Off-farm Activities Research Articles

Labour-use efficiency of rice farmers in Nigeria’s north-central region

A cross sectional data collected through a structured questionnaire coupled with an interview schedule from 360 rice farmers selected via multi-stage sampling technique was used to determine the labour efficiency of rice farmers in Nigeria’s North-Central region. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the 2020 cropping season data. The empirical evidences showed a farming population that is gender bias due to stereotypes, that affected women access to and control over productive resources. Besides, economic-productive people that explored pecuniary advantages in order to achieve economies of scale engaged in cultivation of thinly uneconomic holdings. The poor economic status of the farm families made most of the farmers to rely on family labour for farm operations, thus keeping most of their children and young ones out of school. Furthermore, most of the farmers were fairly efficient in the use of labour with little technical support required to enable them achieve optimum labour efficiency level (frontier point). However, the empirical evidences showed competition for labour demand between farm and off-farm activities and conservative and complacency attitudes due to longevity in the enterprise to be the factors that affected labour efficiency. Therefore, the study calls for gender mainstreaming in agricultural budget to overcome women’s challenge on productive resources; incentivized the enterprise viz., credit provision; adoption of bottom-to-top approach in research and practical demonstration approach in transfer of innovative rice technologies.

Accessibility Impact to Government Programs on the Household Income Contribution at the Various Livelihood Sources of Farmers

This paper aimed (1) to describe the accessibility of farmers to programs made by the government for rural development, and (2) to analyze the impact of this accessibility on the contribution generating household income of farmers in South Sumatra wetlands. This research was an experimental research using Split Plot Design. The study resulted that accessibility had a significant effect on the income structure of farmers' households. If accessibility was high to very high, the sector and types of off-farm activities were more developed and diverse. Household income in low accessibility was dominated by subsistence agriculture, although the types of off-farm activities varied, but their contribution to total household income was very small. In high accessibility areas, the income contribution from subsistence farming was relatively small, but the diversity of activities was large, which could increase the total household income, i.e. trade, non-agricultural labor, forest income, government projects, beca, drivers, carpenters, welding, shipping, etc. The total income of households in high accessibility was higher than in low accessibility areas. The better the accessibility, the better the total household income will be as long as the government manages farmers in off-farm activities.

Rural women participation in farm and off-farm activities and household income in Bangladesh

The present study was mainly an impact of farm and off-farm activities on household income and participation of rural women in the Thakurgaon district of Bangladesh. The specific aim was to compare the rural women's participation considering their socioeconomic characteristics, income contribution to household income, and its influencing factors. An Independent Sample T-test was used to compare socioeconomic differences. Pearson's correlation test was used to determine the relationship between women's personal income and household income. The propensity Score Matching (PSM) model was used for impact evaluation of off-farm activities. The result of the t-test showed that off-farm activities were significantly ahead for women from the farm women in terms of socioeconomic variables. There was positive and a strong correlation between women's personal income from off-farm activities and their household income. The result of PSM shows that off-farm activities have a positive and significant impact on rural women's income. Estimation of the binary Probit model and marginal effects of related explanatory variables revealed that educational status, family size, work experiences, personal income, saving, and training, significantly affected rural women's involvement in off-farm activities. Therefore, to increase the pace of work, the participation of rural women in off-farm activities needs to be made more effective and efficient, for which government and non-government organizations need to take necessary steps in area-based development (such as work environment, credit facilities, communication, infrastructure, etc.).

Micro-level analysis of climate-smart agriculture adoption and effect on household food security in semi-arid Nakasongola District in Uganda

