The objectives of this study are to calculate the water use efficiency (WUE) and its determinants in small-scale horticultural farms in Jijel-Taher in the Northeast of Algeria. This paper is divided into two main parts. We first start by calculating the scores of technical and water use efficiencies using data envelopment analysis method of a sample of 93 horticultural farms. Secondly, a Tobit regression was used to identify the determinants of WUE. Results showed that average technical efficiency scores are 68% and 79%, respectively, for CRS and VRS assumptions, while average WUE scores obtained are only 51% and 61% under CRS and VRS assumptions, respectively. Tobit regression shows that the total number of cultivated crops and water sources, the percentage of greenhouses, the level of education and technical assistance, the form of commercialization, and the access of farmers to credit are significantly affecting WUE.
In recent years, despite its hostile environment and harsh climate, the wilaya of Ghardaïa has emerged as a leader in dairy production in southern Algeria. This article sought to analyze how the innovation system in the dairy sector has, positively or negatively, influenced the development of the sector in this region and identify the socio-economic factors and institutions that have contributed to it. To do so, a functional-structural approach was taken. The data used were collected from semi-directive interviews and focus groups with different stakeholders involved in the dairy milk sector. Market restructuring, but also the collective organization, which is very common in the region, were found to be the main factors positively affecting the dairy sector. In addition, lobbying by the dairies and the asymmetry of power between dairy farmers and agri-food industrialists, a lack of collaboration and interaction between actors, a lack of coordination in knowledge development, and a lack of formal financing mechanisms to invest in livestock, turned out to be the factors hindering the innovation system. Finally, although the dairy sector in Ghardaïa attracts investors from the North of Algeria, and is thus a
pronounced success in economic and organizational terms, the question of its sustainability is not being considered in these southern territories.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of water-saving technologies (WST) through an investigation of its effect at the farm level. Indeed, the study attempts to estimate the economic value of WST use in Algerian farming, through the comparison of some farm performance indicators between WST adopters, drip irrigation system as a WST, and farmers practicing gravity irrigation as a traditional system. A cross-section data from a survey is conducted in an irrigated perimeter situated in the northeastern Algeria (Jijel region) encompassing 106 small horticultural farms (including 60 pepper producers and 46 tomato producers). First, the study compares some performance indicators between the two groups of farms. Second, a stochastic production frontier model is used to estimate the productivity gain generated by the WST adoption. Main results show that water consumption, gross margin, and water productivity are statistically significant between the two groups of farms. The average water productivity differential between WST users and non-users is 29% and 25% for tomato and pepper, respectively. The regression model has shown that increasing the WST use by 1% help to increase water productivity of the region by 0.20% for pepper production and 0.11% for tomato production. The findings of this study confirm the hypothesis that WST economize on water quantity, positively affects crop yield and can enhance water productivity.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.