• Algeria allocates $5.84B for agriculture in 2026 draft budget
• Funds target modernization, rural development, and cold-chain gaps
• Sector struggles with low yields, high food imports, and drought
  

The Algerian government has authorized 764.2 billion dinars ($5.84 billion) in spending for the agriculture sector under the draft 2026 Finance Bill. Agriculture Minister Yacine El-Mahdi Oualid announced the figure on November 3 during a session with the National People’s Assembly’s Finance and Budget Committee.

The proposed budget is 4% higher than the 2025 allocation. According to details reported by Algérie Presse Service (APS), 90.25% of the funds will go to agriculture and rural development programs, 6% to forestry, 3% to general administration, and the remainder to fisheries and aquaculture.

The increase follows the National Conference on Agricultural Modernization, held on October 27-28, where the government reiterated its commitment to tackling persistent challenges in the sector. Local media said the conference stressed the need for a technology-driven agricultural transformation amid weak performance across several sub-sectors.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, average annual cereal yields stand at 1.8 metric tons per hectare, less than half the global average of 3.9 tons. Other issues include inadequate cold-chain and storage capacity, which causes post-harvest losses of 20-30% each year. Modern irrigation covers only 15% of irrigated farmland, even as the country faces declining water resources from chronic drought worsened by climate change.

These structural constraints continue to limit Algeria’s agricultural potential and keep the country heavily reliant on food imports. Algeria was Africa’s second-largest food importer after Egypt in 2024, with its food import bill rising 10.7% to $10.97 billion, according to the Central Bank of Algeria. The bank said the increase was driven mainly by meat, vegetables (especially legumes), and cereals such as wheat and barley.

Stéphanas Assocle