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is fronted as a sustainable, transformative, and technologically innovative approach that increases agricultural productivity, income and enhances greenhouse gas mitigation. However, there is limited micro-level evidence on the effects of the adoption of CSA on food security despite intensified promotion efforts in Uganda. A cross-sectional household survey among 165 respondents, undertaken in August–September 2020, was used to collect requisite data. Principal component analysis (PCA) with iteration and varimax rotation and analysis of variance were used in characterizing CSA practices. An ordered logit model was applied to identify the reported levels of CSA utility. Meanwhile, an endogenous switching regression was adopted to determine the effect of CSA adoption on household food security. Results showed that households used a combination of practices, including soil and water management, pasture management, livestock productivity and disease management. The PCA results revealed six major categories for the 16 most commonly used CSA practice combinations. The key factors that influenced the adoption of CSA practices among households included; access to climate information, total livestock units, ownership of non-livestock assets, and participation in off-farm activities. Results also revealed that the expected food consumption scores (FCS) for adopters and non-adopters were 53.87 and 66.92 respectively. However, when adopters and non-adopters were compared, we found that the adopters of CSA practices would have had a significantly lower counterfactual FCS had they not adopted CSA. While the adoption levels of CSA in this study is low, the counterfactual effects have shown that households that adopted CSA would have had a lower FCS and therefore lower food security status had they not adopted CSA. We recommend CSA promotional efforts that give more attention to combined CSA practices and respond to local production constraints.

Cause of Land Degradation and Rehabilitation Practices in Case of Amba Sidist Western Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, land degradation has become a serious problem affecting all spheres of social, economic and political life of the population. It is one of the major challenges to agricultural development and food security of the country. In order to solve the problem of land degradation, a lot of efforts have been made since 1970s. However, at the end the intervention couldn’t be sustainable and able to bring the intended impact. Thus, identification of challenges in relation to land rehabilitation practices is of paramount importance. The study was undertaken in Amba 6 kebele. In order to achieve the objective of the study, both primary and secondary data were generated by employing qualitative and quantitative data. Stratified sampling technique was used to select 76 household heads were selected from on Amba 6 by using stratified random sampling as it is believed that the households are similar with respect to the characteristics that influence the research output. The process of analysis of the study was carried out using qualitative description and quantitative analysis. The quantitative data was analyzed using frequency, percentage and mean when appropriate. The qualitative data was discussed to substantiate the study. The findings of the study indicated that decrease in productivity of farm land, involvement in off-farm activities, increase in size of human population, lack of full cooperation of family members to involve in land rehabilitation practices, low assistance gained from neighbor-hoods, less access to extension service and inadequate attention from woreda Agriculture and Rural Development office are the major challenges encountering the implementation of land rehabilitation practices in effective way.

Participation of Tribal Youth in On-Farm and Off-Farm Activities

Background: More than 50.00 percent of India’s current population is below the age of 25 years and it highlighted the importance of youth in the country’s development. The study on tribal youth is an essential exercise in comprehending and combating their various problems as tribal youth belonged to disadvantage social groups and suffer from many crippling problems that retard their development.
 Methods: The study was under takes in Dhanora and Etapalli tahsil of Gadchiroli district. 140 tribal youth were selected from 14 villages of 2 tahsils, an exploratory research design of social research was used and the data were collected with the help of a structured and pretested interview schedule.
 Results: The findings revealed that the majority of tribal youths regularly participated in land preparation viz, ploughing of land (72.14%), spreading of FYM (63.57%), and leveling of land (52.14%), and occasionally participated in harrowing (52.14%) and crushing (50.00%), they were regularly participating in transplanting (73.57%), sowing activities (63.57%) and occasionally seeds treatment (70.00%) and selection of seeds (57.86%). The majority of them occasionally participated I n intercultural operations. The majority of tribal youths regularly participated in off-farm activities, Temdu patta cutting (60.71%) and collection of Mahua flowers and fruits (53.57%).

Disaggregated impacts of off-farm work participation on household vulnerability to food poverty in Ghana.

This study examines disaggregated impacts of participation in off-farm employment on household vulnerability to food poverty in Ghana. We use household-level data collected from smallholder farmers in Ghana. This study employs the multinomial endogenous switching regression model to account for selection bias due to both observed and unobserved heterogeneity. Our results indicate that participation in off-farm employment activities, such as petty trading, significantly decreases household vulnerability to food poverty. Our findings further show that households that do participate in arts and crafts as an off-farm activity are more vulnerable to food poverty had they not participated. This paper provides useful policy insights to enable smallholders involved in off-farm work activities to improve food consumption expenditure and reduce their risk of food poverty.

Does Tibetan Household Livelihood Capital Enhance Tourism Participation Sustainability? Evidence from China's Jiaju Tibetan Village.

