"Algeria is keen to use the opportunity of the Great Green Wall Initiative to strengthen its cooperation with Sahelian countries’’, Algerian representatives said during a joint mission of the Global Mechanism (GM) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that took place in Algiers from 16 to 19 January 2012.
The Algerian Rural Development Strategy – also called the “Rural Renewal”, launched in 2007 to promote social, environmental and economic progress in the country – draws lessons from past experiences and programmes, in particular from the “Algerian Green Belt programme” that was implemented during the 70’s.
The “Rural Renewal” emphasises the need for an integrated and comprehensive approach, where the fight against desertification would be mainstreamed into the rural development strategy. It stresses the importance of low-density population areas, where agroforestry and pastoral activities are important and the need to build partnerships amongst the actors is strong.
Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development agreed with the GM to organize two major events.
The first, related to the organization by the GM’s South-to-South Cooperation Programme of an African capacity building workshop on resource mobilisation to the benefit of the GGWI Francophone countries, will take place in Bou Saâda (Algeria) from 9 to 12 March 2012.
The GM will also support a South-South Workshop on the implementation of the component 4 of the Rural Renewal: “Socio- Economic Valorisation of Rural Material and Immaterial Heritage”, which will take place in M’sila (Algeria) from 28 to 29 March 2012.
During the GM/FAO joint mission in Algeria, national partners shared the main programmes carried out to combat desertification in the pre-Saharan, Saharan and steppes regions of the country. These activities are implemented by the major national agencies, namely the Direction Générale des Forêts (DGF), the Haut-Commissariat au Développement de la Steppe (HCDS), and the Commissariat au Développement de l’Agriculture Saharienne (CDARS). Most of them adhere to the Great Green Wall approach when focussing on, inter alia, the protection of oases and of the southern part of the Atlas Mountains, the development of transboundary projects as well as the inventory of best practices on SLM in arid zones.
In this context, the Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) is perceived as a promising South-South partnership framework to share experiences and develop transboundary projects in the sub region. Algeria has thus been very interested to support the Great Green Wall Initiative with an in-depth analysis currently carried out and conducted by the CDARS on livestock circuit in the Saharan region which focuses on ways to improve the breeding conditions in the Saharan region. Algeria is interested to extend the coverage of the study beyond its borders, towards Mauritania, Mali and Niger, as one step forward towards win - win situations for neighbouring countries in the spirit of south-to-south cooperation.
For more information:
Mr Youssef Brahimi, Programme Coordinator, North Africa & South-to-South Cooperation
Tel. +39 06 5459 2584
y.brahimi (at) global-mechanism.org
