In Algeria, dairy cattle breeders are faced with weak support from technical institutions and state extension services, difficult access to financing and a milk sector that does not contribute to reducing the level of risk. Breeders fi nd it very difficult to predict the future and to project themselves into the future. They have little room for maneuver due to a lack of agricultural land, labor force and financing. This paper aims to analyze the current agricultural extension and advisory system in Algeria, advocating its reform with a new technical advisor. We postulate the hypothesis that development agents are poorly equipped to deal with the different types of production systems and the establishment of effective technical support. They still do not conform to the expectations of breeders. To answer our hypothesis, we took the example of the milk sector in Algeria. We focused on the technical advisor and his relationship with farmers in two potential dairy basins. The latter is a civil servant at the level of state services, chosen in view of the preponderance of his role in extension and agricultural advice for the benefit of stockbreeders. It appears that the advice is a component of a system involving various stakeholders, with a renunciation of the actors. Implementing the advisory requires significant adjustments to the current agricultural extension and advisory system. The conclusions drawn from this study and the proposals made are valid for all of Algeria.

Keyword: Milk sector; Family farm; Extension and agricultural advice; Technical Adviser; Agricultural extension and advisory system.