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الاطار العام للدراسةيوجد فقط 14 صفحة متاحة للعرض العام
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المستخلص
‐ 1 br>“Efficiency of Resources Utilization in the Context of
Egyptian Agricultural Policy”
Abstract
The study is based on stochastic frontier approach to access the
optimal agricultural policies that led to maximize the efficient use of
available agricultural resources. The study considered the period 1952-
2011 classified into six phases .It is found that the average of technical
efficiency of the Egyptian agricultural production Is low (53%) during the
first period 1952-1961. this may be due to the rates of absenteeism and
fragmentation. The average of technical efficiency is estimated at 60%
during the second period 1962-1971. It is considered a low rate which
may be attributed to the compulsory delivery system of crops, that was
negatively affecting farmers and representing disincentives in them,
During the third period 1972-1981, the average of technical efficiency is
estimated at 78%, This high efficiency index may due to the adoption of
new trend in cultivating, export high value non-traditional crops such as
vegetables and fruits. The highest score of the efficiency index is
qualifying the fourth period 1982-1991 and reaching 94%. This may due
to the liberalization of crops prices and the elimination of the obligatory
deliveries of some crops and the use of new technologies. However, the
efficiency index during the fifth period 1992-2001 has decreased to 83%.
This decline may be attributed to some substantial problems such as the
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crisis of fertilizers, high seed prices and high, transportation and crops
processing costs. Finally, the index of technical efficiency of the Egyptian
agricultural production during the sixth period 2002-2011 is found to be
96%, that is the highest rate of technical efficiency. This high index is
explained by the positive effects of the agricultural policy reforms that
have been taken place during that period and according to which a big
liberalization programmed was adopted and implemented in the Egyptian
agricultural sector.
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“Efficiency of Resources Utilization in the Context of
Egyptian Agricultural Policy”
Summary
Egyptian agricultural sector occupies a vital position in the national economy.
It generates about 13.5% of the GDP as per 2009/2010. It plays an important role in
realizing the food security. It contains 3 main subsectors; plant, animal and fishery.
The plant subsector comes in the first position with 56%, animal in the second with
37% and fisheries in the third with 7% of the total agricultural production. Also the
agricultural sector plays an important role in the Egyptian trade balance, it’s exports
amounting to L.E 13.8 billion which represents about 11.4% of the total value of the
Egyptian exports which amounting to L.E121 billion during the period 2007-2010.
The agricultural imports are estimated at L.E37.7 billion which represents about
16.4% of the total value of the Egyptian imports which amounting to L.E230 billion
during the same period. Hence the responsibility of this sector in one way or another
by working to narrow the gap between the value of imports and exports.
The agricultural policies are applied to guarantee the economic and social
welfare of the Egyptian society including the rural population. The focus on the
agricultural sectors comes as a response to the facts that; a) the relative importance of
the sector, b) unlimited requirements of the population in different agricultural
commodities and c) the current uses of limited agricultural resources are not qualified
by optimum uses. Hence, the study of economic agricultural resources
should not only to tend to identify the type, size and distribution of these
resources, but must be extended to an analytical study of methods to
achieve efficient use of those resources.
The problem of the study is to discover the best agricultural policies
which have been adopted by the government and that permitted the
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efficient uses of agricultural resources provided that interest of both
farmers and the society are guaranteed.
The different agricultural resources in Egypt have been subject in
the study of the first character. Therefore, the main resources are
investigated.
The first kind of resources; water resources include both traditional
resources such as Nile River and rainfall, and non-traditional resources
such as underground water, drainage water, treated sewage water and
treated sea water.
According to 2010 estimates, total supply of fresh water amounts to
about 80.4 billion m3, the Nile water represents 69%, drainage water
represents 19%. The third and fourth positions are attributed to
underground and rainfall water. Treated sea water comes in the last
position. The use of fresh water available supply is 79.7% to agriculture.
The current agriculture strategy (2030) works on both sides; supply by
developing and improving different resources and demand by rationalizing
the water use.
