Mustapha Zebdi: Algeria Opens Its Market to Live Sheep Imports from Brazil Following Bilateral Veterinary Agreement

Mustapha Zebdi: Algeria Opens Its Market to Live Sheep Imports from Brazil Following Bilateral Veterinary Agreement

✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada

Algiers, Algeria | Algeria has officially opened its market to imports of live sheep from Brazil, following the conclusion of a bilateral sanitary and veterinary agreement published on August 19, 2025, by Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture. Commenting on this decision, the president of the Algerian Consumer Protection Organization, Mustapha Zebdi, hailed the move as a critical step toward ensuring food security and stabilizing meat availability in a context of mounting pressure on domestic production.

The Brazilian government welcomed the agreement, describing it as a “commercial opportunity” for the northern and northeastern regions of Brazil, where sheep farming plays a vital socio-economic role by generating employment and fostering local development, according to the Brazil-Arab News Agency (ANBA).

This strategic opening comes at a time when Algerian agriculture—like much of North Africa—has been severely undermined by more than five consecutive years of persistent drought. The prolonged climatic stress has drastically reduced forage resources, pushing pastoral systems on the high plateaus to the brink of collapse and leaving local herds in a state of acute deterioration. “Algerian livestock is largely pastoral, dependent on steppe rangelands whose degradation under intensifying drought has led to a critical scarcity of fodder,” explained Ali Daoudi, professor at the National Agronomic Institute, in remarks reported earlier this year by Algerian Radio.

In 2024 alone, Algeria imported nearly 7.8 million dollars’ worth of live sheep, exclusively from Romania, making diversification of supply sources a pressing necessity. The new partnership with Brazil reflects both Algeria’s determination to secure alternative suppliers and its broader strategy to safeguard national food security.

The challenge has been especially pronounced during major religious celebrations. Ahead of Eid al-Adha in June 2025, the government was compelled to authorize the importation of one million sheep heads from international markets to ensure sufficient availability of livestock.

In this context, the inclusion of Brazil among Algeria’s sheep suppliers is expected to bolster the resilience of national supply chains, mitigate domestic production shortfalls, and strengthen food security, pending the revival of Algeria’s struggling agricultural system.

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