Enhancing the Oversight Role of the National Office of Agricultural Land in Light of Recent Legal Developments

Abstract

Recognizing agricultural land as essential to food security and sustainable development, the Algerian legislature has introduced legal mechanisms to protect it from unregulated exploitation and misappropriation through effective oversight. These include the National Office of Agricultural Land, a state body acting on its behalf. Under Law No. 08-16 of 3 August 2008 on Agricultural Orientation, the Office is vested with broad powers to implement the national agricultural land policy. This law and its implementing regulations reflect the State’s commitment to enhancing the Office’s oversight role, while the 2020 Constitution further strengthens the protection afforded to agricultural land.

The Office’s powers include reviewing, via the digital platform and pursuant to the 2021 amendment, applications for concessions over agricultural land within the State’s private domain; monitoring compliance with land-use conditions; exercising the right of pre-emption when concession-holding agricultural investors transfer their rights, pursuant to the 2025 ministerial circular; and periodically inspecting agricultural holdings to assess investment activity.