Non-farm Households Research Articles

The level of household food security of urban farming and non-farming households in the informal settlement area of the Cape Town Metropole in South Africa

Different food security (FS) indicators were used to determine the level of FS on all dimensions of FS in the informal settlement areas of the Western Cape Metropole in South Africa. With regards to food access, 78% of households are severely food insecure, while just more than 50% of households earn more than the US$ 2 per capita per day food poverty line and with 21% of the households that fall below the critical point of US$ 1.25 per capita per day. The average total household expenditure on food is R338.26, whereto the share of income spent is an average of 52.5% of household income. Households experience 4.3 hungry months during a year, meaning challenges are experienced concerning food availability. The household diet diversity score (HDDS) was used to measure utilisation and it was found that 10.4 out of 18 different food groups/categories were consumed. Most significant differences can be seen for FS indicators between areas, but no significant differences were measured between farming and non-farming households. This means that households involved in farming are not more food secure than those not involved in farming. Bonteheuwel and Kraaifontein were the two areas most severely affected by food insecurity according to Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), Household Diet Diversity Score (HDDS) as well as Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning (MAHFP) and the food poverty measures. Gugulethu and Khayelitsha on the other hand seem to be the most food secure of all these areas. Keywords: Urban households, food security, food security indicators, food security measures, Farmer Support and Development, extension services

Nonfarm Activities and Household Production Choices in Smallholder Agriculture in Vietnam

Nonfarm Activities and Household Production Choices in Smallholder Agriculture in Vietnam

Food poverty, hunger and household production in rural Eastern Cape households

ABSTRACTMore than two decades since the advent of democracy in South Africa, the place of small-scale agriculture in rural development, poverty alleviation and food security remains ambiguous and highly contested. However, there is now some new evidence that official income poverty estimates in South Africa may be underestimating the contribution of rural, land-based livelihoods when measuring household well-being. This paper aims to explore this possibility further by identifying how household production activities are associated with improved food security among rural Eastern Cape households in the former homelands. The analysis is based on data from Statistics South Africa’s 2008/9 Living Conditions Survey and its annual General Household Surveys. In adopting a food poverty lens, the findings suggest that hunger levels are lower among farming households in the Eastern Cape even though a higher percentage of these households (relative to non-farming households) live below the national food poverty line. The paper concludes by discussing some implications for policy.

INTENSITAS KONSUMSI PANGAN LOKAL SUMBER KARBOHIDRAT NON BERAS DALAM UPAYA DIVERSIFIKASI PANGAN DI DESA HARGOREJO KECAMATAN KOKAP KABUPATEN KULON PROGO

This research aimed to analyze the intensity of consumption of local food sources of carbohydrates non-rice in the fulfillment of energy and protein according to the number recommended dietary pattern hope WKNPG VIII 2004 and to see the extent of community efforts in diversification efforts carbohydrate source non-farm household and farm in the hamlet of East and Ngulakan Selo Village Hargorejo District Kokap. By multistage sampling method and Slovin formula obtained a sample of 120 people. Based on the review concluded non-farm households and farmers are not applying food diversification in daily consumption. The intensity of consumption of local food sources of carbohydrates non-rice is still very low or not in accordance with the recommended figure.

Examining Child Labor and Parental Altruism from the Rural-Urban Divide: Extending the Inverted-U Empirics

Extending the current empirical discourse on the inverted-U to cover non-farm households, this paper replaces the land size (proxy for wealth) with a fully-composed household income from the GLSS6 data that incorporates the value of land and five other components as income. After choosing the ZIP model over the PRM, based on the corrected versions of the Vuong test, the findings supported the inverted-U relationship between household income and child labour. This implies that, at lower levels of income, parents are non-altruistic, using more child labourers with increases in income but become altruistic towards their children at income levels beyond GH₵11,656.2760 ($5,834.26) for all households; GH₵11,308.3877 ($5,660.14) and GH₵22,026.4658 ($11,024.81) for the rural and urban households respectively. The analysis showed that rural-located parents become altruistic at relatively lower levels of income compared to their urban counterparts. Policy should aim at increasing the average income of households.

