Water-Saving Technologies and Total Factor Productivity Growth in Small Horticultural Farms in Algeria
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FULL-LENGTH RESEARCH ARTICLE
Water-Saving Technologies and Total Factor Productivity Growth in Small Horticultural Farms in Algeria Amine Oulmane1
•
Ali Chebil2 • Aymen Frija3
•
M. Amine Benmehaia4
Received: 10 February 2019 / Accepted: 10 December 2019 Ó NAAS (National Academy of Agricultural Sciences) 2020
Abstract Investment in water-saving technologies (WST) was always considered as a solution to manage water demand. Indeed, the adoption of these techniques allows the use of less water in the agricultural production process. Actually, the WST have been widely promoted in Algeria in the last two decades. However, little research exists to support popular claims about their effectiveness. This study aims first, to identify the inputs use differentials between farmers using WST and traditional techniques (gravity irrigation) and, second, to evaluate the impact of WST use on total factor productivity growth (TFP) and determine the contribution of the different inputs in the overall TFP growth of small-scale horticultural farms in the northeastern Algeria (Jijel region). The Tornqvist-Theil index was used for the computation and decomposition of TFP. The results show that the differences of water consumption, gross margin, water productivity and water value indicators between the two groups of farms are statistically significant at 5%. The output growth differential between WST users and non-users is on average 12.73%. It is composed of 6.65% from input growth and 6.08% from TFP growth. Alternatively, output could be increased by 6.08% in average when using the same amount of input. These findings indicate the potential impact of WST on TFP gain. These findings provide helpful information for policy makers to expand the use of these technologies for a better use of irrigation water. Keywords Water-saving technologies Total factor productivity Water policy management Irrigation systems Algeria
Introduction & Amine Oulmane [email protected] Ali Chebil [email protected] Aymen Frija [email protected] M. Amine Benmehaia [email protected] 1
Research Centre in Applied Economics for Development (CREAD), Algiers, Algeria
2
National Institute for Research in Rural Engineering, Water & Forestry (INRGREF), Tunis, Tunisia
3
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Tunis, Tunisia
4
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Biskra, Biskra, Algeria
Algeria has a Mediterranean climate characterized by a long period of summer drought and a high seasonal and regional precipitation volatility. The considerable irregularity of rainfall accentuates the problem of water availability (around 292 m3/Capita/year in 2014) and is also affecting the performances of the Algerian irrigated sector [16]. The situation is expected to get even worse in the future due to climate change, population growth, urban expansion and improvement in living conditions, and the increase in water demand from other sectors such as industry and services. In Algeria, there is a limited s
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