A story of hope and frustration: a wastewater-based agricultural frontier in the Algerian Sahara

ABSTRACT

This study explores how wastewater reshapes the dynamics of agricultural settlement in the Algerian Sahara. It also discusses farmers’ hopes and frustrations around these dynamics. The study was carried out around the Berriane wastewater treatment facility. It is based on interviews with officials and farmers, a review of technical studies and direct field observations. We show how wastewater reuse regenerates traditional practices, such as the use of human waste as fertilizer and raw sewage to irrigate palm groves. We also discuss the problems that arise when the treatment plant is not managed properly, and the political ambivalence of State authorities regarding wastewater reuse.

KEYWORDS:

• Agricultural frontier
• Algerian Sahara
• arid region
• water reuse
• Berriane
• Ghardaïa
• wastewater governance

Author contributions

Sara Bekaddour: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing original draft, review and editing, Funding acquisition. Tarik Hartani and Nassim Ait Mouheb: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Review and editing. Pierre Louis Mayaux: Conceptualization, Review and editing, Supervision.

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the DGRSDT, and in particular their Algerian research director, for their support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and was partly funded within the framework of the following IFAD project: Massire Strengthening the agricultural and rural innovation systems in oases and arid regions of the Maghreb.