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Ce texte rend compte de la construction et du transfert de la propriété des terres agricoles dans les zones de mise en valeur en Algérie. Il montre comment l’État a joué un rôle déterminant dans l’individualisation et la marchandisation de la terre en steppe et au Sahara, en créant le cadre légal autorisant et stimulant la privatisation de terres du domaine privé national, mais aussi en introduisant un changement technique radical, le forage, à travers la création de périmètres irrigués. Des marchés fonciers informels se sont développés dans ces zones de mise en valeur agricole, qui sont aujourd’hui à la fois le moteur et la résultante de cette dynamique. L’analyse est conduite à partir d’investigations empiriques réalisées sur deux sites, marqués par une forte dynamique des marchés fonciers et de la production maraîchère. This chapter deals with the construction and transfer of property rights regarding land to be developed in Algerian steppe and Saharan regions. It shows how the State played a key role in the individualization and commodification of land in these regions, through the legal framework, but also by introducing a radical technical change through the creation of depth-drilling irrigation schemes. The analysis highlights how informal land markets have developed in these areas, both as engine and result of this dynamic. It is based on empirical investigations conducted in two sites, characterized by a dramatic dynamics of land market as well as irrigated vegetable production. تناقش هذه الورقة البحثية ونقل تشكل ملكية الأراضي الزراعية في مناطق استصلاح الأراضي في الجزائر، وتبين أيضا كيف لعبت الدولة دورا رئيسيا في التملك الفردي وتسويق الأرض في مناطق السهوب والصحراء. تمثل هذا الدور في إنشاء إطار قانوني يسمح ويشجع خصخصة الأراضي التابعة للدولة و أيضا من خلال إدخال تغيير تقني جذري- حفر الآبار- وذلك بإنشاء محيطات مسقية. هذه الأخيرة شهدت تطور ملحوظ للأسواق الغير رسمية للأراضي الفلاحية ، والتي أصبحت بدورها محركا للفلاحة، خاصة في المحيطات السابقة الذكر. هذا العمل البحثي تم عن طريق إجراء تحقيقات ميدانية في منطقتين معروفتين بديناميكية كبيرة لأسواق العقار الفلاحي، وكذا إنتاج الخضروات المسقية.

In Mexico, 45 percent of the country suffers from land degradation, 12 percent of which, or some 23 million ha, are degraded due to water erosion. In Michoacán, a state in west-central Mexico, the figure rises to 27 percent. A study of the soil in Michoacán determined that overgrazing was a cause of degradation and a strategy was drawn up to promote cropping of agave, which is used in production of a high-value alcoholic drink as well as in medicines and cosmetics. The agave’s high value would mean farmers would need fewer cattle. While waiting for the agave to mature, the farmers intercrop trees, plants and grasses that produce marketable products and women earn income in greenhouses by selling small agaves from the seeds they have collected. This project, which started in 2011, is still ongoing.

Smallholder farmers in the Taita hills and Mount Kilimanjaro recognize the need to conserve soil nutrients of fields and farms located in the upper, middle and lower zones of mountainous areas. These mountain communities depend on rain-fed subsistence agriculture which means that for sustainable subsistence crop production, they also depend on nutrient availability and use efficiency in farming households. A study under way in the area has looked at loss of land cover and infestations of plant pests and diseases and is using this information to raise farmers’ awareness of soil fertility and to introduce best cropping practices.

A volcanic tuff rock known as cangahua (Ecuador) or tepetate (Mexico) is found throughout the Andes. Problems have arisen as the layers of light but fragile soil that once covered the tuff have been lost for both natural (environmental) reasons and because of over-cultivation. When the soil is gone, the tuff is impermeable and sterile. Now, a project in Ecuador has determined that the tuff itself can be reclaimed and is supporting a programme that sends bulldozers to the tuff regions to break up the rock and create a new fertile soil.