ABSTRACT
To ensure sustainable livelihoods and reduce rural poverty, rural development is the obvious path to pursue. Given the rapidly growing population, it is important to increase access to food, natural resources and various services. In a world of limited resources, the starting point should be improved management of natural resources. Rural development also means paying the necessary attention to territorial governance while at the same time establishing effective links between policies, programs, institutions and populations. The question addressed here is the organization and function of the marketing
channels for local products, especially the by-products of livestock farming.We specifically focus on qashabiya, a local garment made of wool and camel hair. In Algeria very little information is available on the marketing value chain for this product, the respective roles of men and women, their marketing practices or the distribution of the added value generated.This study attempts to fill some of these gaps. Historically, local products remained marginalized during the post-independence period and up to the beginning of the twenty-first century, but are now on the policy agenda, particularly under what is called ‘rural renewal’. Also, artisanal activities provide a significant additional source of income for women and men in rural households, especially smallholders and agro-pastoralists. Furthermore, social norms and values which determine the specificity of social relations dictate the social dynamics in rural areas with a clear dominance of men to the detriment of women. To date, sectorial policy of rural development followed a ‘macro’ approach.
Therefore, this study aims at filling in the gaps to bring the necessary improvements to the sectorial policy and facilitate the setup of more pertinent programs and projects. At the regional level of the Maghreb, local products are embedded in the social
life and their survival is hugely importantly to the community, despite the shocks resulting from the impact of modernization and technology (the opening up of national markets, cultural, economic and social shocks induced by alternative products perceived as modern, etc.). These countries have initiated policies aiming at protecting and capitalising on artisan knowledge and know-how, at different periods and with different impacts.
