The Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Fisheries, Yacine El-Mahdi Oualid, announced a final ban on the use of the French language in all correspondence and administrative documents issued by his sector. He emphasized that the Arabic language is the “sole and exclusive choice” for dealing with farmers and economic operators, in a decisive step to strengthen national sovereignty and facilitate dealings with professionals.
This announcement came in an explicit written response from the minister to a parliamentary inquiry (No. 9969) raised by MP Slimane Rezkane regarding the continued “penetration” of the French language in some administrative documents directed at farmers. The minister considered this a clear violation of the Constitution and Law No. 91-05 related to the generalization of the use of the Arabic language.
The minister revealed the activation of a strict ministerial instruction (dated July 2023 and recently updated) that obliges all central services, provincial directorates, and supervised bodies to fully Arabize all contracts, forms, and meeting minutes.
It also mandates addressing farmers in their national language to ensure the clarity of transactions and reduce linguistic bureaucracy, while limiting the use of foreign languages to “cases of extreme technical necessity” only, provided it does not affect the essence of the administrative document.
Yacine El-Mahdi Oualid explained that this trend is part of the state’s 2026 vision aimed at modernizing the agricultural sector and bringing it closer to the citizen. He stressed that the Algerian farmer, who is considered the “pillar of food security,” must receive their right to clear and understandable administrative information, away from inherited linguistic complexities.
These moves coincide with major reforms the sector is undergoing, which include reviewing the Agricultural Orientation Law and digitizing administrative services to ensure greater field efficiency that serves national production goals.
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