ABSTRACT
Livestock rearing is of high importance for both the populations in the steppe regions and for the national economy. Indeed, the animal farming sector contributed 51 per cent of the agricultural GDP and this was probably higher if other intermediate values in animal farming were evaluated more appropriately (Akhilu 2002).This sector also provides raw materials such as milk,wool and camel hair required for traditional economic activities. The changes that have taken place over recent decades in pastoral societies have led
to socio-economic changes that have had repercussions on the organisation of work. Women who conform to traditions and customs have been heavily impacted by these changes (Boukhobza 1982.The settling of nomadic and transhumant households, the increasing use of feed supplements (mainly barley and bran) as feeds (moving away from pastoral feeding practices based solely on pasture) and the private acquisition of rangelands constitute the main developments in the steppe (Moulai 2008). These changes have resulted in severe deterioration of the natural resources of
the rangeland, the basis for agro-pastoral production systems in Algeria. The deterioration of plant cover in the steppe has been confirmed by ecological and agro-pastoral analyses (Le Houérou 1995;Nedjraoui 2003; andTarhouni et al.2007). This deterioration, linked to the changes in animal production systems, has now
reached the point that it is threatening the viability of traditional incomegenerating craft activities, especially those related to the production of a wide range of qashabiya. Sheep wool and camel hair are the main raw materials. These craft activities hold social significance as they involve women from pastoral and agropastoral societies. We studied six agro-pastoral communities where raising ruminants is the main
source of income, and analyzed the loss of craft know-how in pastoral societies. Our main research question was: how have the deterioration of productive natural
resources and the changes in animal production systems contributed to the availability of raw material for qashabiya production? Our work was centred on the following three main hypotheses: (1) The
deterioration of pastoral resources, combined with adverse effects of climate change have led to social and technical reorganisations in the economics of qashabiya production mainly in terms of the availability of related raw material. (2) The changes in animal-raising practices and the access to fodder have increased the women and men’s workload. (3) The increased distance of the production centres from the raw materials (especially camel hair) have resulted in scarcity of raw material for women.
