Household Diversification Research Articles

Income Diversification of Rural Households in Bangladesh (2022-23)

This study examines income diversification and inequality among rural households in Bangladesh in 2022- 23, focusing on agricultural and non-agricultural sources of income. The analysis includes three districts: Chadpur, Sirajganj and Rajshahi, with specific economic activities. Data were collected through household surveys that collect income from agriculture, livestock, fishing, services and industries, and demographic data. Rajshahi has the highest income, due to high income from cattle, while Chadpur has the lowest. The results show significant income disparities, high levels of animal activity and differences in economic activity between regions. Larger houses in Rajshahi reflect changes in family structure. The main challenges identified were land fragmentation, climate change and limited access to finance and infrastructure. Recommendations for policy interventions include targeting support to low-income areas, investing in livestock development, promoting income diversification, improving infrastructure, strengthening climate livelihoods, expanding access to finance, the adoption of technology and the implementation of family planning programs. These strategies aim to reduce income inequality, improve economic opportunities and promote sustainable development in rural Bangladesh.

Crop diversification and income of agricultural households in India: an empirical analysis

The present study empirically tests the relationship between crop diversification and farm income. The study area is India, the fifth largest economy of the world, and the units of study are its households which dominates India’s labor force. The propensity score matching technique is applied on the two waves of nationally representative data on agricultural households pertaining to agricultural year 2012–13 & 2018–19 to test the relationship between crop diversification and farm income. We find a strong and positive impact of crop diversification on farm income as farm income increases by around 13 per cent if non-diversified households opt for crop diversification. Furthermore, important factors such as literacy, access to market, access to irrigation, agricultural training, farming experience, and household size positively affects crop diversification at the household level. However, recent decline in the extent of diversification in India is a cause for concern. Promotion of cultivation of HVCs by giving them such institutional supports as initial capital required for switch to HVCs and other steps that insulates them from higher risks is the need of the hour in Indian agriculture.

Family ideals in an era of low fertility

Taking stock of individuals' perceived family ideals is particularly important in the current moment given unprecedented fertility declines and the diversification of households in advanced industrial societies. Study participants in urban China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the United States, Italy, Spain, and Norway were asked to evaluate vignettes describing families whose characteristics vary on ten dimensions. In contrast to previous studies that focused on a single dimension, such as fertility ideals or gender roles, this holistic vignette approach identifies the relative importance of each dimension. Multilevel regression analysis reveals both expected and unexpected findings. Parenthood remains a positive ideal, but the number of children does not matter once other family dimensions are considered, a potentially important finding in light of conventional wisdom regarding the two-children ideal. When evaluating families with at least one child, respondents tend to positively evaluate more traditional arrangements, including valuing marriage relative to cohabitation and, particularly, divorce. Also, in addition to financial resources, good communication between immediate and extended family members, as well as maintaining respect in the larger community, are highly salient attributes of an ideal family. Notwithstanding some important cross-national differences, egalitarian gender roles and avoiding work-family conflict are also valued positively. Overall, even as the study reveals some notable variations between societies, respondents across countries identify similar components of an ideal family.

Patterns and Determinants of Income Diversification among Farm Households in the Northeast of Thailand

The objectives of this research were (i) to investigate the pattern of income diversification of farm households, (ii) to assess the level of income diversification among farm households using the Simpson index of diversification (SID), and (iii) to study the determinants of income diversification among farm households in the Northeast of Thailand. This research employed secondary data from the 2021 Household Socio-Economic Survey collected by the National Statistical Office, Thailand. The household samples selected in this research included farm households in the Northeast of Thailand according to the household socio-economic status classification of the National Statistical Office. Data were analysed for frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Tobit regression analysis. The finding revealed that the calculated share of non-farm income was slightly higher than that of farm income. Considering the level of income diversification using SID, the finding indicated that 49.99% of farm household samples had a medium level of income diversification, followed by the high and low levels at 25.71% and 24.30%, respectively. The highest proportion of economic activities that farm households participated in was ‘planting and forestry’ and 'other non-employment’, accounting for 95.91% and 95.17%, respectively. The Tobit regression analysis revealed that the age of the household head, the household size, household members migrating for domestic work and overseas work, and the amount of debt in the informal sector significantly and positively influenced income diversification among farm households in the Northeast of Thailand. In contrast, annual household income per capita and land size significantly and negatively affected household income diversification among farm households. However, the sex of the household head, the education level of the household head, the household dependency ratio, the amount of debt in the formal sector, access to credit, and the location of the household had no significant effect on income diversification among farm households in the Northeast of Thailand.

