دور الاستثمار في رأس المال البشري الزراعي في تعزيز الاستدامة الريفية في سورية

Abstract

The research aimed to study the development of agricultural human capital investment indicators (per capita training expenditures, annual training hours, and percentage of agricultural degree holders) and rural sustainability indicators (access to clean drinking water, land degradation, and poverty rate) in Syria during the period 2011–2024, and to analyze the impact of human investment on sustainable rural development.

A descriptive analytical approach was adopted to collect data from reports by the Ministry of Agriculture, the World Bank, FAO. Multiple linear regression was then applied to test the relationships between variables.

The results showed a sharp decline in human investment indicators until 2016, followed by a gradual recovery, with rural sustainability indicators continuing to deteriorate until the middle of the period. The regression model confirmed a significant impact of human investment on reducing the poverty rate (R² = 0.66), limiting land degradation (R² = 0.58), and improving rural people's access to clean drinking water (R² = 0.69). This highlights the importance of strengthening agricultural training and rehabilitation programs to achieve sustainable rural development.