Identifying effective transformations to reduce poverty and approach rural sustainability is at the core of the first sustainable development goal of the United Nations. This article offers scientific support for continued efforts in sustaining rural development and livelihood resilience. Many studies have examined drivers of livelihood transition from farming to non-farm activities, especially participation in tourism against the backdrop of rural tourism development. However, few studies have identified ways to measure the level of tourism participation or have discussed how household-level capital influences decisions regarding tourism participation made by Tibetan ethnic households. This article assesses the role of livelihood capital in the adoption of tourism activities at the household level in Jiaju Tibetan Village, an ethnic region that is experiencing struggling agricultural business and developing tourism sector. Using household survey data, this study presents an ordinal logistic regression model to identify the determinants of the household tourism participation level. The results showed that households’ tourism participation was influenced by physical capital (e.g., proximity to major roads, odds ratio = 2.83 at p = 0.024; fixed capitals, odds ratio = 101.19 at p = 0.039), human capital (e.g., availability of family labor, odds ratio = 0.25 at p = 0.004; availability of skilled member, odds ratio = 2.91 at p = 0.002), and social capital (e.g., relatives in governmental sectors, odds ratio = 5.22 at p = 0.044; government payments, odds ratio = 8.78 at p = 0.04), while the influence of financial capital was not significant. The proximity to major roads, availability of skilled members, fixed assets, and direct and indirect support from the government to households were significantly and positively associated with tourism participation level. The effects of household labor availability and annual family income remain unclear. Overall, household livelihood capital plays a critical role in the enhancement of tourism participation in Jiaju Tibetan Village. Our findings have implications for understanding the shift of on-farm occupation to off-farm activities in tourism and for the pursuit of policies contributing to poverty reduction and rural revitalization in China as well as to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Loan Repayment Performance of Smallholder Farmers: The Case of Oromia Credit and Savings Share Company in Tole District of Southwest Shoa Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

The aims this study is to identify those factors that affect loan repayment performances of smallholder farmer in Tole district of Southwest Shoa zone, Oromia regional state of Ethiopia. In order to address the stated objective data were collected through survey of 174 sample borrower farmer. To identify and analysis factors affecting loan repayment performances and intensity of loan recovery in the district two-limit Tobit model were used. From the total sample borrower farmer, 9.2%, 20.7% and 70.1% were complete defaulters, partial defaulters and non-defaulters respectively. A total of 17 explanatory variables were included in the analysis from which family expenditure and repayment period suitability affect loan repayment performance and intensity of loan recovery of the sample borrower farmer significantly and negatively. On the other hand, size of land holding, income from on-farm activities, income from off-farm activities, household saving and frequency of extension contact had a significantly and positively affect loan repayment performance and intensity of loan recovery of sampled smallholder farmer in the study area. Therefore, each concerned body aimed to improve loan repayment performances of smallholder farmer in the study area could be successful if they consider these factors. Keywords: Ethiopia, Loan, Non-defaulter, Tobit DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/12-13-04 Publication date: July 31 st 2022

Assessment of Farmers' Adoption Level of Climate Change Adaptation Practices in the Southern Parts of Tamil Nadu

Climate change is a global hazard to the world's food and nutritional security. As greenhouse-gas emissions in the atmosphere rise, so does the temperature due to the greenhouse effect. The average world temperature is steadily rising and is expected to climb by 2 degrees Celsius by 2100, resulting in significant global economic losses. Climate variability in the form of temperature and precipitation may impact on agricultural production and productivity. The study was conducted in the wetland, dryland, and garden land farming systems of the Tamil Nadu districts of Madurai and Sivagangai with a sample size of 120 farmers. Descriptive statistics were used in this study. For compare all three systems; a simple percentage analysis was performed. The majority of respondents in the wetland (65.00%), dryland (70.00%), and garden land (75.00%) farming reported a medium level of climate change adaptations. Cropping system diversification includes mixed cropping (65.00%), intercropping (36.66%), perennial and tree crop agriculture (30.00%), and fallow cropping (25.8%). Summer ploughing (36.67%) and micro-irrigation systems (34.17%) were among the water conservation strategies used by nearly one-third of those polled. The majority of respondents (85.00%) were rearing cattle followed by working as a r worker (off-farm activities) (56.67%) in the local industry is the second most common income diversification activity done by farmers.Government and agencies must play an important role in improving farmers' adaptive capacity by disseminating agrometeorological data and tools, conducting vulnerability assessments, and providing policy advice to strengthen institutional approaches to disaster risk reduction so that farmers can respond to the immediate risks of climate change and make the best use of climate variability.

