Why is there a shortage of agricultural labor in Algeria? Evidence from M'zirâa,southern Algeria's leading vegetable market

The amplification of labor shortages has become an inescapable reality for many Algerian farmers in recent years. To study this issue, systemic surveys were conducted in 125 farms in the vegetable crops pole of M'zirâa (southern Algeria). A labor shortage is reported on 56.80% of farms. The primary causes, as identified by respondents, are poor working and living conditions (76.67%) and low wages, which are considered insufficient by both workers and new settlers (70.67%). On the other hand, employment opportunities in the tertiary sector offer more interesting incomes compared to agricultural activity, which is becoming less remunerative and less attractive. Furthermore, the employment policies help the unemployed to create their microenterprises (78.67%). However, human capital (62.67%), personal behavior (76.00%) and the socio-economic situation of the young workforce (55.33%) explain their negative work perception of work in agriculture. The logistic regression results show that remuneration and incentives, employment opportunities and youth personal behavior affect significantly the likelihood of a labor shortage.