Socio-geographic distribution of livestock and poultry in Bangladesh-A review

Bangladesh, a country of 147,570 Km2, had a total human population of 144.0 million in 2011 which is estimated as 160 million in 2015. Livestock that includes cattle, buffalo, goat and sheep and poultry such as, chicken, ducks and pigeons are important to her food and agriculture. Their total population according to Agricultural Census (2008) is 25.67, 0.54, 16.3, 1.29, 97.8, 39.43 and 7.48 million, respectively. The objective of the study was to analyse the concentration of livestock and poultry and their proportional availability to humans of different regions and their distribution to different farm categories. The average distribution range of the above animals and poultry was 19.7 to 361.7, 0.39 to 15.4, 12.4 to 359, 0.3 to 43.0, 105 to 1212, 6 to 746 and 1.5 to 190 per square kilometre, respectively; and that of human population was 86.7 to 8229/Km2. Their distribution, comparing with that of human population, that excludes the use of non-habitable land for them, shows that the average range of each farm animal and poultry available in the country was 21 to 464, 0.28 to 32.3, 8.9 to 412, 1.4 to 46.6, 72.8 to 1875, 24 to 829, and 8.9 to 198 per 1000 people, respectively. The production areas of cattle were classified into four zones (Zone A, Zone B, Zone C and Zone D), and that of each of others into three zones (Zone A, Zone B, and Zone C). They were characterized using the socioeconomic attributes of their respective zone, and the geographic distribution map of each genotype was developed and reported. The Farm household rear 85.6%, 81.0%, 75.6%, 75.8%, 75.5%, 77.5%, and 82.2%, respectively, of the total population of the above animals and poultry, respectively; and the rest is kept by the Non-Farm households. The Non-Farm and the small households together rear 73.9%, 67.1%, 82.6%, 79.9%, 82.2%, 80.2%, and 70.3%, respectively, and this shows that livestock and poultry; in addition to the production of milk, meat and eggs; support livelihood improvement of the land poor farmer in the country. However, the database of animal sourced foods (ASF) produced by them in different regions, their consumptions, wet marketing and the extent of value additions, availability of feeds and fodder, and health problems in addition to regional planning for mitigation of climate pollution of animal origin are utmost concerns for doubling of livestock and poultry production and productivity by 2030.Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2017. 46 (1): 65-81

Changes in Rural Korean Couples’ Decision-Making Patterns

Korea has experienced ever-increasing numbers of women entering the labor force. Rural families particularly are impacted by these transitions, which may shift family dynamics and power, as evidenced in couples’ decision-making patterns. This longitudinal panel study of 1,870 rural Korean farm and nonfarm households in 2000, 2005, and 2009 examines the degree to which couples’ decision-making practices changed during the decade along three dimensions: agricultural work, family life, and domestic work. Wives in farm households significantly increased their participation in joint decision-making in agricultural work and family life. However, money management decisions remained mostly with husbands in both farm and nonfarm households. Husbands’ participation in domestic work decision-making was unchanged, even though they increased their involvement in childcare and house cleaning. Implications are offered for policy makers and practitioners working with rural Korean families on the benefits of women’s empowerment and equality in couples’ decision-making.

