Productive Efficiency in Water Usage: An Analysis of Differences among Citrus Producing Farms Sizes in Tunisia

The objective of this paper is to measure productive efficiency of irrigation water efficiency based on the concept of technical efficiency and compared among different sizes farms. The proposed methodology is applied to a randomly selected sample of 144 citrus growing farms located in Nabeul (Tunisia) and differentiated by size (small, medium and large farms). A stochastic production frontier approach, based on Battese and Coelli’s (1995) inefficiency effect model, is used to obtain farm-specific estimates of technical and irrigation water efficiency. The last step of the analysis consists on the identification of the factors influencing irrigation water efficiency differentials across citrus growing farms on the basis on a second-stage regression approach. Empirical results show that estimated mean technical efficiency ranges from a minimum of 12.82% to a maximum of 90.69% with an average estimate of 67.73%. This result means that 32.3% increase in production is possible with the present state of technology and unchanged input uses, if technical inefficiency is completely removed. Thus, improving technical efficiency will result to significant increases in framer’s revenue and profit. On the other hand, mean irrigation water efficiency is found to be 53%, which is much lower than technical efficiency and also exhibits greater variability ranging from 1.6% to 98.87%. The estimated mean irrigation water efficiency implies that the observed quantity of marketable citrus could have been maintained by using the observed values of other inputs while using 47.0% less of irrigation water. This means that farmer’s can achieve significant savings in water use by improving the utilisation of irrigation system and by utilizing more advanced irrigation technologies.Water Efficiency, stochastic frontier production function, small, medium and large citrus farms, Tunisia, Crop Production/Industries,

Productivity and Economic Growth in Tunisian Agriculture: An Empirical Evidence

This paper analyse the patterns of productivity and economic growth in the Tunisian agriculture during the 19612000. Results indicated that agriculture output growth where high in both the 19611970 and the 19711980 periods but decreased during the 19912000 period. Average output growth exceeded 6% during the 19811990 period, the average output growth during 19912000 had fallen to 4%. Over the whole period, capital was the most important contributor to output growth and labour is considered as the least significant contributor to economic growth. Total factor productivity contribution to output growth decreased from 4.64% in 19611970 to 2.86% in 19711980. In contrast, this contribution increased in 1981-1990 to close the 4.38%. In the last period, namely 1991-2000, TFP decreased. On average, productivity growth increased by less that 3.6% per year. One major source of the low productivity might be the low level of intermediate input use.Production function, Translog, Agriculture, TFP, Tunisia, International Development, Productivity Analysis, C8, O13, O14,

Effects of food prices and consumer income on nutrient availability: An application of the demand for dairy products in Tunisia

Number of Tunisian food demand studies have measured the influence of traditional variables, such as income and prices, and in some cases some socio-demographic variables. However, given increasing concerns about health, other important factors, such as the nutritious quality and the nutrient content of food, have also been shown to determine consumer choices. This paper analyses the effect of these factors on the demand for dairy products. The nutritious quality of dairy products is measured by an index that relates nutrient content of each product with the standards suggested by the National Academy of Science. A demand system is estimated and nutrient demand elasticities with respect to prices and expenditure are obtained. Results differ from traditional studies in the sense that higher prices do not indicate lower consumption but a shift to a higher quality demand.Dairy products demand, health awareness, nutrients, price/quality index, Tunisia, Agricultural and Food Policy, D12, I12,

Measuring factor substitution and technological change in the Tunisian agricultural sector, 1971 - 2000

The production structure of Tunisian agriculture over the last three decades is investigated using a translog variable cost function. Standard results of neoclassical duality theory are used to obtain measures of elasticities of substitution between inputs, price elasticities of factor demands and the rate of growth and bias of technological progress. Empirical results obtained from the joint estimation of parameters of the cost and share equations indicate an increasing trend in the degree of substitutability between labour and intermediate inputs. The own-price elasticities of labour and intermediate inputs are inelastic. While the labour price elasticity of demand has increased over time, the intermediate input price elasticity of demand has declined. Finally, technological progress occurred at an impressive and sustained annual growth rate of 3.8 percent.Factor substitution, technological change, Tunisian agriculture, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Analyzing supply response of fruit tree products in Tunisia: The case of peaches

