L'agriculture périurbaine à Sétif (Algérie) : quel avenir face à la croissance urbaine ?

Suburban agriculture in Setif (Algeria): which future in face of urban growth? The suburban agriculture in Setif which is mainly based on the specialized agricultural activities (cereals, animal production) has an important role. Its economic and social values are regarded in terms of the hugeness of its areas, the number of its manpower and the quality of its production. It covers 75% of the municipality surface and production systems are generally organized according to the climatic conditions. However, the new, rapid and diffused urban growth greatly affects these traditional structures. It is subjected to different inconvenient factors from the nearby urban area and has difficulties in functioning due to vandalism of the cultures, neighboring conflicts often due to environmental problems such as degradation of the material, defection of irrigation network, illegal grazing, soil stamping, car traffic, etc. The conversion of agricultural lands, generally of high quality, into non-agricultural lands results mainly from the urban development at the expense of agriculture. The socio-economic needs in land have rendered the agricultural activities difficult and decreased the agriculture in suburban areas. Landscape is not considered as an essential structure by the city. Urban planning, decided only by the elected members, is somewhat inefficient in terms of agricultural land protection. Paradoxically, the laws of protection exist but are not applied. Four major considerations have been pointed out by this study: the constraints generated by the suburban agriculture in Setif, the situation of the agricultural land, the high urban pressure and its consequences, and the need to define the place of the suburban agriculture in the sustainable development of the city.