When did farming first appear in the Sahara Desert?

Direct evidence of agriculture in the Sahara first appears approximately 6,000 years ago, marked by the cultivation of barley and emmer wheat in Egypt, which are believed to have been introduced from Asia.1

Evidence regarding the domestication of native African plants is found later, appearing in pottery dating to about 1000 BCE discovered in Mauritania. These early agricultural developments followed the earlier emergence of nomadic pastoralism, as domesticated livestock had already appeared in the region nearly 7,000 years ago.1