Analysis of the Dietary Diversification of Sedentary and Pastoral Households in Niger

Food is made up of complex and multidimensional elements whose implementation requires significant measurement tools. The overall objective of this work is to assess food consumption within sedentary and pastoral households. This is a cross-sectional study. The methodology used is a food survey of 845 households. The result of this study is that the food groups most stocked by both urban and rural households are cereals (urban 95.7%, rural 79% and pastoral 94.4%) followed by spices/condiments (urban 74.3%, rural 67.5% and 74.4%). The least stocked food groups in urban areas are fruits and vegetables, while the availability of meats in stored speculation is almost non-existent in rural and pastoral areas. The average household food consumption score is 68.10±21.04; 43.29±13.27 and 44.96±13.77 respectively in urban, rural and pastoral areas. We also note a lack of diversity in the diet of rural and pastoral households. Indeed, the average household dietary diversity score is 6.84±1.91; 5.53±1.49 and 5.13±1.29 respectively in urban, rural and pastoral areas. Dietary diversity as well as the average consumption score are associated with household living conditions. In short, the assessment of consumption is an important element in characterizing the household diet.

Digital Ability and Livelihood Diversification in Rural China

Livelihood diversification is an important strategy for rural households in developing countries, especially in China, which has the largest rural population in the world. In the current digital age, the existing literature lacks sufficient research on the influence of digital ability on livelihood diversification. Using survey data from 1914 rural households in China, this study evaluates the digital ability of rural households through item response theory. Additionally, the livelihood diversification of rural households is analyzed from two aspects: work type and industry. Finally, IV-Tobit models are set up to test the impact of digital ability on livelihood diversification. The results show that: (1) engaging in both agricultural production and employed work concurrently is the key strategy for rural households to diversify their livelihoods; (2) digital ability significantly promotes livelihood diversification, regarding both work type and industry; (3) digital ability’s capacity to diversify livelihood is particularly notable for low-income households, followed by the medium-income group, then the high-income group. These findings are meaningful for the sustainable improvement of rural households’ livelihoods.

Diversified agriculture leads to diversified diets: panel data evidence from Bangladesh

This study used a panel data model to examine the relationship between agricultural diversification and dietary diversity of farm households across three waves of nationally representative Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey data (BIHS- 2011-12, 2015, and 2018). Prior research measured diversification in terms of crop cultivation and livestock rearing. However, this study takes a different approach to measuring agricultural diversification by combining the three major sectors—crop, fish, and livestock production—at the farm household level to evaluate the impact of such agricultural diversification on the diversification of diets in households. The panel data allows us to establish that agricultural production diversification has a significantly positive effect on the dietary diversity of farm households. Moreover, other important factors that impact agricultural diversification to improve dietary diversity, like women’s employment, market access, engagement with non-farm income sources, and access to information also have a strong association in improving the dietary status, food and nutritional security of households. Participation in the market helps farming households to become more commercially oriented but negatively affects the dietary diversification of the households. However, participation in non-farming activities was reported to have a significant positive influence on dietary diversity, though not as much as agricultural diversification. From the perspective of policy that requires nutrition into consideration, the findings suggest to focus on providing support for diversified farming systems can directly increase the nutritionally enriched dietary intake, increasing the employability of women. Promoting market participation through modern infrastructural facilities should be prioritized to improve the current scenarios.

Did COVID-19 affect rural households’ subjective well-being? A social survey from rural China

Improving rural households' subjective well-being is an important element of economic and social revitalization in the post-epidemic period. Based on the survey data obtained from rural households in Hubei Province, the center of the outbreak in China, and its surrounding areas, this paper explores the impact mechanisms of the COVID-19 epidemic on subjective well-being from both economic and sociological perspectives with the help of structural equation modeling. The results show that COVID-19 significantly influenced rural households' subjective well-being in China. Furthermore, COVID-19 indirectly affected their subjective well-being by influencing optimism. The negative impact is moderated by government intervention and income resilience. Therefore, strengthening the emergency management capacity of local governments and encouraging the diversification of rural households’ income sources are important strategies to effectively resolve epidemic shocks and improve the level of well-being.

