Résumé
In some regions, the combined effects of ambitious public policies, with special reference to the creation of infrastructure, and innovative local dynamics have deeply changed the landscape of the Saharan oasis. This is the case of the municipality of El Ghrous in the region of Biskra, where for twenty years, palm tree monoculture and tunnel greenhouses have dramatically expanded on the margins of traditional oasis. In this article, we analyze the factors that promote and those which threaten this agricultural expansion. Four key factors of this development are analysed: public policies, local market development, dissemination of innovation and the water governance system. We show that the adaptability of this agriculture is mainly the result of a complex set of actors, at bilateral and collective level, who manage to reconfigure and adapt the institutional framework of water governance. Finally, we show that in the long term, this set of actors is also a source of vulnerabilities and inequities.