Evaluating the role of livelihood assets in suitable livelihood strategies: Protocol for anti-poverty policy in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, China

Although numerous studies have been conducted on the relationship between livelihood assets and strategies, only a few quantitative studies exist on the topic for anti-poverty policies with regard to the Tibetan Plateau. This study investigated 357 households in the upper reaches of the Dadu River watershed in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, China, using the participatory rural appraisal method. Then, applying a multinomial logistic regression model, we quantitatively analyzed the relationship between livelihood assets and livelihood strategies, the findings of which have implications for local agricultural policy interventions. The preliminary results indicate that of the four classifications of livelihood strategies used in this study, the main livelihood strategy is that of the non-farming-dependent household type (i.e., Type III in our study) that combines agricultural and non-farm activities or practices self-employment for wages. There are significant differences in the livelihood assets owned by households with different livelihood strategies. Human, natural, and financial assets have significant influences on livelihood strategies, and the choice of livelihood strategy varies by livelihood assets. Further, with improvements in household labor capacity and cash income per capita, the livelihood strategies of non-agricultural and non-farming households may shift away from agriculture, while an increase in farmland cultivated per capita, cash income per capita, and household labor capacity may encourage households to adopt agriculture-dependent livelihood strategies. These findings contribute to research on livelihood and related development strategies and anti-poverty policies in not only the Eastern Tibetan Plateau but also other regions with similar livelihood strategies.

GSP Plus Status and Income Distribution: A CGE Model for Pakistan

The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) plus on a household income of Pakistan. The European Union, the largest trading partner of Pakistan, granted the status of GSP plus to Pakistan in December 2013. The study has used MyGTAP, developed by \citeA{minor2013mygtap} to calculate the impact at household level. This MyGTAP model uses the data of the latest available Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) to make changes in the standard GTAP by including multiple types of household and labor. The main findings of the simulations, run under MyGTAP model show a positive change in real GDP, merchandise imports and terms of trade while the first simulation shows a negative change in merchandise exports. Similarly, EBA status of Pakistan in the EU28 shows an increase in the household income with maximum gain by the household of rural Sindh with no agricultural land and a positive change in real wages of most of the factors. However, the large and medium agricultural household types show a negative change in household income in case of first simulation. Comparatively low improvement over urban and non-farm household of rural areas.

Rural households of the South Zone Territory: living conditions and perceptions

The aim of this research was to verify, from analysis of the Life Conditions Index, if perceptions about life conditions between rural producers’ households (family farm or non-family farm) and rural non-farmer households differed statistically. Therefore, were executed means comparison tests (test-T) whose null hypothesis referred to equivalent means, that is, equal perceptions, and the non-null hypothesis, the opposite. The results showed difference in perceptions of life conditions between rural farm households and rural non-farm households, in other words, the non-null hypothesis was accepted. However, between family farmers’ households and non-family farmers’ households the null hypothesis was accepted.

The socio-economic profile of urban farming and non-farming households in the informal settlement area of the Cape Town Metropole in South Africa

Households in the informal settlement area of the Cape Town Metropolitan area face different challenges in terms of poverty and food security. Livelihood of households are determined by the social and economic circumstances these households subside in. A thorough analysis of these indicators is imperative to initiate development planning. This study looks at average household size, the average age of the household head, gender, education, ethnic group and household income. The average household size was 4.32 members, while the average age was 50. More female headed households formed part of the study, while 40.1% of the household heads had obtained some secondary level of education. Furthermore, most households were African and their main source of income came from formal salaries and wages. The results showed that additional sources of income are required to run a household, therefore, means of increasing household income, and in return, increasing food security, need to be investigated. Keywords: Community gardens, food security, household gardens, urban agriculture

Aspects of rural-urban integration in western Ireland

Contacts between countryside and town have increased in western Ireland as a concomitant of industrialisation. Members of the farm population now travel to work each day in urban centres as do non-agriculruralists who have moved for residence to the countryside. Such daily journeys are instrumental in establishing other social and economic ties between countryside and town as study of grocery shopping patterns and leisure outings in the hinterland of Galway city — a modern growth centre — reveals. Galway city functions as a shopping centre for non-farm households in particular. Among both farm and non-farm groups, joint leisure outings of husbands and wives reflect the growing importance of the urban work centre as a social focus.