Factors affecting livelihood strategies of smallholder tobacco and non-tobacco farmers and off-farm households benefitting from land reform in Zimbabwe

The main objective of this paper was to determine the factors that affect the livelihood strategies of resettled smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. The study was conducted in Manicaland Province in Zimbabwe, and the respondents were stratified into four groups. These were smallholder farmers resettled under the A1 and A2 models, as well as tobacco and non-tobacco smallholder farmers. The two models differ in how they were implemented and supported, which might lead to them having different livelihood strategies. A total of 300 respondents were surveyed, consisting of 114 tobacco and 149 non-tobacco farmers and 24 off-farm and 13 wageearner households in Manicaland province. The study used a Multinomial Logit model to investigate the factors influencing a household’s decision to choose different livelihood strategies. In the model, the dependent variables included four livelihood strategies, while the explanatory variables included various household social-economic and institutional factors. The results obtained from the multinomial logistic regression model established that gender and land size were significant at a level of 1%, and education, household size, access to credit and access to inputs were significant at 5% in the adoption of tobacco farming, access to credit and gender were significant at a 1% level in the adoption of non-tobacco farming, while education was significant at a 10% level in adopting off-farm were found to be significant in determining the adoption of the tobacco farming in the study area up to less than 10% probability level in adopting off-farm activities. Smallholder farmers who did not adopt tobacco farming indicated that limited land size, shortage of labour and access to tobacco inputs were the major impediments to adopting tobacco farming. The government should support the efforts of smallholder farmers to increase their livelihood strategies through unveiling credit lines for farming activities. Access to inputs for smallholder farmers should be made a priority by the government through the provision and fair distribution of adequate agricultural inputs.

Determinants of Modern Agricultural Technology Adoption for Teff Production: The Case of Minjar Shenkora Woreda, North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Agriculture is one of Ethiopia’s economic cornerstones, although its production remains low. Since then, the implementation of modern agricultural technologies has remained a promising strategy in Ethiopia for increasing agricultural production, achieving food security, and reducing poverty. The objective of the study is to examine the determinants of modern agricultural technology adoption for teff production in Minjar Shenkora woreda. The data were collected from the representatives of 362 rural households. This study employed both descriptive statistics and multinomial logit model. The estimations of the multinomial logit model revealed that sex, age, marital status, tropical livestock units, educational level of household head, distance to market, extension contact, active household members, access to credit, off-farm activities participation, and cultivated land size are the determinants of modern agricultural technology adoption for teff production in Minjar Shenkora woreda, North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Therefore, this study recommended that the country’s federal and regional governments, agricultural development offices, nongovernmental organizations, and donor agencies should collaborate with farm households to improve access to information, access to credit, encourage off-farm participation and provide training and consulting services to increase the adoption of modern agricultural technologies.

TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY ESTIMATES OF COFFEE PRODUCTION IN DAVAO CITY, PHILIPPINES: A DATA ENVELOPMENT APPROACH

<p>The Philippine coffee industry is dominated by small-scaled farm households. This study was conducted to measure the technical efficiency of coffee production in Davao City using Data Envelopment Analysis. The study also determined the factors that contribute to the technical efficiency of coffee farms using Logistic Regression. Among the 166 respondents obtained, the study revealed that only 11 DMUs are technically efficient operating under constant return to scale while 154 and 1 were technically inefficient operating under increasing return to scale and decreasing return to scale, respectively. This means that input such as farm size, labor, number of coffee trees, age of coffee trees, fertilizers and pesticides has to be adjusted in order to reach the frontier to be technically efficient DMUs in which coffee farms are the potential to increase production if provided with appropriate support. Furthermore, to achieve bias-corrected DEA technical efficiency scores, Bootstrapping was done and later used for regression. Meanwhile, the logistic regression results revealed that there were significant relationships between technical efficiency and socioeconomic such as Age of Household Head, Sex, Access to Credit, Cropping System, Technology, and Coffee Variety. However, the logistic regression also revealed the factors that have no statistically significant relationship in the variables such as Education, Farm Experiences, Household Size, Extension Services, and Off-farm Activities.</p><p> </p><p><strong>JEL</strong>: L60; L66; O13</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0929/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

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.

