Local development organisations in Saharan regions of North Africa: Expanding horizons

Abstract

Local development organisations are now widespread in rural regions of North Africa. In the past, these organisations were usually only involved in a few sector-specific activities. This study investigated the activities of 24 local development organisations in the Saharan regions of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The fields of action of these organisations have expanded in the past decade, thanks to their increased capacity to handle relations with other actors. They have become active in defining what development means at the local level, although public administrations do not yet acknowledge such a role.

Zarazi table olives in Beni Khedache (Tunisia) highlighting an overlooked traditional product

“…Even if local administrations remain strong, local associations have been created and rural communities have expressed their expectations and needs at local level. Collective organizations for the management of natural resources (soil, water, rangelands), of a social nature (village associations, women's or youth associations), or economic (service cooperatives) have been promoted and set up (Hamamouche et al, 2022).…”

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

“…Despite these proven capacities, involvement of citizens in public policy design is still very limited. In the four regions studied in this special issue, local development associations are de facto active in defining and implementing development activities at the local level but are not acknowledged as fully-fledged partners for policy design and implementation by public authorities (Hamamouche et al, 2022).…”

“…Actors of North African arid regions have experimented a large set of innovations which also contributed to above-mentioned irrigated agroecosystem dynamics. The innovations included: 1) water use and management (e.g., groundwater recharge, reuse of treated waste water, drip irrigation, Naouri et al, 2017); 2) farming practices (e.g., agro-ecology or organic practices) and agricultural value chains (e.g., certification, Benziouche, 2017); 3) new modes of governance and organisation of territories (e.g., local development organisations, new modes of intervention of public actors and donors, Hamamouche et al, 2022).…”

Technological intensity and local socio‐economic development

“…Development is understood as a complex phenomenon extending beyond the economic sphere to the social, cultural, institutional and human well‐being dimensions. Several spatial dimensions have been considered to understand development from a complete socio‐economic vision, such as countries, regions and municipalities (Hamamouche et al, 2022). Development indicators have become useful tools in this process, such as the Human Development Index, which was developed by the United Nations (UN, 2018).…”