Conference Paper
Internet and Food Production: Panel Data Evidence from North African Countries
No.
ERF29AC_61
Publisher
ERF
Date
May, 2023
Although a considerable body of research has examined the relationship between information and communication technology and the food production process, less attention has been paid to whether internet utilization impacts food production in north African countries. This research sought to investigate the short and long-run relationship between internet utilization and food production in north Africa. Yearly data sets from 4 countries (Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, and Morocco) were used, covering the period 1990-2021. Given that the tested series are of mixed integrated levels of I (0) and I (I), the study employed a panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. The results show that internet usage and access to electricity favorably influence the food production index in both the long and short run. In the short run, food imports do not exhibit any significant effect on food production. Whereas, in the long-run nexus, a considerable negative impact from food imports to food production is evident. The study concludes that internet usage represents a vital driver of food production and should be further strengthened by making all north African food producers aware of its importance in promoting food productivity. On the other hand, these results serve as a reminder for north African countries to gradually reduce food imports, support domestic food production and move toward food self-sufficiency.
Research Associates
Abdelhadi Benghalem
Assistant Professor, Oran Graduate School of Economic,...
Research Fellows
Samir Maliki
Professor of Economics and Management, Faculty of...
Research Associates
Ouieme Sour
Assistant Professor, University of Tlemcen, Algeria