Aïn Touta

Aïn Touta
The old colonial village of Ain Touta, created in 1872, 35 km from Patna, has become an important agricultural area of 34 000 inhabitants. The relationship to the land is a key element of the Algerian collective identity. Indeed, during the French colonization, almost half of the 7.5 million hectares of agricultural land was confiscated to homeowners to be granted to the settlers. After independence, the agrarian reform caused a crisis of the peasantry and a mass exodus to the cities. But since the turn of the century, agriculture has become a new growth engine. Contributing about 12% of GDP and employs 25% of the active population. Yet this remains insufficient and Algeria still has to import food: consumption of cereals, milk and dairy products, oils and fats, sugars and sweets, as well as products of the milling industry.