THE INEQUALITY IN PURCHASING BEHAVIOURS FOR SHEEPMEAT IN THE TIARET REGION (ALGERIA)

Abstract

While using the microeconomic approach of the Keynesian function of households’ consumption in a basket of products and services, the study compared the purchasing behaviour of sheepmeat from urban to rural areas. In this respect, for 3 months (June to August) 2020, a survey collected data from 316 rural households in Hamadia and urban households (Tiaret) based on random sampling. Hence, it revealed an inequation in purchasing behaviour in terms of expenditures of income y1 = 0.0142x + 749.37 and y2 = 0.0107x + 688.09 (Tiaret and Hamadia), along with a volumetric consumption y’1 = 0.0164x + 228.33 and y’2 = 0.0131x + 503.76 at the expense of the countryside. Besides, the demand for this meat represents a constant in the food supply of all populations (76.83% of urban dwellers and 62.5% of rural surveyed individuals), but unevenly increases in terms of consumption in carcass weight, the proportion of the food budget devoted to it and residence. In addition, the progress of urbanisation, purchasing power and socio-demographic parameters inevitably calls for greater consideration of the demand for mutton with a constant food supply for the entire households