Algeria signed a framework agreement with the Qatari company “Baladna” on Wednesday to establish a dairy farm and milk production factory covering an area of over 100,000 hectares with an investment of $3.5 billion, according to a statement from the Algerian Ministry of Agriculture.
The agreement, signed by Baladna’s Chairman of the Board, Mohammed Moutaz Al-Khayyat, and the Algerian Ministry of Agriculture, aims to “establish an integrated agricultural-industrial system for cattle breeding and the production of powdered milk and its derivatives… worth over $3.5 billion.”
The statement clarified that the project will span 117,000 hectares “in partnership between the Qatari company Baladna (51%) and the Algerian state represented by the National Investment Fund” (49%), which manages state investments and partnerships with foreign institutions.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had mentioned in a statement to state television at the end of March that the project would be implemented in the Adrar desert region, 1400 kilometers south of Algeria.
The ministry’s statement added that the project “will allow for the production of 50% of Algeria’s powdered milk needs and the creation of 5,000 jobs,” as well as increasing meat production and the number of cattle in Algeria, which currently stands at about one million heads.
Qatari company Baladna stated on its official “X” account that the agreement aims to establish the world’s largest integrated industrial agricultural project for producing powdered milk, with a herd size reaching 270,000 heads to produce 1.7 billion liters of milk annually.
According to experts, Algeria’s milk needs are estimated at four billion liters annually, while local production is estimated at around 2.5 billion liters.
Local media reported that the project will commence production in 2026, producing 200,000 tons of powdered milk annually.
