basic products, such as raising the purchase price of cereals and legumes from farmers,
-The increase in the fertilizer subsidy rate to 50% of their reference price, in order to mitigate the impact of their price increase on international markets,
-The connection of tens of thousands of agricultural exploitations and agricultural perimeters to the electrical grid.
The objective of these decisions and measures was to accompany and support farmers, while opening the way for the young generation of agronomic engineers through small enterprises and start-ups, on which we rely to operate the transition towards modernizing the agricultural world and achieving self-sufficiency in strategic crops in the short term, notably hard wheat, corn and barley.
In this respect, I want to express my satisfaction regarding the widespread awareness of these challenges, within the sector and among the various actors, and to emphasize, once again, the importance of the cereal sector in our agricultural strategy, given our high consumption of this commodity and the instability of the global market.
In this regard, I reiterate the guidelines to enhance storage capacities and implement the program developed for this purpose.
As you know, I committed to developing one million hectares by irrigation, particularly in our South, by 2027, the objective being to expand the areas of strategic crops such as hard wheat, yellow corn and oilseeds. The field is open to national and foreign investors to adhere to this approach and benefit from the facilitations to put their projects into act.
I have always insisted on digitization and the importance of precise data and statistics as fundamental principles for developing policies. To this end, I have ordered the completion of the general agricultural census, the third in the sector’s history, whose first results will help us save time and efforts, to give concrete expression to our vision aimed at promoting the agricultural sector and mobilizing resources to achieve the maximum in terms of independence.
I am convinced that farmers are capable of achieving, in the near future, the expected results in terms of self-sufficiency and food security... and on this 50th anniversary of the UNPA, I invite them, as well as breeders and all actors, for a greater mobilization on the ground. I am also convinced of their attachment to our pure and generous land and of their full awareness of the challenges awaiting us.
I want to hail our ambitious youth involved in agricultural investment, all branches included, and we are counting on the commitment of these young people, on their skills and specialization in agricultural sciences and techniques to operate a true revival of the sector, reflecting the capacities and potentialities of Algeria, a promising country in full growth.
Long Live Algeria, Glory to our Martyrs.”