Innovative Solutions to Increase Dietary Diversity of Rural Households

Today, it is becoming important to achieve food security in all countries. This article aims to find sustainable and innovative ways to improve household dietary diversity score (HDDS). Analyzes were carried out based on 320 small farms in the Samarkand region using cross-sectional data in 2021. T-test method were applied to find differences in dietary diversity and product diversification of households that prepared food with digital and other innovative patterns and those that did not use them. Culinary special television programs, radio broadcasts are assisted the households’ dietary diversity index increased by 2.7 points compared to those who did not follow the program, and the production diversification index showed an increase of 0.18 points in crop diversification and 0.20 points in livestock diversification with high statistical significance. When comparing production and consumption diversification between those who used and those who did not use digital technologies, the diversification index of the crop was 0.12 and livestock diversification was 0.24 points higher. In addition, we observed that HDDS was 2.2 times higher. In particular, those who constantly used Internet resources to learn culinary practices had a crop and livestock diversification 0.03 and 0.16 points higher, HDDS two times greater than those who did not use Internet resources. Therefore, only a small number of 11 respondents mentioned that they participated in culinary courses. Our study also found that the level of farm production diversification was higher with respondents who attended cooking courses than those who did not. It was scientifically proven that HDDS was twice as high as those who did not use online menu programs, and crop and livestock diversification index was 0.15 and 0.19 points higher, respectively. Findings indicated that, proposed innovative objective solutions displayed positive results in increasing the dietary diversity of rural households.

The determinants of income diversification of households after land acquisition in Hau Giang province

This study is aimed at analyzing the income diversification and determinants of income diversification and income of households after land acquisition in Hau Giang province. The dataset employed in this research included 150 observations collected by the conditioned random method that is the households with acquired land. The paper employed descriptive statistics, comparative methods, analysis of Simpson Index Diversification based on the theory of livelihood resources of DFID and linear regression model to determine the factors affecting the income diversification, impact on the level of income diversification and household income. The analysis results indicated that the level of income diversification of households is quite high (with an SID index of 0.8), but up to 40% of households have only one source of income. The results of the regression model analysis revealed that there are three factors including income source, age and occupation that affect the level of income diversification of the household. The results of the second regression model illustrates that there are five factors including the degree of income diversification, the number of laborers in the family, the level of investment in production and business of the household from compensation, the experience of household head, household credit has an effect on household income. Based on the analysis results, the paper proposes some relevant solutions on the use of investment money, employment, experience and problems related to loans in production to ensure income stability for households in the study area.

Urbanization and its effects on income diversification of farming households in Adama district, Ethiopia

Urbanization and its effects on income diversification of farming households in Adama district, Ethiopia

Determinants of Livelihood Diversification of Farm Households in Rural India: Evidence From National Sample Survey

The lives of rural households are predominantly based on agriculture and its allied activities. However, there are signs of an agricultural crisis resulting in dependence on alternative sources of income. This paper analyzes the factors that influence the decision of farm households to participate in non-farm activities for alternative income. The official data for two years on the Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households are explored and a pooled probit regression model is run to examine the determinants of income diversification. Our findings reveal that farm income and irrigated land negatively influence diversification. However, diversification of those having lower access to farm holdings, socioeconomic deprivation, and improved access to education, informal credit, and crop insurance point out positive participation in non-farm enterprises. In addition, the population belonging to hilly and coastal plain regions and the age group 30–64 years are more likely to diversify.

The contribution of wild palms to the livelihoods and diversification of rural households in southern Mozambique

In most low-income countries, rural households combine a range of economic activities to generate income, achieve food and nutritional security and fulfill other livelihood objectives, including: small-scale farming, fishing, hunting, livestock and timber production, and non-timber forest products gathering, as well as off-farm activities such as wage labour and informal trading. This work examines the role of diversification, including palm products income, on rural livelihoods in the Zitundo area, southern Mozambique. Seven livelihood strategies were identified, with every strategy combining cash income from several sources. Most households adopt a wage-based strategy to some degree, although this strategy shows low potential for reducing poverty in the area. Households adopting a palm-based strategy show between 23% and 60% lower poverty incidence than those adopting alternatives strategies. Yet, a palm-based livelihood strategy was adopted by only 11% of households. Traders of palm products earn approximately double the annual income and per capita income than non-traders. Village of residency and some household socio-economic and demographic characteristics correlate with a households' choice of livelihood strategy and palm income dependency. The adherence of many households to a less remunerative wage strategy indicates other factors also influence the choice of livelihood strategies. The study shows that future development plans and policy interventions to mitigate poverty in the area should go beyond the usual agricultural sector and recognize the role of non-timber forest products, especially palm products, for people's livelihoods and poverty alleviation.

Defining Household Typologies Based on Cropland Use Behaviors for Rural Human-Environment Systems Simulation Research: A Case Study in Southwest China.

