The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Abdelhafid Henni, announced on Thursday in Algiers, the recovery of 750,000 hectares of agricultural land out of a total area of 2,750,000 hectares, as part of the land development programme.
Presenting an assessment of the agricultural land rehabilitation operation during a plenary session devoted to oral questions chaired by Khelifa Benslimane, vice-president of the National People’s Assembly (APN), the minister pointed out that “the agricultural land rehabilitation operation included in all the programmes is being continued throughout the national territory”.
A total area of 1,150,000 ha has been granted to 140,000 beneficiaries as part of the regulation of land ownership, of which 150,000 ha of unused land has been recovered, the minister explained.
Within the framework of the right of concession, 1,600,000 ha were allocated to 36,000 beneficiaries, in addition to the recovery of 600,000 ha previously intended for 3,625 beneficiaries.
Concerning the transfer of permanent use rights in concession, the case of 155,500 beneficiaries operating an area of 2,131,722 ha out of a total of 2,234,262 million ha has been settled, while 38,776 hectares have been recovered.
As for the land exploited without legal title, covering an area of more than 150,000 ha, Mr Henni said that “the sector is preparing to draw up an organisational framework to deal with them as soon as possible”.
Law 10-326 of December 2010 allows farmers to transfer farms allocated under the right of concession to other farmers on condition that they do not divide the farms among the beneficiaries but rather expand them.
Responding to a question on the province of El Menia, the minister said that an area of 39,000 hectares has been recovered under the agricultural concession and an area of 15,000 ha, under the development by possession of agricultural land.
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