Labor, Employment and Agricultural Development in West Asia and North Africa

The basic objective of agricultural research at ICARDA is to enhance producer and consumer welfare through increasing the productivity, stability, and profitability of agriculture. Improved practices must be technically, economi­ cally, and socially suitable to farmer conditions. The rainfed areas of West Asia and North Africa have highly variable environmental conditions as well as complex social and economic structures. In recent years, the region has been experiencing major changes in the relative availabilities and costs of the classical factors of production: land, labor and capital. These changes have important implications for the design of new agricultural technology. On the one hand, the availability of labor may be an important factor determining the acceptability of new technology. On the other, it is important to consider the impact that technology can have on rural employment. To develop a better awareness ofthese issues and their relevance to technology development, ICARDA initiated a project on Agricultural Labor and Tech­ nological Change (ALTC). The first stage of the project was a review of existing information' on these issues; this review was published as a book under the title Labor and Rainfed Agriculture in West Asia and North Africa.