Agricultural Cooperatives in the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria

2023 Update

By the time of the 1965 coup d'etats in Algeria, the Nasserist forces were rolled back in that country, and the comprador faction led by Houari Boumediene seized power, converting Algeria into a base for subversive activities against Nasserist Egypt, Libyan Jamahiriyah and the Assad-era Syrian Arab Republic. When I wrote the following article in 2018, I did not know these facts about the counter-revolutionary transformations in Algeria. Nonetheless, the following article is still useful for knowledge of agricultural cooperatives.

- Saed T.

August 10, 2023

Original Article:

______________________________________________________________________________

For years, the Algerian masses waged a heroic struggle to decolonize their homeland, and kick out the French colonialists. After years of progressive bourgeois democratic revolutionary war, the Algerian FLN kicked out the colonialist bourgeoisie, and established the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria.

The following is information about Algeria’s experience in revolutionizing its agriculture. While Algeria was not a dictatorship of the proletariat, and therefore not a socialist state, the experience of Algeria in establishing farm cooperatives can be learned from.

According to the Oxford Business Group (a bourgeois source):

Increased investment coupled with new agricultural policies on land appropriation and land division have encouraged the creation of clusters and cooperatives (see analysis). As clusters have enabled the development of highly technical and specialised pôles d’excellence (poles of excellence), cooperatives are facilitating the modernisation of Algeria’s 200,000 small farms, which are in the range of 4-5 ha.

Organising as cooperatives also enables small farms to take up mechanisation processes – something they cannot typically afford on their own. Additionally, the MADRP has highlighted the role played by cooperatives in furthering the government’s irrigation programme, as well as enhancing the quality of crops and yields given that under a cooperative farmers will have increased collective financial capacity to hire engineers and technicians to advise them. Cooperatives will also play a role in the sales of agricultural products on the market.

“By organising themselves in cooperatives, farmers can more easily and strongly defend their products and protect local production against unfair market practices and the informal economy,” Ouali told OBG. “The only issue with expanding cooperatives is that, traditionally, farmers do not like to gather under associations.”

Laoubi and Yamao conducted very good research on the history of Algerian cooperativization efforts, the successes and failures of Algerian agriculture:

After Algerian independence was declared in 1962, most of the fertile farmland was abandoned by colonial farmers, who were replaced by wage laborers. The farmland was amalgamated and converted into a vast “self-managed sector” called “Autogestion” (Autogestion is a French word meaning “self-managed farm”). 　　

The total land area of the self-managed sector covers more than 2.5 million ha of former colonial land and includes some 2,200 public farms. These farms are characterized by a sharp disparity in the distribution of land, means of production, and yields and by unequal participation in the functioning of the economy. The self-managed sector followed the previous colonial agricultural model, which was based on mechanization and the use of chemical fertilizers. This sector ensured the exportation of agricultural products to international foreign markets (wine, citrus, vegetables, etc.), and its system of production was extensive (Bourdenane, 1991). The “Autogestion” sector underperformed, with a drop in productivity due to a lack of worker incentives and excessive bureaucracy (CNES, 2000). The state controlled management, operations, distribution, and market prices (Bourdenane, 1991). The sector has since absorbed most of the available credit and operated at a loss, and it has become a state-run venture (Ageron, 1991). 　　

The private sector, estimated to be 5.4 million ha, has been completely ignored by the various agricultural policies and development plans. These lands are generally of lower quality or are located in difficult areas, which explain their non-appropriation by the colonial farmers.

...

The government launched the agrarian revolution with another policy called “agrarian reform cooperatives”. This policy was applied to expropriate large private holdings held in absentia and to redistribute the land to poor and landless peasants (Aghrout et al. 2004).　All means of production, investments and equipment were oriented to the “socialist sector” under the agrarian revolution (including the self-management sector). Conversely, the private sector continued to be marginalized (Bourdenane, 1991).... Furthermore, the absence of institutional support such as extension, agricultural training, and technical innovations resulted in minimal improvement (Bessaoud, 2004). During this period, the economic development system adopted in Algeria was centered on strong industrialization, seen as the way that other sectors of Algeria’s economy would be developed. Consequently, large investments had to be granted to this sector. From 1970 to 1977, 55% of the total public investments were centered in the fields of industry, mining, energy and hydrocarbons, while agriculture received only 8% of the total (Chemingui, 2003).

...

The fragmentation of the agricultural sector into three sub-sectors, private, self-managed and agrarian revolution, has complicated the development of agriculture as whole. The chronic stagnation of agricultural production has been caused primarily by the absence of a coherent agricultural policy that takes into account the specificities of these sub-sectors (Benoune, 1988). After observing the increased Algerian dependency on agricultural imports (Cleaver, 1982), the government decided to prioritize the revitalization of the agricultural sector. In 1981, sector control was decreased through an increase in private land ownership. The reform granted access to property and merged the self-managed farm units and the agrarian reformed cooperatives into a single state sector called the Socialist Agricultural States (3,200 DAS in total). The goal was to establish economically viable and easily manageable production units (Aghrout et al. 2004). These operations were accompanied by supportive measures such as decreased control of the marketing network, increased producer prices, the provision of credit to both state and private sectors, and access to subsidized capital (Aghrout et al. 2004). This period was the beginning of transition to a market economy and encouragement of the private sector and a gradual withdrawal of the state from the organization and functioning of the Algerian agricultural system.