In Tunisia, peaches have a significant place in the fruit tree sector. Planted areas have been expanding ever since the eighties as a result of irrigation water extension and the use of better yielding varieties. These factors resulted in high production levels and fruit exports thereof. However, important seasonal and annual variation of fruit supplies continues to characterize prices at both wholesale and consumption levels. To study the response of peach production an econometric model was developed. Modelling was carried out in two stages. First area variation was explained through new plantings and removals and second yield variation was analyzed. The methodological approach followed takes into account the characteristics and specificities related to perennial crops. Weak response of supply to variations in expected prices was obtained. Supply price elasticity was estimated about 0.13 suggesting a high degree of inelasticity.Supply response, modeling, price expectations, peaches, Demand and Price Analysis,

NUTRIENT EFFECTS ON CONSUMER DEMAND: A PANEL DATA APPROACH

The objective of this paper is to analyze the Spanish demand for food taking into account the consumer's concern about the relationship between food diet and health. This concern is forcing food demand analysts to assume that consumer utility is a function of nutrients instead of simply the food products themselves. A CBS demand model has been considered to model the new demand function obtained, which is estimated with a complete panel data set. Ten broad categories, nine nutrients and the most relevant socio-economic variables have been considered. Finally, after an appropriate model selection strategy, expenditure, price and nutrient elasticities, as well as main sociodemographic effects, have been calculated.Nutrients, demand for food, CBS, panel data, Spain., Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Measuring Irrigation Water Efficiency with a Stochastic Production Frontier: An Application for Citrus Producing Farms in Tunisia

The objective of this paper is to propose an alternative measure of irrigation water efficiency based on the concept of input- specific technical efficiency, which contracts with measures previously used in the literature. The proposed methodology is applied to a randomly selected sample of 144 citrus growing farms located in Nabeul (Tunisia). A stochastic production frontier approach, based on Battese and Coelli’s (1995) inefficiency effect model, is used to obtain farm-specific estimates of technical and irrigation water efficiency. In addition, a second-stage regression approach is used to identify the factors influencing irrigation water efficiency differentials across citrus growing farms. Results indicate that technical efficiency ranges from a minimum of 12.9% to a maximum of 90.7% with an average estimate of 67.7%. This suggests that citrus producers may increase their production by as much as 32.3% through more efficient use of production inputs. Further, mean irrigation water efficiency is found to be 53%, which is much lower than technical efficiency and also exhibits greater variability ranging from 1.6% to 98.87%. The estimated mean irrigation water efficiency implies that the observed quantity of marketable citrus could have been maintained by using the observed values of other inputs while using 47.0% less of irrigation water. Moreover, the estimated mean irrigation water technical cost efficiency is found to be 70.81% indicating a potential decrease of 29.19% in total cost by adjusting irrigation water to its efficient level. In addition, the vast majority of farms have achieved irrigation water technical cost efficiency greater than 90% (71% of farms). Finally, the analysis of the sources of efficiency differentials among farmers showed that farmer’s age, farm’s size, education level, agricultural training, the share of productive trees and the water disposable perception tend to affect positively the degree of both technical and irrigation water efficiency.Citrus, Efficiency, Tunisia, Water, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Measurement and Sources of Technical Inefficiency in the Tunisian Citrus Growing Sector

This paper investigates farm level technical inefficiency of production and its determinants in a sample of 150 citrus producing farms in Tunisia using a stochastic frontier production function approach applied to cross section data. Results indicate that technical efficiency of production in the sample of citrus producing farms investigated ranges from a minimum of 26.84% to a maximum of 97.98% with an average technical efficiency estimate of 86.23%. This suggests that citrus producers may increase their production by as much as 13.77% through more efficient use of production inputs. Further, the estimated coefficients in the technical inefficiency model indicate the positive effect on technical efficiency of the share of productive trees, the agricultural training, irrigation operations and the experience of farmer.Technical Efficiency, stochastic frontier production function, citrus farms, Tunisia, Productivity Analysis,

Socioeconomic Impact Assessment of the Red Palm Weevil in NENA Countries (The Case of Egypt and Saudi Arabia) Ex-post impact assessment (impact evaluation of the proposed interventions)

Date palms are trees of high importance across the NENA region due to their economic and cultural importance, and also for their importance as a renewable natural resource and as a provider of other ecosystem services. Since its arrival in the NENA region, a main date palm production region, RPW is causing widespread damage to date palm and affecting date palm production, which is having a significant impact on the livelihoods of farmers as well as the environment