The Impact of Growth in Small Commercial Farm Productivity on Rural Poverty Reduction

Summary Our core thesis is that in both low- and middle-income countries, rapid growth in agricultural production and income among small commercial farmers is the dominant means of reducing rural poverty. This effect is generated from increased expenditures from smaller commercial farmers on the poor, labor-intensive, non-tradable, rural non-farm sector, thereby increasing incomes for the rural non-farm population and reducing poverty levels. We illustrate the relationship between small commercial farmers, rural non-farm households, large commercial farmers, and urban households in three contrasting situations. First, we analyze Punjab, Pakistan, a middle-income province with a large urban sector, dominance of small commercial farms in the local economy and significant land area managed by large commercial farms. Second, we analyze Sindh, Pakistan, a middle-income province with a large urban population and dominated in rural areas by large feudal holdings, but with a significant small commercial farm component. Third, we analyze data from Ethiopia, a low-income country with a relatively small urban sector and dominated by small commercial farms. In the two middle-income provinces of Pakistan, the role that agriculture plays in income determination is much less than the urban sector, but it maintains a dominant role in rural poverty determination. In Ethiopia, the low-income country, agricultural growth is a dominant variable both in income growth and poverty reduction—accounting for 73% of employment growth in the fast agricultural growth case. Large-scale commercial farms show little impact of agricultural growth on poverty reduction as compared to areas dominated by small commercial farms, partly because of their small proportion of total agricultural output, and partly due to weak consumption based multipliers.

Financial Incentives, Targeting, and Utilization of Child Health Services: Experimental Evidence from Zambia.

To address untreated infections in children, routine health checkups have increasingly been incentivized as part of conditional cash transfer programs targeted at the poor. We conducted a field experiment in Zambia to assess the elasticity of demand for checkups as well as the associated health benefits. We find that relatively small incentives induce substantial increases in uptake among non-farming households and households living farther away from clinics, but not among households in the top wealth quintile. These results suggest that small financial incentives may be an efficient way to target poor populations. However, given the weak socioeconomic gradient in infections observed, small incentives will miss a substantial fraction of exposed children. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Regional Labor Market Integration, Shadow Wages and Poverty in Vietnam

Poor workers suffer from low returns to their most abundant resource, labor. In this paper we show that labor market integration strongly affects these returns for poor workers in Vietnam. Using seven representative household surveys, it is shown that while regional labor markets have become increasingly integrated over the period 1993–2010 considering market wages of workers in wage employment, there remains a strong lack of integration considering shadow wages of workers in farm self-employment. Shadow wages have been increasing as a proportion of market wages during 1993–2010, but they remain only 22–28% of rural market wages by 2010. Using a decomposition technique, it is shown that the lack of integration between the farm self-employment segment with various segments of wage employment (regional, urban versus rural, non-farm household versus other enterprises), explains primarily the gap in returns to labor between poor and non-poor workers. These findings show that labor market integration studies should not only focus on observed market wages but also on shadow wages in order to understand the relationship between labor market integration and the returns to labor.

The contribution of land exchange institutions and markets in countering farmland abandonment in Japan

Japanese agriculture has stagnated since the late 1980s, setting in motion a steady process of farmland readjustment. The notable consequence is an increase in the number of people who quit working on the land and a concurrent decline in cultivated farmland, a process which is often balanced by the development of land rental markets. However, since the total areas of rented land and abandoned farmland have increased in parallel, the contribution of land rental as a countervailing force may be underappreciated. And indeed, a cross-sectional observation paints quite a different picture: a negative correlation between the land rental ratio and the farmland abandonment ratio at the prefecture level. Our econometric analysis suggests that it is not so much farm households but rather non-farm household entities that are deeply involved in the appearance of this relationship over the past two decades. In particular, non-farm household producers play an important role as lessees not only by facilitating land market development but also by pre-empting farmland abandonment. Land-holding non-farm households, another relevant group of actors, are significant contributors to the supply side of farmland but their land also accounts for around half of the total abandoned area. Our analysis also offers unambiguous evidence that a former institution, namely Landholding Corporations, serve an intermediary role in facilitating the exchange of land use rights. However, although these corporations were expected to help reverse farmland abandonment, the limited resources granted by the government tend to make them averse to the kind of risky transactions that are often associated with promoting neglected or unfavorable land.

