Agricultural mechanization in the Near East: its output and employment impacts and related policy issues
1989
Hunt, D. (Sussex Univ., Sussex (UK). School of African and Asian Studies)
In recent decades Near East countries have experienced a notable expension in agricultural mechanization as varying degrees of this mechanization have been achieved both between regions and between farms within regions. Yet the overriding trend is clear: towards an increase in the use of motor-powered equipment relative to both land and labour. The expension of mechanization has given rise to a number of policy issues. Four broad heading embrace most of them: these relate to technical, economic and social aspects of mechanization and to the role of foreign equipment suppliers and foreign aid in this process. Among the more notable features of mechanization which are of significance throughout the region are the changes which it is generating with respect to the use of land, labour and foreign exchange, the level and composition of farm output, the distribution of land and income and the need for development of supporting institutions. This paper, having highlighted the problems, seeks through a review of the available evidence, to explore more fully some of the matters raised: the first part of the paper focusses on the output and employment impacts of farm mechanization, using primarily micro-economic evidence, where available, to illustrate these. Other possible impacts are touched upon, but receive less emphasis. The second part of the paper reviews a number of the policy issues that are relevant to the promotion of farm mechanization
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