Algeria sees major agro-industrial investments in food security

Algeria is seeing significant investment in its agro-industrial sector through both private expansion and large-scale state partnerships.

Spanish group Vicky Foods is investing 19 million euros to expand its production facility in Sig, Mascara. The project includes a new 10,000 m² warehouse and two new production lines for sponge cake and bread, aimed at doubling the site's capacity. CEO Rafael Juan stated the investment reinforces the company's long-term growth strategy in the country and is expected to create approximately 100 jobs.

Separately, the Algerian government is partnering with Qatar's Baladna group on a 3.5 billion dollar project to establish a massive dairy farming ecosystem in the Adrar region of the Sahara. The plan involves importing 270,000 Holstein cows from the United States to a 117,000-hectare site. The goal is to produce 1.7 billion liters of milk annually to meet half of Algeria's milk powder needs. However, experts have raised concerns regarding the project's environmental viability, specifically the high water requirements and the reliance on saline fossil water from the Albian aquifer.