LA BIMODALITE DES DISTRIBUTIONS DE LA TAILLE DE LA FERME: ANALYSE DES FERMES ALGERIENNES PAR L'ESTIMATION DE LA DENSITE DU KERNEL

Abstract

This paper investigates the nature of farm size distribution in Algerian agriculture, where cultivated area of the farm is used as a measure of farm size. Using two comprehensive datasets of the Algerian Ministry of Agriculture (20,810 palm date farms and 3,296 industrial tomato growers). Results of kernel density estimation provide evidence on the bimodality of the farm size distribution. The study attempts to explain this by the technological features of farming systems, suggesting that the dual nature (traditional vs. modern) of farming system in Algeria shapes the farm size distributions