Algeria launches Rural Renewal Programme

31/01/2008

Algeria's Rural Renewal Programme has officially begun, with the training of the first group of regional experts tasked with implementing and overseeing the projects in the field. The multi-billion dinar programme aims to stimulate economic activity in the rural areas that are home to 40% of Algerians.

By Mohand Ouali for Magharebia in Algiers – 31/01/08

[Getty Images] Algeria's Rural Renewal Programme aims to teach officials and citizens to use the full potential of Algeria's rural regions, where 40% of the country's population lives.

The Algerian government recently approved a programme intended to revitalise the country's rural areas – home to more than 13 million Algerians, or 40% of the population. Agriculture officials will recruit some 20,000 trainers before the end of June to implement the Rural Renewal Programme (PRR), developed by the agriculture and rural development ministry.

The new policy was sanctioned by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in October 2006. Following a successful pilot phase that concluded in 2007, it will be formally rolled out over the next five years.

The PRR will teach officials and citizens to use the full potential of Algeria's different regions – including local skills, initiatives and existing financial incentives – to fuel dynamic, sustainable growth.

The programme also seeks to improve living and working conditions for rural populations and ensure they do not miss out on the benefits of globalisation. It will also aim at improving food safety at home.

The cornerstone of the strategy is the Rural Development Partnership Project (PPDR). Projects deemed beneficial to the greater goal of sustainable development are eligible for government co-operation, provided they satisfy a set of criteria. Project initiators can be individuals or groups, but the project must be economically viable, socially acceptable, and respectful of the environment.

Qualifying projects are not limited to agriculture – they could just as likely be related to commerce, crafts, tourism, fishing, education, culture, the environment, industry or new technologies.

Verifying the feasibility of projects and understanding their procedures and financial considerations is not an easy task. Units have been set up at sub-regional and local levels to pool the skills of local experts and apply them to the evaluation process.

It is at this level that trainers become involved. Their task is to teach the leaders of these units to assess the region to highlight existing resources, to choose strong projects that are innovative, to encourage more cultural projects, and to forge links between university research and business.

The first three-day seminar for trainers began on Sunday (January 27th). Participants were chosen based on their skills: field experts, academics, researchers, teachers and agriculture workers will make up the first panel.

Minister Delegate for Rural Development Rachid Benaïssa, who presided over the opening of this first seminar, highlighted the need to eradicate disparities between urban and rural areas and to restore the historic importance of Algeria's rural population.

Re-stating his conviction that "there are no areas without hope, no areas without plans", Benaïssa explained that the success of the programme depends on the promotion of local skills and the decentralisation of the decision-making process.

The PRR, he added, will enable better governance of rural areas and promote the stability of local populations and the nation.

On January 13th, the minster delegate explained to the press that the PRR rests on three essential tools: a bank of partnership projects, a database of all the country's communes to assist in decision-making, and a system to monitor projects which will be accessible to experts online.

These tools, Benaïssa said, boost the legitimacy of the programme. "Transparency is the best way to avoid financial resources being squandered and to fight corruption."

Official figures show the Algerian government has allocated ten billion dinars to cover implementation of the PRR in 2008.