Socio-economic analysis of vegetable seed production in Nepal

Abstract. A survey was conducted at Musikot, Western Rukum, Nepal in 2019 to analyze the economic results of vegetable seed production using a well-structured pre-tested questionnaire. The average landholding per household was 8.14 ropani (1 ropani = 0.05 ha), as 33.74% of landholding (equal to 50.36% of the cultivated land) was under vegetable seed production. Vegetable seed production generated 46% of on-farm income equal to 23% of total household income. The share of on-farm activities and off-farm activities in household income was almost equal. 64% of the farming households were food self-sufficient. 39% of the farmers were new to the vegetable seed production enterprise whereas 5% of the farmers were involved from 40 years. 49% of the cost in vegetable seed production was incurred in labor. About eight thousand rupee were sufficient to run a vegetable seed production enterprise per ropani that had made a gross margin of NRs 9,614.36 per ropani. Radish occupied 46.5% of the vegetable seed producing land and generated 53.5% of the vegetable seed revenue. BCR of 2.21 suggested that vegetable seed production enterprise brings NRs 2.21 at the investment of NRs 1. Swiss-chard had the highest price spread (90%) whereas radish and turnip had the lowest (57%). Sensitivity analysis showed that vegetable seed production enterprise was a viable business even after a 20% increase in cost and 20% reduction of revenue simultaneously. Disease infestation and insect attack were two major production problems and price fluctuation and inadequate market information were two major marketing problems faced by vegetable seed producers at Musikot, Western-Rukum, Nepal.

Measuring the poverty reduction effects of adopting agricultural technologies in rural Ethiopia: findings from an endogenous switching regression approach

The purpose of this study is to understand how the adoption of different agricultural technologies can reduce poverty in rural regions of Ethiopia. To attain this objective, this paper uses a comprehensive socio-economic survey of Ethiopia, which allows us to securitize the household level information. The paper uses a multinomial endogenous switching regression model to estimate the impact of alternative technologies adoption on poverty reduction on a sample of 2316 farm households, and a multinomial logit model to estimate the determinants of alternative agricultural technologies adoption. The results showed that the decision to adopt alternative agricultural technologies depends on several variables such as education, regional heterogeneity, remittance income, extension visit, credit access, off-farm activity, soil quality, farm size, tropical livestock unit, distance, plot's potential wetness, and ownership certification. The impact results of the study show that household consumption increases when households adopt alternative agricultural technologies, thereby reducing their poverty. Furthermore, adoption of a package of technologies can result in higher food and total consumption per adult than single technology adoption. The paper recommends strategies for further disseminating and scaling up these technologies to help reduce poverty in Ethiopia.