...

In 1987, Algeria began taking major steps towards the economic transformation of the agricultural sector. The state farms were dismantled and transformed into collective state farms (22,356 EAC farms) and individual state farms (5,677 EAI farms) consisting of at least three individual farms. In 1990, the state restituted the nationalized land of the agrarian revolution to its former owners (under decree 90-25 of November 18, 1990). The new system resulted in higher production as early as 1988. The authorities’ concern with improving agricultural production to prepare the country for “life after oil” was found in the 1985-89 plan (CNES, 2000). The plan allocated higher percentages of public funds to the agricultural sector, especially water projects. Investment in such projects rose from 10% of the total budget in 1985 to 14.5% in 1990, and the government announced its intention to add 20,000 irrigated hectares a year. Another important step was the liberalization of agricultural markets. A 1988 decree allowed private farmers to purchase inputs from any suppliers they chose. As of April 1991, individuals and farm cooperatives could engage in wholesale trading in agricultural inputs, and they were authorized to import agricultural inputs at the official rate of exchange (CNES, 2000). Another law, promulgated in 1991, deregulated land transactions and eliminated the municipalities’ monopoly ownership of property reserves, making them available for public purchase. However, this restructuring event was followed by a series of measures intended to stabilize the economy and promote structural adjustment (supported by the IMF). The steps included the elimination of all input and product subsidies (except for wheat and milk production) coupled with a strong devaluation of the Algerian currency (Bedrani, 2005). Consequently, this period is characterized by a significant decrease in the volume of investments, low mechanization, a sharp reduction in the purchase of agricultural consumables (particularly fertilizers and pesticides), the diversion of agricultural land to other uses, the development of speculative farming, and the expansion of illegal practices, including sales of farmland and land subdivisions between members of the collective farms (Bedrani, 1995; CNES, 1996; CNES, 2000; Laoubi and Yamao, 2009).

...

In 2000, the Algerian government launched the National Agricultural Development Program (PNDA). The PNDA evolved to include a rural dimension in 2002 and became the National Agricultural and Rural Development Program (PNDAR). The new agricultural policy objectives included the development and modernization of farms, the intensification and expansion of irrigated areas, the development of agricultural production and productivity through substantial investments and the appropriate and sustainable use of natural resources. The PNDA was accompanied by supporting measures such as supervision, follow up, evaluation, and technical guidance from extension services (Laoubi et al, 2010). The PNDAR was designed to be a comprehensive and coherent response to the primary challenges and constraints of the natural, technical, organizational and institutional problems responsible for weakening the basics of national food security, degrading natural resources and reducing cohesion and social peace in rural areas, which are essential for Algerian society (MADR, 2007). Under the Support Plan for Economic Recovery (PSRE), $1.7 billion during 2001-2004 and $7.1 billion (under the Complementary Plan for Economic Growth Support (PCSC)) during 2005-2009 were allocated to the agricultural sector.

The PNDAR programs have yielded mixed results. Since the application of the PNDA, Algeria’ s agricultural sector has recorded significant growth of 6.5% on average, whereas the growth rate between 1990 and 2000 was only 4%. Nevertheless, until the early 1970s, the agricultural sector was an export sector to the extent that exports represented between 20% and 30% of total agricultural production. This trend was quickly reversed, and agricultural exports continue to fall. Currently, only 0.1% of agricultural production is exported. Consequently, the agricultural sector has become an import sector.... The import of agricultural products, particularly basic products such as wheat and milk, has consistently increased to satisfy the increasing demands of the population. 　　

In terms of the population’s food needs, despite improvements, the food coverage rate per capita is far from satisfactory. As shown in the table 1 below, Algeria has achieved self-sufficiency in agricultural production for several products. However, coverage of the need for basic agricultural products such as wheat and milk remains unsatisfactory, at 35% and 42%, respectively. Algerians’ need for wheat is estimated at 60 million quintal (1 quintal =100 Kg), whereas the local production is approximately 30 million quintal. These figures clearly demonstrate the country’s food vulnerability. 　　

In terms of agricultural employment, it has increased significantly since the PNDA was implemented; between 2000 and 2004, it increased by 120%. The PNDA has created more than 900,000 jobs, according to national agricultural statistics. However, it should be noted that the percentage of agricultural labor in the total labor force has continuously declined, from 64% in the 1970s to 56% in the 1980s and 45% in the 1990s. In the last 10 years, agricultural labor has ranged from 24% to 25%.

Citations

Investment and new strategies to boost agricultural production in Algeria. (2017, January 30). Retrieved July 10, 2018, from https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/overview/getting-work-investment-and-new-strategies-aimed-boosting-production

Laoubi, K., & Yamao, M. (2012). The Challenge of Agriculture in Algeria: Are Policies Effective? Retrieved July 10, 2018, from https://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/food0709/seika/seika2012-3.pdf