Land rental development via institutional innovation in rural Jiangsu, China

Previous studies have demonstrated that there are two important preconditions for encouraging land rental in agriculture: out-migration and the enhancement of security and transferability of land rights. Focusing on the latter, we scrutinize the impacts of institutions aimed at facilitating land use dynamism, particularly the Rural Shareholding Cooperatives (RSCs), which have been established recently at the local level in rural China. In general, we find that RSCs can pave the way for the extension of property rights to farmland and promote more efficient land use patterns. Using survey data collected from 300 village committees in rural Jiangsu province, we estimate the effectiveness of RSCs in encouraging land rental. Our analysis reveals that RSCs can serve as intermediate agents for reducing transaction costs associated with exchange of land use rights and, thereby, not only encourage land rental/consolidation activities but also enable the entry of non-farm household entities into the farm business.

Rainfall Risk and Fertility: Evidence from Farm Settlements During the American Demographic Transition

Fertility is a main driver and outcome of long-term growth. Yet, fertility may not only interact with the level of income but also with its volatility. In pre-modern economies where formal social security was largely absent, fertility decisions may also have been made in view of insuring income shocks which were hard to predict such as an income shock due to crop disease, a shortage in rainfall, a case of serious illness or a job loss. In this paper, I focus on the demographic transition in the United States covering the period 1870 to 1930 and explore whether variation in fertility among American settlers can be explained by variations in exposure to rainfall risks. Identification relies on fertility differences between farm and non-farm households within counties and over time. The results suggest that increased rainfall risk does indeed increase fertility among farming households but not among households with other occupations that are less dependent on rainfall. The channel is robust to other relevant forces such as returns to education and children's survival. The analysis also shows that this effect is reduced if risk management devices such as irrigation systems, formal financial institutions or machinery emerge. The findings contribute to the understanding of the demographic transition in the US and in risk-prone areas more generally.

Small-Scale Farming and Food Security: The Enabling Role of Cash Transfers in South Africa's Former Homelands

Cash transfers successfully alleviate poverty in many developing countries. South Africa is a case in point, implementing one of the largest unconditional cash transfer programmes internationally, and with substantial benefits to household well-being along multiple dimensions. Yet, grants discourage formal labour market attachment, creating dependencies on the fiscus. This study uses a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to establish that state-funded Old Age Pensions encourage non-market economic activity (in the form of small-scale farming), and improve the self-reported food security of rural households that farm, vis-a-vis those that do not. However, only non-farming households increase market food expenditure and consume more diverse diets from market-sourced foods: diet quality improves with greater spending, while food sufficiency remains unaffected. Farmers, on the other hand, do not change food spending patterns, but self-rated food sufficiency improves due to greater levels and diversity in home production. The role of small-scale farming is of broader interest in rural development, given the context of the 1913 and 1936 Land Acts that constrained this form of livelihood in former apartheid homelands. This paper's contribution is two-fold: grants are an effective channel to actively promote rural development through small-scale farming, and they improve food security by non-market mechanisms.

Simulations of Employment for Individuals in Limtcp Consumption-Poor Households in Tanzania and Ghana, 2012

New methodology for producing employment microsimulations is introduced, with a focus on farms and household nonfarm enterprises. Previous simulations have not dealt with the issue of reduced production in farm and nonfarm household enterprises when household members are placed in paid employment. In this paper, we present a method for addressing the trade-off between paid employment and the farm and nonfarm business activities individuals may already be engaged in. The implementation of the simulations for Ghana and Tanzania is described and the quality of the simulation results is assessed.