Heterogeneity in agricultural households and transition paths in southern Tibet

Smallholder livelihoods in agricultural areas in Tibet Autonomous Region, China (Tibet for short) have traditionally been based on subsistence mixed crop-livestock systems. Like many parts of China and the developing world, rural Tibet is undergoing rapid change in agricultural development, boosted by links with the off-farm sector. However, the agricultural transition process in Tibet has not been linear, is affected by policies particular to the region, and varies significantly for different categories of rural actors. This paper analyses heterogeneity of household types in agricultural areas of southern Tibet and how household structures and characteristics result in different agricultural development pathways. Data is drawn from a stratified random survey of 144 households in three townships in southern Tibet and analysed through three methods: cluster analysis, bio-economic modelling, and analysis of household perceptions and attitudes to change. The analysis allows for the identification of three key household types — semi-subsistence, pluriactive and semi-commercial — organised along a continuum of intensification, commercialisation, specialisation and productivity. The study demonstrates the diversity of household farming systems in Tibet which in turn highlights the need for disaggregated analysis and tailored development policies and strategies. However, the analysis also reveals commonalities in development paths between groups, where all farm types are more interested in pursuing income and livelihood goals through an increase in productivity than through an increase in scale. Farmers in all systems choose to retain agriculture as a base from which to pursue livelihood strategies, especially through off-farm activities. Accounting for this household heterogeneity is important on several levels. First, it provides more granular detail on the process of development in rural areas of Tibet that have been very difficult to access in English literature especially in recent years. Second, the characteristics of the case study in agricultural areas of Tibet — especially the mixed agricultural-pastoral systems, high levels of seasonality, heavy state investment and increased integration with the other regions of China — may contribute to the broader agricultural development study. Third, policymakers in the central and local governments may be interested in how the household heterogeneity may affect — or be affected by — policies to increase agricultural productivity, intensify systems, change the composition of crop-livestock systems, promote rural-urban transformation and pursue environmental objectives, especially grassland degradation.

Determinants of Rural Household Food Security Status in North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia.

Food insecurity is one of the most serious problems in developing countries, especially in Ethiopia. Therefore, it is important to understand the barriers to improving the state of food security in the country. Thus, this study aims to investigate the determinants of food security of rural households in the North Shewa zone in the Amhara region, Ethiopia. A sample of 796 farm households was considered. This paper used the calorie intake method per day to measure household food security status and a logit model to investigate the determinants of food security. The results show that family size, age of the household head, educational level of the head, off-farm activities, monthly income of the household, and distance from the market are the major determinants of rural household food security in the North Shewa Zone. The findings suggest that expanding the access to education in farm households, expanding the access to off-farm activities to increase household income, and expanding market access to farm households are important to improve rural food security status in the study area.

Farmers' adoption of soil and water conservation practices: The case of Lege-Lafto Watershed, Dessie Zuria District, South Wollo, Ethiopia.

In Ethiopia, soil degradation is one of the major causes of low and declining agricultural productivity. As a result of this challenge, the country has been battling to adopt conservation practices. The main objective of this study was to assess farmers' adoption decisions of soil and water conservation (SWC) practices. For the survey, 304 farmers were selected from farming communities in Lege-Lafto Watershed, South Wollo,Ethiopia. Information were gathered using a household survey, and through focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and field observation. A binary logistic regression model and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that about 64% of the farmers adopted soil and water conservation practices in the study area. The findings depicted that soil bund, stone bund, stone-faced soil bund, loose stone and brush-wood check dams, hillside terrace, and bund stabilized with vegetation are practiced in the watershed. The analysis result revealed adoption of soil and water conservation practices is significantly and positively influenced by the perception of farmers on erosion problems and SWC practices, family labour, educational level, and membership in local institutions. However, distance from residence to the nearest market and farmland, off-farm activities, and the ratio of cultivable land to family size influenced the adoption of SWC practices negatively. Therefore, improving farmers' educational status, and strengthening local institutions are vital for sustainable land management practices in the country.

Drivers of the peasant households’ part-time farming behavior in China

Rural households in China are now diversifying from full-time agriculture to part-time griculture where they are engaging in different off-farm activities along with farming. Understanding the driving factors that affect the peasant households' part-time farming behavior has significant implications for rural developing and farm income support policy. This study intend to identify the driving factors to affect the peasant households' part-time farming behavior and present some corresponding proposals. A total sample of 2074 households from 3 district 9 provinces was selected through purposive sampling technique. While confirming some findings of previous research with respect to the effects of human capital and household peasant characteristics on part-time farming participation, this study shows differential impact of those variables. The results show that the degree of part-time farming in eastern China is higher than that in central and western China. There is a small difference between central and western China. The top 5 factors influencing the peasant household's part-time behavior, in order, are the area of farmland per capita (AFC), the distance from village to county center (TCC), the proportion of paddy field (PPF), the distance from village to town center (TTC), and the householder's age (A). It shows that the influencing factors vary among different regions based on the analysis of eastern, central and western China. The study recommends the implementation of policies that facilitate rural off-farm activities and enhance balanced economic growth of the country.