Assessment of the farming transformation in a rural region of Sétif province in Algeria
New Medit, vol 13, n.2, (June 2014), pp. 38-46
Language: EN
Jel classification: Q20, R11
The main aim of this paper is to elaborate a typology and to assess the transformations of agricultural activities in the northern part of Sétif province in Algeria. During the nineties, the country experienced a period of insecurity and terrorism, which seriously disrupted the socio-economic situation of the farming system. The study area is predominantly rural; it includes nine municipalities and is one of the areas affected by this scourge. After a decade of instability, normal conditions were recovering again with the launch of a national program of agricultural aid in 2000, namely “Plan National de Développement Agricole”(PNDA). This change will impact farming dynamics. The analysis of agricultural practices through nonlinear methods, namely the CATegorical Principal Components Analysis (CATPCA), aims to assess the behavior of farmers across time, which will be used as a decision- making tool for assessing and reorienting the government agricultural aid programs. The results showed two typologies: the first one consists of large-scale farming combining field crops (cereals) under rainfed regime and livestock; the second one consists of small farms practicing intensive irrigated crops such as arboriculture and market gardening. However, the economic performance of farms seems to be associated with two different criteria: the size of the farm and farming system as arboriculture and market gardening.
farming transformation, PNDA program, economic performance, Algeria
