Farming fish takes plunge in desert

TOUGGOURT, Algeria — In a corner of his sprawling farm, Milouda Mohammed proudly unveiled his latest venture — a pond full of catfish that could herald a new future for farmers like him on the Sahara desert.

He is hoping to earn extra income from selling fresh, farmed fish from the world’s largest and hottest desert and use the water to irrigate his olive and date trees and vegetables.

“Five years from now, I’m expecting different kinds of products from this land,” said Mohammed, 49, clad in thick, long-sleeved overalls, oblivious to the searing afternoon sun.

The 15-hectare farm, around 600 kilometers by car from the capital Algiers, bustled with chickens, quails, ducks, camels, goats and sheep — a hive of activity in this stark landscape where, for miles, there is little else besides sand.

“I’m excited about this. Inshallah, it works,” he added, using the Arabic phrase for “God willing” as he threw some homemade feed of leftover chicken and vegetables into the pond.

Farming fish in the desert might sound counterintuitive but Algeria hopes to tap the huge aquifers beneath the Sahara — that covers about 80 percent of the country — as it seeks new ways to feed its growing population and diversify its oil based economy.

Algeria’s population is forecast by the United Nations to rise 25 percent to nearly 50 million people by 2030, increasing demand for food and jobs in the North African nation, one of many countries battling water scarcity and population growth.

For several years the government has been promoting agriculture in southern Algeria, offering cheap loans and concessions to farmers willing to take up the Sahara challenge.

Taha Hammouche, director-general for fisheries at Algeria’s agriculture ministry, said about 13,000 farmers have expressed interest in aquaculture projects, enthused after the Sahara yielded its first harvest of farmed desert shrimp two years ago.

The government is providing training on raising fish and using the waste water on plants instead of chemical fertilizers.

Hammouche said Algeria hopes aquaculture in the Sahara will help to nearly double the nation’s annual fish production by 2022 from current levels of about 100,000 tons a year.

Currently, Algeria’s fish come mostly from along its 1,280 km of Mediterranean coastline which experts fear is in danger from pollution, climate change and overfishing.

Valerio Crespi from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization said integrating agriculture and aquaculture could provide protein to rural and isolated desert communities globally but cautioned about overuse of underground water.