Algeria : long-running drought threatens 19 million sheep

According to the secretary general of the Algerian peasants' union, about 19 million sheep are now threatened to pass away on account of the long-standing drought and the steep hike in animal food recorded over the past few months on the national livestock market.

He said that the relevant authorities ought to take urgent steps to remedy the situation before it is too late.

He further spoke out against the government’s decision to continue to allow the import of frozen meat stressing that it was unreasonable that Algeria continued to support peasants in Europe and Latin America, through the import of 650 tonnes of frozen meat monthly or the equivalent of 60.000 sheep per month.

Mohamed Alioua told Echorouk newspaper that the Algerian peasants’ union was about to convene a national conference in the next few weeks in the city of Djelfa in the presence of sheep and cattle breeders with the aim of paving the way for the creation of a national sheep breeders’ Federation with the involvement of the agriculture chambers of the 48 provinces of the country.