The increase in desertification by agro-sylvo-pastoral practices in the high algerian steppe plains: the ways of living in the wilaya of djelfa

This study analyses the ways of inhabiting and the agro-sylvo-pastoral practices of 188 families in a steppe region of the Saharan Atlas in Algeria. The rural population is henceforth sedentary. The case of the District of Djelfa allows scrutinizing how these ways of inhabiting are anchored in the local environment and their potential impact on desertification. Based on field observations, oral survey and statistical analyses, this study points out that the householders in the four different environments (forest, mattoral, steppe, dunes and chott) utilize supplementation to feed their herd. Consequently, this practice increases the size of the herds and contributes to overgrazing. Similarly, the access to water is no more traditional; while some overexploit the aquifers; most agro-pastoralists utilize tanker trucks. The adaptation of the way of inhabiting and exploitation are greatly determined by the capital of the household, which allows compensating local shortages Nevertheless, these practices cause important damage and increase desertification.