Non-farm Income Research Articles

Dalit's livelihoods in Nepal: income sources and determinants.

This paper focuses on the lack of income opportunities for Dalits in Nepal, as they are the most affected group in any disaster. The presence of vulnerable family members in Dalit households may further increase their income deprivation. We therefore studied Dalit households’ income sources and identified income determinants in Gandaki Rural Municipality in Gorkha District—the epicentre of the 2015 earthquake. We observed a higher dependency of Dalit households on daily wages, livestock sales, social security allowances, and vegetables sales; however, remittance and seasonal job earnings represented the largest share of household incomes. We observed a significant difference in per capita income between farm (US$46) and non-farm (US$273) income sources, with the difference smallest in the lowest income quantile and the largest in the highest quantile. When the household head was a single woman, we observed a reduction in non-farm (by 29%) and total incomes (by 23%). Likewise, when the household head had a chronic health problem, or the household included an elderly family member, there was a reduction in the household’s income. We suggest economic interventions for Dalit households to prevent increased social exclusion in the development process, specifically focusing on vulnerable individuals and households in the lowest income quantile.

Climate Change Adaptation Measures and Constraints among Smallholder Food Crop Farmers in Sayo and Dale Sedi District, Ethiopia

Background: In contemporary world food crop production is under pressure due to change in climate. In developing nation climate change is a treat both in food crop production and food security. Analysing farmers’ climate change adaptation measures and understanding the barriers provides clear guidance to address constraints that impede food crop producers’ adaptation. Methods: A stratified random sampling technique was used to sample 200 food crop producers for primary data gathering. The multinomial logit model was used to determine the factors that affect the selection of adaptation measures to climate change and factor analysis was used to identify factors that impede food crop producers’ ability to adapt to climate change. Result: The result of the multinomial logit model shows that various socio-economic factors (family size, education, climate change awareness, farming experience, nonfarm income, farm size, distance to farmland, extension services and access to credit) influence farmers’ choices regarding climate change adaptation strategies in the study area. The result of the varimax rotate principal component analysis found four factors that are detrimental to food crop producers in adapting to climate change. These principal constraints are institution and government, technology and inputs, information and knowledge and belief, culture and participation as factors that hinder farmers from adapting to climate change. Thus, there is room for government and development partners to strengthen the adaptive capacities of farmers by resolving problems related to institutions, government policy, technology, inputs availability and information regarding climate change to minimize the potential impact and loss in the future.

Research Report on Financial Performance of MUDRA Yojna for the time period of 2015-2019

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) is a flagship scheme of Government of India to “fund the unfunded” by bringing such enterprises to the formal financial system and extending affordable credit to them. It enables a small borrower to borrow from all Public Sector Banks such as PSU Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Cooperative Banks, Private Sector Banks, Foreign Banks, Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) and Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFC) for loans upto Rs 10 lakhs for non-farm income generating activities. The scheme was launched on 8th April, 2015 by the Hon'ble Prime Minister. In India many things revolve around mere perceptions, while getting into detail it often paint a different picture. It is a common misperception people have that large industries create more employment, though the truth is that “in India only 1.25 crore people find employment in large industries, whereas small enterprises employed 12 crore people”. In India, small businesses play an important role by providing employment to a large number of people. It is the second largest sector engaging uneducated and unskilled people after agriculture. Further, millions of low income earning group person aspire to set up small businesses but are unable to start, mostly due to credit limitations. Since banks do not find them eligible for credit loan. After identifying the importance of self employment people and small business units, government of India launched MUDRA Yojana to address the financial and other constraints. This paper is an attempt to know about the MUDRA Yojana and its key objectives. The paper highlights the role and importance of MUDRA bank towards small business units, it also review the Mudra yojna for the year of 2015-2019 in terms of many aspects.

Preventing households from food insecurity in rural Burkina Faso: Does nonfarm income matter?