The dynamics of rural human-environment systems in developing countries have increasingly been attracting attention. Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a valuable simulation tool for detecting complex feedback loops in rural human-environment systems with a ‘bottom-up’ approach. However, such models require the prerequisite analysis of household typology to simulate households’ decision-making process, where a gap exists between having accurate classification criteria and a simplified modeling framework. This study aimed to develop a household typology for two selected counties in southwest China based on multivariate analysis techniques and the classification tree method. Four categories of socioeconomic variables, including labor conditions, resource endowments, economic status, and social connections, were screened as possible factors impacting agriculture practice decisions. The results showed that household diversification in the study area was mainly determined by diversified livelihood strategies of off-farm work, livestock breeding, subsidy dependence, and traditional planting. Five distinct household types were identified: non-farm households, part-time households, livestock breed households, subsidized households, and traditional planting households. The household types were associated with specific cropland use behaviors, and their decision-making behaviors were verified with bounded rationality theory (where the maximization of profits is the primary goal). The quantitative classification criteria obtained in this study were clear and could be easily identified and used by ABMs. Our study provides a basis for further simulation of the complicated rural human-environment systems in southwest China.

Determinants of Livelihood Diversification: A Case Study of Tribal Households in Kinnaur District of Himachal Pradesh

Livelihood is a multifarious concept referring to what people do to manage revenue for living with the assets at their disposal and what they achieve by doing it in a particular context. In the past decades, livelihood diversification has received much attention from researchers and policy makers with high hopes that promoting it can offer a pathway for poverty reduction and economic growth. Therefore, an attempt has been made in this paper to identify the determinants of livelihood diversification of the tribal people using primary data collected based on multistage random sampling from 120 households of Kinnaur, one of the remote districts of Himachal Pradesh. The Simpson livelihood diversification index was found higher for salaried group as well as Agriculture+ Services group. Out of the 9 determinants of diversification of livelihoods identified, level of education, access to irrigation, membership and training have positive and significant effect on livelihood diversification activities. However, land-man ratio has negative and significant correlation with livelihood diversification sources. Therefore, the findings of this study implies that development policies in the region should consider education, skill generation, membership of formal organization and better irrigation facilities as the key areas for the better development and diversification of tribal households.

Women's Land Ownership and Household Income Diversification Patterns in Malawi

ABSTRACT This study investigates the association between women's land ownership within households and household income diversification in rural communities in Malawi in 1995, a period when households faced several welfare shocks due to weather and policy changes. Evidence suggests that diversification is positively associated with greater resilience of poor rural households, particularly when the diversification is in activities outside of agriculture. While studies have explored the relationship between household asset ownership and income diversification, little is known about the gender dimensions underlying these patterns, including the relationship between men and women's asset ownership and household diversification. Using a unique data set with detailed information on household income sources and individual-level information on land ownership, our study finds that in households where women own at least a small amount of land benefit by having a greater household total income diversification. Additionally, while the number of income sources is similar for couple households and female-headed households after controlling for diverse factors, the types of activities differ between the two. The findings suggest that promoting female land ownership in Malawi could indirectly contribute to households' greater security in the face of unfavourable conditions via household diversification of income sources.

Income Diversification and Agricultural Intensification of Rural Households in Nigeria: Synergies and Tradeoffs

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between income diversification and agricultural intensification of rural households in Nigeria, using panel data models. We use the Inverse Herfindahl Index (IHI) to measure the income diversification options, while the relationship with agricultural intensification was measured using random effect instrumental variable regression. A control function approach was used to control for the potential endogeneity of the covariates. Empirical findings of this study indicate that income diversification is increasing among Nigerian rural households. This study finds that among other factors, off-farm income has a positive relationship with agricultural intensification. This study recommends, as a policy measure, that households should not only be encouraged to diversify their income, but should also transmit productivity gains from such diversification into agricultural intensification for the betterment of the rural economy.

Livelihood diversification of farm households under rainfed agriculture: a case of Barak Valley of Assam, India

Livelihood diversification of farm households under rainfed agriculture: a case of Barak Valley of Assam, India

Livelihood Diversification of Farm Households under Rainfed Agriculture: A Case of Barak Valley of Assam, India

Livelihood Diversification of Farm Households under Rainfed Agriculture: A Case of Barak Valley of Assam, India

Factors affecting the livelihood diversification of Vietnam households

Sustainable livelihood is not only the livelihood objective but also households’ expectations. Livelihood diversification is aimed at ensuring the farmer's resilience to shocks and improving livelihood sustainability. Research on livelihood diversification in rural areas contributes to the development of agricultural development policies, social security policies for all farm households in Vietnam. The authors applied statistic and regression methods to analyze VARHS’s database which is surveyed 12 provinces in Vietnam over years. This paper is carried out to analyze and evaluate factors affecting the probability of choosing to diversify the livelihoods of Vietnamese farmers by developing a diversification index (SID) and SID’s determinants based on the DFID framework. The results show that the decision to diversify livelihood is influenced by many factors, including age, planted areas, asset value, saving money. Since then, the authors propose some implications for promoting the livelihood diversification of Vietnamese farmers.