Impact of Rural-Urban Labor Migration and Technological Innovation on Agricultural Production: Evidence from Algeria's Key Food-Producing Regions (2000-2024)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29145/jqm.92.02Keywords:
rural-urban migration, agricultural technology adoption, food production, food security, AlgeriaAbstract
This study examines the complex relationship between rural-urban labor migration, technological advancement, and agricultural productivity in Algeria's major food-producing regions from 2000 to 2024. Using panel data from Algeria's eight primary food-producing wilayas (provinces), we develop a comprehensive production function model that incorporates labor migration rates, agricultural technology adoption indicators, and capital investment factors. Our econometric analysis reveals that while rural-urban migration created labor shortages in agriculture initially, technological advancementthereafter neutralized these shortages to a certain degree. Our estimate is that raising rural outmigration by 1% will make food production decline by 0.28% in the shortterm, butthe effect is diminished to 0.12% after controlling for the introduction of technology. The results suggestthattargeted regional balanced development strategies and specialized agricultural technology policies would be efficient in compensating for the negative impacts of labor migration on food security in Algeria. The paper contributes to the development economics literature by providing empirical evidence from North Africa on the migration-technology-production nexus in transitioning agricultural systems.
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