AbstractEngaging in nonfarm activities has been considered an important strategy to increase household income in rural Burkina Faso. However, the empirical evidence on how income from nonfarm activities contributes to household food security in the country is limited. Relying on nationwide household panel data and an instrumental variable approach, this study shows that income from nonfarm activities positively affects household food stability and overall food expenditure. The share of food expenditure is also found to be negatively associated with income from nonfarm activities, suggesting an improvement in households' economic status. This evidence has crucial policy implications for food security in rural Burkina Faso, where households face severe income shocks due to both climatic variability and poor investments in agriculture. [EconLit Citations: O13, O55, Q12, Q18].

Perceived Climate Change and Determinants of Adaptation Responses by Smallholder Farmers in Central Ethiopia

Climate change is a global phenomenon but disproportionately affects smallholder farmers, prompting them to use various coping and adaptation strategies to counter the problem. This study aimed to examine the trends of climate parameters, assess farmers’ perception of climate change, and identify the strategies of adaptation measures in central Ethiopia. Climate data were obtained from the National Meteorological Agency. Survey data were collected from 120 randomly selected households in 2017 and complemented with focus group discussions. The Mann–Kendall approach was used to detect climate trends, while a rainfall anomaly was calculated using the rainfall anomaly index. Multinomial logit model was used to examine determinants of farmers’ adaptation to the perceived change. In most of the cases, farmers’ perceptions were in accordance with climate trend analyses. Farmers used crop diversification, adjustments of planting dates, destocking of livestock, seasonal migration, crop rotation, and climate information services to adapt to climate-related shocks. Empirical results showed that the age and education of the household heads, family size, access to extension services, and farm and nonfarm incomes had a significant association with the adaptation practices farmers took. The existence of strong correlations between the demographic, socio-institutional variables, and the choice of adaptation strategies suggests the need to strengthen local institutions to enhance the adaptation of smallholder farmers to climate change.

Non-farm employment, natural resource extraction, and poverty: evidence from household data for rural Vietnam.

Natural resources are important in sustaining the livelihoods of rural households and the environment. However, over-exploitation is causing an alarming depletion of natural resources in many developing countries. At the same time, rapid economic growth has created non-farm employment opportunities for local people. In this context, examining the interrelationship between non-farm employment and natural resource extraction provides useful information for reducing resource extraction and improving rural households’ welfare. In this study, we use a dataset of 1780 identical households from three survey waves undertaken in 2010, 2013, and 2016 in Vietnam to (i) identify the determinants of rural households’ participation in non-farm activities, (ii) examine the interrelationship between non-farm employment and natural resource extraction, and (iii) investigate the impact of non-farm employment on rural households’ welfare. The findings from pooled sample estimations reveal that (i) cable internet at home and rural road quality positively affect households’ decisions to participate in non-farm employment; (ii) non-farm income and income from natural resource extraction have a negative association; and (iii) non-farm income significantly contributes to poverty reduction in both relative and absolute terms. Our findings suggest that improved provision of non-farm opportunities and increased investment in infrastructure and telecommunication are needed to improve rural households’ welfare and consequently reduce their natural resource exploitation.

Farmers’ Participation in Terracing as a Response to Land Degradation in Dejen Woreda, North-West Ethiopia

This study was carried out with the objective of examining rural households’ participation in terracing activities as a response to the prevailing land degradation in Dejen woreda, north-west Ethiopia. Using simple random sampling technique, 360 households were selected. Qualitative and quantitative data emanated from both primary and secondary sources using questionnaire, interview, focus group discussion and observation. While qualitative data were analyzed using narrative and interpretative methods, quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found out that most of the rural community is aware of the presence and severity of land degradation in the study area. However, farmers from kola agro-ecology are more aware of it than those from woina-dega areas. In terms of participation in terracing, it is only less than half of the participants who confirmed their engagement in terracing activities. While households from kola areas are relatively better engaged in terracing, the study found no significant difference between males and females in this regard. From the binary logistic regression result, it was evident that households’ family size, access to credit service and participation in non-farm income generating activities have positive effect on participation in terracing. To the contrary, other variables included in the model (sex, age, level of education, agro-ecology, land holding size, number of plots and training on land management practices) have negatively and significantly contributed to participation in terracing. Keywords: Land degradation, Land Management, Terracing, Participation, Dejen Woreda DOI: 10.7176/JEES/12-5-04 Publication date: May 31 st 2022