As far as the land resources are concerned, annual average of
cultivated area amounts to 6.56 million feddans during the period 1952-
2011, with a low average of average of 5.34 million feddans in 1963 and a
high average of 8.78 million feddans in 2009. As regard to the crop area,
the annual average is about 11.92 million Feddans with a minimum of
9.31 million in 1952 and a maximum of about 15.5 million in 2009. So
the intensification coefficient is estimates as 182% as an average in the
same period.
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The land resources in Egypt are subject to a very difficult problem that
negatively affects quantity and quality of cultivated area. The problem is a
double folded one as it affects both quantity and quality of arable land.
In fact a big number of farmers cause soil degradation by moving the
surface soil of the arable land to use it in producing breaches. Other
farmers leave parts of their land empty without cultivating any crops as a
first step to change its are from agricultural to non agricultural activities.
Because if this sort of urbanization the agricultural loses a lot of
agricultural lands. Some estimates indicate the urbanized area amounts to
about 134 thousand feddans during the period 1983-2008. The rate of
urbanization of agricultural land has been subject to substantial increases
our the last two years. Some estimates indicate that the losses by about 500
thousand feddans during the last two years.
The third group of agricultural resources are the human resources.
The overall employment has augmented farm 6.9 millions in 1963 to 23.8
millions in 2010. Agricultural employment has increased from 3.7 millions
to 6.7 millions during the same period. Worth mentioning that the
relative importance of agricultural with respect to national employment
has been subject to declining trend over that period. This may be
attributed to the low agricultural investments, immigration from rural to
urban areas and to other countries and the besides of technological change
for capital using techniques. The immigration of labor out the agricultural
sector was due to the low labor’s income in agricultural during 1960-
1995. This has negatively affected the agricultural labor market that
become a labor shortage market. The situation has been subject to change
by mid 1990. In fact the sleaze of wage has been increasing from 30% in
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1968 to 73% of total agricultural income by the mid 1990. This may be
interpreted by the certain of a new situation of labor deficit in agricultural
that positively affected the agricultural wage rates.
Worth mentioning that the agricultural strategy 2030 is expecting
the creates of about 4 million jobs in agricultural through years 2030.
When it comes to agricultural capital resources, they are defined as
all fixed assets except land. So, capital contain both fixed assets and
working capital. Egyptian agricultural investments amount to LE 4.2
billion as annual average during the period 1952-2011, with a minimum
of LE 0.26 billion in 1952 and a maximum of LE 15.8 billion in 2002. As
for the agricultural inputs, their annual average value amounts to LE 16.3
billion at fixed prices during the period 1952-2011 with a minimum of
LE 4.9 billion in 1952 and a maximum of LE 38.3 billion in 2002.
Worth mentioning that total agricultural investments required in the
agricultural strategy 2030 is estimated at LE 500 billion if targeted annual
growth rate is 4% and LE 640 billion if that growth rate is 5%.
As long as the second chapter is concerned, all the related literatures are
classified into four categories according to the four kinds of resources,
water, land, human and capital resources.
Chapter three of the study has adopted on the existing classification
of the whole time period 1952-2011. According to their classification,
such a period may be broken down into six periods:
- 1952-1962: The agrarian reform and nationalization.
- 1962-1971: The socialism and government control.
- 1972-1981: The first plane of open door economic policy.
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- 1982-1991: The second plane of open door economic policy.
- 1992-2001: The first plane of liberalization.
- 2002-2011: The second plane of liberalization.
chapter forth has dealt the concept of efficiency and Farrell
methodology for measuring technical efficiency and finally the quantify of
technical efficiency, that’s in three chapters. The study found that the
technical efficiency of Egyptian agricultural production during various of
Egyptian Agricultural periods of time, amounted to about 53% and 60%
and 78% and 94% and 83% and 96% during the periods 1952-1961 and
1962-1971 and 1972-1981 and 1982-1991 and 1992-2001 and 2002-
2011,respectively. .
It was found that the second period of liberalization of Egyptian
agricultural policies phase 2002-2011 is the best phase and most positive
on technical efficiency of agricultural production rising, which means the
use of agricultural resources in that period used rationally to achieve
standards of economic efficiency, which refers to the effective role of
agricultural policies in that period, which led to more efficient use of
agricultural resources.