A note on the dynamics of food systems in Algeria: The example of the Ziban and the Souf

Abstract

This work is about a note which records some results concerning a research undertaken in Algeria. It is part of a cooperation between several Mediterranean teams. Its objective is to report on current developments in agricultural practices on the environment and on the territories, in order to design conceptual scenarios that will draw profiles that can ensure sustainable food security in cities and the maintenance of biodiversity. Similarly, it will have another interest, it is to develop an exhaustive and homogeneous database on the western part of the Mediterranean basin. For Algeria, the studied areas are distributed on a biogeographical section, from the Mediterranean coast to the Sahara, that is to say, places sufficiently representative of the North-South ecological degradation and of the diversity of situations. The results reported in this note concern two Saharan areas, the Ziban and the Souf, as the final results of the research have not yet been achieved, since the project is still ongoing. In these two areas, agriculture in the past was limited to the traditional oasis system, just to ensure the subsistence of the inhabitants, but today, several factors have contributed to a revival of agriculture whose development is spectacular. Thus, the Ziban and the Souf have become very important food producing areas and even exporters of food products. However, it should be pointed out that this dynamic, if it is a source of innovation, it has negative consequences on the oasis heritage and on the environment.