Application of Stochastic Frontier to Agriculture in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT Farming is more than just a job of Ethiopia’s smallholder farmers, who live in a low productivity environment. This study employed stochastic frontier approach agricultural efficiency in Ethiopia. Furthermore, Tobit model results show that loss due to wild animals had a negative impact on technical efficiency, while slope of the land and off-farm income had a positive impact. Regarding to the determinants of allocative efficiency, uses of mobile have positive impacts and the off-/non-farm income have negative impacts. In terms of economic efficiency determinants, land slope has a positive influence, while loss due to wild animals and off-farm income have a negative influence. According to the study findings, farmers in the study area kill wild animals, such as monkeys, pigs, and apes, because the loss of wild animals has a high impact on agricultural production during the pre-harvest season. Thus to increase efficiency of farmers and boosting agricultural output, Ethiopian governments policies and strategies should be directed toward providing tourism, construction of soil bunds, tree planting, planting grass, fencing and use of natural fertilizer to maintain the fertility of steep slopes, and supporting farmers by providing network facilities for mobile users that boost farmers’ maize productive efficiency.

Drivers of Access to Credit Among Smallholder Farmers in Uganda: Application of Binary Logistic Model

This study aimed at determining the drivers of access to credit among smallholder farmers in Uganda. Using a cross-sectional survey, data were collected from 374 farmers in Jinja district, followed by data analysis using descriptive statistics and Binary logistic regression model. Additionally, we used Chi-square and t-test to compare farmers with and without access to credit. The results showed that 62.83% of the farmers had access to credit. Additionally, farmers with access to credit were generally better off than those without access to credit. Having a mobile phone (p<0.01), group membership (p<0.01), access to extension (p<0.05), farm size (p<0.01) and distance to the market (p<0.05) had a positive and significant effect on credit access while non-farm income (p<0.05) showed an inverse relationship with credit access. To increase credit access among the smallholder farmers, farmers should be encouraged to purchase mobile phones and join groups where they would disseminate information on the various source of agricultural credit. Extension workers should also make effects of reaching all the farmers and training them on ways of accessing agricultural credit

Adaptation Strategies of Small-Scale Farmers to Challenges of COVID-19 Pandemic in Osun State, Nigeria

The deadly virus COVID-19 has affected not only the health of people but also the food value chain sector. The experience of the locked down period to curtail the spread of the virus was unexpected. It is therefore important to understand how small-scale farmers survived the period. This study examined the strategies employed by small-scale farmers in Osun State to adapt to the challenges resulting from COVID-19 lock down. Specifically, the study itemized types of crops grown by small-scale farmers, assessed the forms of challenges they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, examined the perceived effects of these challenges on small-scale farming activities, and investigated the adaptation strategies employed by small-scale farmers during this time. Six communities in the local government were selected at random and a total of one hundred and twenty farmers from the communities were interviewed. A questionnaire was designed to collect the primary data. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and the chi-square tools. Results showed that COVID-19 lock down period led to poor health status (mean=2.87), less transport available to convey farm produce (mean=2.70), and high cost with little/no access to farm inputs such as fertilizer, chemicals and seeds/seedlings (mean=2.62). The foremost effects of these challenges on small scale farming activities were poor marketing of agricultural produce (mean=4.52), decrease in farmers’ income (mean=4.51), and labour shortage (mean=4.39). The leading adaptation strategies employed by the farmers were planting of available grains instead of seeds (mean=2.85), reduced food consumption (mean=2.83), and the use of family labour (mean=2.80). The regression analysis showed that education (β=0.151), marital status (β =1.173), non-farm income (β=-6.790), and years of experience (β=-0.032) were significant (at p<0.05) factors influencing the adaptation strategies employed by the farmers. To effectively reduce the adverse effects of unexpected lockdowns on farmers in the future, it is recommended that outlets for necessary agricultural inputs should be made available in all farming communities

