Naama Province
Three million hectares of pastoral steppe where nomads still trade—but transhumance is collapsing. Erratic seasons and degraded grazing force herders to adapt or abandon.
Naama is pastoral steppe: 3 million hectares where nomadic tribes still use the town as a trading post and time seems to stand still. But time is not standing still—it is accelerating against traditional lifeways.
The province straddles three worlds: steppe plains in the north, Saharan Atlas mountains through the middle, and Saharan space to the south. Rainfall averages 200mm annually with a 6-7 month dry period. Winter temperatures drop below -4°C. This climate shaped Naama's pastoral vocation—transhumance between seasonal pastures, movement calibrated to rainfall and forage availability.
Recent research on 150 local pastoralists reveals a system under stress. Traditional transhumance patterns are being modified or abandoned as seasonal climates become erratic and grazing lands degrade. Herders are introducing drought-tolerant livestock breeds, adjusting migration routes, and adopting modern farming techniques. Some are abandoning pastoralism entirely.
The province was carved from Saïda in 1984, one of eight pastoral steppe wilayas stretching across Algeria's interior. Naama's future tests whether mobile pastoralism can adapt to climate change or whether sedentarization will complete what environmental degradation began. The trading post still functions. Whether the nomads will remain to use it is the open question.