Up to 150 Million DZD in Interest-Free Loans: Algeria Launches Game-Changing Plan to Empower Small Farmers

✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada

Government-backed credit initiative to fund cold storage units and secure national food self-sufficiency amid global market volatility

─────────────◆─────────────

Algiers, Algeria– Monday, July 14, 2025 | In a  move to bolster Algeria’s agricultural resilience and food sovereignty, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Fisheries, Youssef Cherfa, announced the imminent signing of a sweeping financing agreement with Algerian banks. Under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance and the Association of Banks and Financial Institutions (ABEF), this initiative is aimed squarely at supporting small-scale farmers through interest-free loans of up to 150 million Algerian dinars.

Speaking during a field visit to the wilaya of M’sila on Monday, Cherfa stated that the agreement is expected to be finalized before the end of July 2025. The funding mechanism will enable farmers to construct cold storage units essential for preserving harvests, extending shelf life, and curbing post-harvest losses—critical components in a nation increasingly committed to food security.

These zero-interest loans come with an unprecedented grace period: no repayment will be required for the first five years, with the repayment period extending over ten years. This exceptional support structure stems from a direct instruction by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, signaling the government’s firm resolve to empower the agricultural sector, especially small and medium producers.

Revolutionizing Agricultural Storage Infrastructure

The proposed cold storage facilities will range from 300 to 5,000 square meters in size, based on clearly defined technical specifications tailored to regional agricultural characteristics. The wilaya-level Chambers of Agriculture will supervise the allocation process, ensuring that storage units are built in line with local production needs and agro-economic conditions.

This marks a structural turning point in state policy toward smallholder agriculture. For the first time, producers are being equipped with the tools to regulate market supply independently, preventing dramatic price fluctuations that often result from sudden oversupply or a lack of storage infrastructure. By granting farmers control over timing and distribution, the initiative enhances their negotiating power and market participation.

In tandem, this move is designed to facilitate a higher rate of domestic transformation of agricultural goods and to reinforce Algeria’s overarching strategy for national food sovereignty—particularly vital as the global agricultural landscape is increasingly shaped by unpredictable commodity prices, geopolitical tensions, and climate change disruptions.

New Grain Silo Launched in Ouled Derradj

In a related development, Minister Cherfa laid the foundation stone for a large-scale grain silo project in the commune of Ouled Derradj. With a planned storage capacity of one million quintals and covering 50,000 square meters, the silo represents a strategic investment of over 1.4 billion dinars.

This infrastructure project forms a critical part of Algeria’s broader effort to expand its grain storage network, particularly in key agricultural production hubs. The silo is not just a logistical asset—it is envisioned as a catalyst for the development of specialized agricultural clusters centered around cereal production and storage.

Cherfa emphasized that the project aligns with national ambitions to achieve food self-sufficiency and to reduce dependence on imports in a global context marked by erratic food prices and supply chain vulnerabilities. The establishment of high-capacity storage units is considered a cornerstone of this strategy, enabling Algeria to stabilize its food system and safeguard it against future shocks.

📡🌍 | About Dzair Tube Media Group | 🌍📡
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📰 Dzair Tube is a trailblazer in Algerian digital journalism, delivering high-quality content in Arabic, French, and English. With more than 📈 500,000 daily clicks, it ranks among the most influential media platforms in the country.

🏆 Awarded the President of the Republic’s Prize for Professional Journalist in the Electronic Press category (🗓 October 22, 2022), Dzair Tube is widely recognized for its editorial excellence and integrity.

📱 Massive Digital Reach:
🔴 350,000+ YouTube subscribers
🔵 6 million+ followers across Facebook pages
📸 450,000+ Instagram followers

🎥 Operating from state-of-the-art studios, Dzair Tube broadcasts rich and diverse programming, including:
🗞 News | ⚽ Sports | 🎭 Entertainment | 🕌 Religion | 🎨 Culture

🗣️ Featuring interactive talk shows and exclusive interviews with prominent figures from politics, business, arts, and more, Dzair Tube serves as a key platform for public discourse and civic engagement.

📰 Its print sports daily, “Dzair Sport,” enjoys over 50,000 daily downloads via the official website—further cementing the platform’s multimedia leadership.

🎖️ Honored with the Media Leadership Award by the former Minister of Communication, Mohamed Laâgab, and celebrated at the Hilals of the Television awards, Dzair Tube continues to lead with innovation, influence, and impact.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🌐 Stay Connected:
🔗 Website: www.dzair-tube.dz
🔗 English: www.dzair-tube.dz/en
📲 Follow us on Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━