Drivers of Access to Credit Among Smallholder Farmers in Uganda: Application of Binary Logistic Model

This study aimed at determining the drivers of access to credit among smallholder farmers in Uganda. Using a cross-sectional survey, data were collected from 374 farmers in Jinja district, followed by data analysis using descriptive statistics and Binary logistic regression model. Additionally, we used Chi-square and t-test to compare farmers with and without access to credit. The results showed that 62.83% of the farmers had access to credit. Additionally, farmers with access to credit were generally better off than those without access to credit. Having a mobile phone (p<0.01), group membership (p<0.01), access to extension (p<0.05), farm size (p<0.01) and distance to the market (p<0.05) had a positive and significant effect on credit access while non-farm income (p<0.05) showed an inverse relationship with credit access. To increase credit access among the smallholder farmers, farmers should be encouraged to purchase mobile phones and join groups where they would disseminate information on the various source of agricultural credit. Extension workers should also make effects of reaching all the farmers and training them on ways of accessing agricultural credit.

Enhancing rural income through public agricultural R&D: Spatial spillover and infrastructure thresholds

AbstractHow much farmers benefit from public agricultural research and development (R&D) has been a topic of continued interest. Compared to studies based on classical statistics, we show theoretically and employ the Spatial Durbin Model and the Panel Threshold Regression Model to investigate the different impacts and spatial spillover effects of public agricultural R&D on farm and nonfarm income. Using China's provincial panel data from 2000 to 2015, we find that public agricultural R&D has a positive impact on rural household income. This impact is mainly reflected by nonfarm income and exhibits heterogeneous interprovincial‐spatial spillover. We also find that interregional differences in infrastructure, represented by road transportation and Internet access in rural areas, are the main reasons for the spatial heterogeneity. Higher road density and Internet penetration enhance the positive impact of public agricultural R&D on rural income, and the enhancement exhibits characteristics of thresholds, after which the size of enhancement becomes increasingly larger.

Investigating food insecurity, health and environment-related factors, and agricultural commercialization in Southwestern Nigeria: evidence from smallholder farming households.

Hunger and food insecurity remained some of the serious challenges facing our world in present time with great concerns from Sub-Saharan Africa especially countries like Nigeria. This study investigates food insecurity (FI), health and environment-related factors, and agricultural commercialization among smallholder farm households. This study was conducted in Southwestern Nigeria utilizing cross-sectional survey data from 352 farm households and employed multi-stage sampling procedure. The household FI levels was determined using food insecurity access scale (HFIAS), crop commercialization index (CCI) was used to compute each household’s CCI (four levels), while ordered logit model was used to analyse factors influencing FI. Health and environment-related factors’ access were assessed across each FI category. The results indicated that about 13% of cassava farm households are non-participant in the marketing of their produce. The findings revealed that less than 20%, 30%. and 40% of households in all four FI categories had access to piped water, improved toilet facilities, and electricity respectively. The ordered logit regression analysis indicated that age, gender, education level, farm experience, nonfarm income, and ownership of motorcycle significantly influencing FI in the study areas. Therefore, this study stressed the implementation of policy actions capable of promoting rural infrastructure development that will lead to increased agricultural production, marketing, and improved quality of life of rural dwellers.

