Determinants of the Adaption of Organic Agriculture in Egypt Using a Duration Analysis Technique

A very important pillar of the modernization of the Egyptian agriculture depends upon the exportation of the high value added products such as organic products. In spite of the importance of the organic agriculture within the Egyptian agriculture sector and up to our knowledge, it does not exist in Egypt until now any study that try to determine and analyze the determinant factors of the adaption of the organic agriculture within the Egyptian farms. In this study, we focus on this issue. A survey with a representative sample of organic and non-organic farms in Upper Egypt area was carried out. Using obtained data set we apply duration analysis techniques to assess the effect of different explanatory variables on both the adoption of organic agriculture farming and the timing of this adoption. Our results suggest that the maximum hazard of adopting organic agriculture takes place during the first few years after the construction of the farm and Manager characteristics such as his education level and Risk behaviour together with the farm size seem to be the most significant factors affecting the likelihood of organic agriculture adoption in Egypt.. These results could be helpful in designing the suitable policies and strategies to support the extension of organic agriculture within Egypt.