From Oasis Archipelago to Pioneering Eldorado in Algeria's Sahara

Abstract

Since the 1980s, the Biskra region in Algeria's Sahara has undergone rapid agricultural change leading to territorial transformation. Horticultural production under greenhouses, associated with a rapid expansion of date palm plantations, has led to a tangible agricultural boom that is constantly pushing the boundaries of agricultural production and constitutes a true pioneering fringe. To understand the pioneering logics at work, we propose to study the pioneer fringe through three fronts, namely land, water and infrastructure. First, we analyse each front separately in order to understand its logic. In a second step, through three illustrations, we show how these fronts interpenetrate, accelerate one another or, on the contrary, constrain the pioneer fringe. The analysis of the advance of the pioneering fringe has shown that it results from the interweaving of the three main fronts and each of these combines both the actions of the state and private initiative. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Explaining societal change through bricolage: Transformations in regimes of water governance

“…Smallholder-led drip irrigation in Biskra. Around Biskra, sometimes called the 'Eldorado of Sands', the availability of land and water resources attracted thousands of young farmers with experience in greenhouse farming on Algeria's northern coast, to develop a new agricultural frontier (Amichi et al, 2020). Vegetables have always been cultivated in the oasis, but in very small quantities, on tiny plots, for self-consumption.…”

Oasis extension trajectories in Kebili territory, southern Tunisia: drivers of development and actors’ discourse

“…To enhance community agency in natural resource conservation, community and governmental goals need to be carefully aligned to allow communities to effectively manage their natural resources (Novotny et al, 2021). Numerous studies have also shown that similar water or land use changes at the local level can have different drivers and consequences in different contexts or at different scales of analysis (Foley et al, 2011;Mekki et al, 2013;Amichi et al, 2020).…”

“…The availability of new drilling techniques enabled to trigger "pioneering fronts" where previously uncultivated land shifted to intensive irrigation farming (Hamamouche et al, 2018). In Algeria, the government supported this development to promote a wide range of value chains (Daoudi and Lejars, 2016;Amichi et al, 2020;Benmihoub et al, 2021). In Morocco, as part of the Green Morocco Plan, some farms obtained support to develop palm groves (Raiskila, 2015).…”

Making sense of on-going dynamics and innovations in oases and newly irrigated areas of North African arid regions: towards more sustainable development pathways

“…Alongside the age-old oasis irrigation systems, newly irrigated areas began emerging from the 1980s in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia (hereafter North Africa). They emerged from farmers' private initiatives or in the framework of public policies (Amichi et al, 2020;Daoudi et al, 2021;De Haas, 2006;Elder, 2022;Mekki et al, 2013). Saharan agriculture "… has conquered new lands, has renewed its methods, and presents itself as a vast pioneer front, multiform and multi-local" (Côte, 2022).…”