Value Chain Analysis of Honey in Bangladesh: Production Practices and Livelihood Perspective

The study was designed to develop honey value chain through analyzing the production practices and stakeholders’ activities as mediated by livelihood strategies. A total of 84 stakeholders were interviewed for data collection. The study depicts that assemble and set up the wooden box with artificial wooden beehives near the fields was the main procedure for honey production. Apis melifera is the major honey bee reared by the beekeepers and the average number of boxes is 50, harvested honey per box per year is around 35 kg. Profitability analysis shows that honey production was profitable and the benefit-cost ratio is 1.83. Estimates of logit model indicates that age of household head, educational level, farm size, farm income and non-farm income were the significant factors that influence beekeepers’ decision for adoption. The study identified six actors in honey value chain and among the actors; processors added the highest value of total value addition. Engagement in different activities of beekeeping had a great impact on their livelihood. SWOT analysis indicates favorable environment as strength, inadequate market infrastructure as weakness, high demand for honey as opportunities, and dominancy of the middlemen as threat, respectively. Lack of credit, lower price of honey as well as lack of storage facilities was the main problems faced by the stakeholders. To overcome the problems moreover to make this business more profitable, the study recommended to form contract based cooperative groups, establish proper storage facilities and provide necessary training by the government and non-government organizations. SAARC J. Agric., 19(2): 301-315 (2021)

Rural Infrastructure Access and Household Welfare in Ogun State

The study was carried out to determine the effect of access to rural infrastructure on household welfare in Ogun State. A three-stage sampling procedure was used to collect data from 442 selected respondents. The study was based on primary data obtained through questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and ordered logit regression. The study revealed that majority of the respondents were male (62.3%), married (80.1%), aged 48.1±11.5 years, with years of formal education, household size and farming experience of 7.3±4.7 years, 7.2±2.8 persons and 13.7±10.4 years, respectively. The MPCHHE was ₦7,152.10. The proportion of households with access to potable water, primary school, health centre, market and agro-centre were 89.1%, 88.5%, 43.9%, 64.5% and 33.7%, respectively. More households had high access to infrastructure (52.8%). Many of the households had high welfare (43.9%), while 24.4% had medium welfare and 31.7% had low welfare. High household welfare was explained by age (β=-0.32), male-headed households (β=0.51), non-farm income (β=0.20), ARI (β=-0.49), access to credit (β=0.39), educational level (β=0.25) and labour size (β=0.34), while age (β=0.15), male-headed households (β=- 0.12) and ARI (β=0.18) explained low household welfare. Based on these findings, it was recommended that policies that would increase public investment in functional rural infrastructure must be given high priority by the government.

COMPARATIVE SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF RURAL FARM HOUSEHOLDS THAT USED INSECTICIDE TREATED NETS AND NON-USERS IN AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

The study compared the social and economic features of farm households that utilized insecticide treated nets and non-users in the rural areas of Akwa Ibom State. The cross-sectional data were collected from one hundred and eighty rural farming household heads. The descriptive tests and the bivariate t-test were used to analyze data collected. The result revealed that, about 72.22% of the rural farm households used ITNs in the study area. Moreover, the study established the fact that there were no significant differences between ITNs users and non-users in their gender, marital status, farming experience, social capital accumulation, education, access to extension agent, nature of residential building, value of household asset and non-farm income. Contrary to the above findings, a statistically significant difference was found in terms of age, household size, farm Income and farm size between the two groups. Following the findings, the study recommends a bottom-top approach that takes into consideration the social and economic matters of the rural farmers in planning the transfer of ITNs technology to the rural farmers in the region.

KETAHANAN PANGAN RUMAH TANGGA PETANI PADI, PETANI JAGUNG DAN NONPETANI DI KOTA METRO PROVINSI LAMPUNG

The purposes of this research are to analyze the level of food security and the factors that affect the level of food security. The research is conducted by survey method in Metro City that is chosen purposively as the research location. Respondents consisted of 17 paddy farmer households, 5 maize farmer households and 22 non-farmer households which were selected by simple random sampling. The data of income of farmers is analyzed by summing the total income from farming (Paddy and corn), non-farm income and non-agricultural income, while non-farm household income is obtained from the sum of the main work and gifts from children / siblings. Then to analyze the level of food security it is calculated based on the cross classification between the share of food expenditure and energy adequacy. The result of this research showed that the average of household income of paddy farmers was IDR 2,984,183/month, the average of household income of corn farmers was IDR 2,682,250/month and the average of household income of non-farmers was IDR 3,003,571/month. Most of the paddy farmer households were classified as less food (52.94%), as food secures (41.18%) and the rest respondents classified as vulnerable food (5.88%. Maize farmer households were classified as less food (80.00%) and as food secure (20.00%). Non-farm households were classified as less food (31.82%), as food secure (50.00%) and the rest respondents were classified as vulnerable food (18.18%). The factors that affected the level of food security are the formal education of household head.Key words: farmer and non-farmer households, food security.

FACTORS INFLUENCING CHOICE OF COPING STRATEGIES AMONG RURAL FARMERS IN OKUNLAND, KOGI STATE, NIGERIA.

This study examined the factors that influenced the choice of coping strategies to climate change among rural farmers in Okun Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. A total of one hundred and fifty copies of questionnaire were randomly administered on the respondents through a multi-stage random sampling technique. But only one hundred and forty-six (146) copies were retrieved and used for the analysis Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the analyses. The descriptive statistics used were frequency tables, percentages and mean, while the inferential statistic used was Multinomial Logistic regression. The results indicate that 72.60% of the respondents were male while 27.40% were female. It was discovered that 30.82% of the farmers chose fertilizer application as a measure to cope with the impact of climate change while 11.64% engaged in the planting of cover crops as a measure to cope with the changing climate. The result of the multinomial logistic regression model showed educational status, farming experience, access to credit, access to extension services, farm size, farm and non-farm incomes as well as access to climate information were among the factors that influenced farmers’ choice of coping strategies to climate change at 95% confidence interval.

MULTIPLE INCOME PATTERNS AND REFLEXIVITY: THE STRATEGY OF ELDERLY WOMEN FARMERS IN FOOD SECURITY

The era of modernization marked by the emergence of technology has had its own impact on people's lives, such as the existence of technology in the agricultural sector with the emergence of agricultural machines. The agricultural machines that are present have made it easy for farmers, but for some people, especially for farm workers, it has provided its own risk. Including the existence of a planting machine in the village of Kedungharjo, it has given its own consequences for old female farm workers. The consequence they feel is the risk of reducing human labor in agriculture. Therefore, old female farm workers to overcome food insecurity, they try to do a strategy of dual income patterns with farmincome, off-farm income, and non-farm income. Then from the risks felt by old female farm workers, they reflect on the risks they experience, as a form of response to overcome the risks of agricultural technology. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative. The purpose of this study was to determine the strategy of multiple livelihood patterns and reflexivity carried out by old female farm workers from the risks of agricultural technology

DETERMINANTS AND EFFECT OF KVK ADOPTION ON VARIOUS EFFICIENCY MEASURES OF FARMS IN KHARGONE DISTRICT OF MADHYA PRADESH

The study examined the technical, allocative, and economic and scale efficiency of the adopted and non-adopted farmers estimated using data envelopment analysis in Khargone District of Madhya Pradesh. In addition, the factors affecting technical, allocative, scale and economic efficiency of sample farmers in Kharif and Rabi seasons were examined by the OLS regression analysis. No significant difference was found in the mean efficiency score of adopted non-adopted famers except for scale efficiency in rabi season. The factors affecting economic efficiency were fertilizer(kg/ha) and small farm in kharif season and area under crop, adoption status and labour to machine in rabi season. The factors affecting scale efficiency in kharif season were fertilizer (kg/ha), small farm and labour to machine. and in rabi season were area under crop, adoption status, Non-farm income. The major policy implication includes increasing farm mechanisation to sustain scale efficiency and increasing fertilizer application in kharif season.