Livelihood Strategies Of Rural Households Research Articles

The impact of farmland transfer participation on farmers' livelihood choices – an empirical study of the effectiveness of the 2014 Three Property Rights Separation reform

PurposeFarmland transfer choice is strongly associated with the livelihood strategies of rural households. The 2014 Three Property Rights Separation (TPRS) reform has legalized farmland transfer practices in rural China, hence stimulating the farmland transfer market at the national scale. This paper aims to determine the extent to which rural family livelihood strategies are influenced by their participation decision in farmland transfer practices. Further, the authors examined the effectiveness of the TPRS reform on the impact of farmland transfer participation on rural household livelihood strategy choices.Design/methodology/approachBased on the sustainable livelihood approach (SLA) using data from a national rural household survey, the authors employ the logit model and the propensity score matching (PSM) method to estimate the impact of household farmland transfer participation. Its interaction effects with household livelihood capital on their livelihood strategy choices and diversification level are also investigated. The difference-in-difference (DID) model is employed to assess the effectiveness of the TPRS reform.FindingsThe results indicate that the participation in transferred-out farmland could improve rural households' non-agricultural livelihood strategies. While the participation in transferred-in farmland could improve the probability of rural families' engaging in pure-agricultural (PA) or agricultural-dependent (AD) livelihood strategies, the TPRS reform can attract specialized farmers to increase their farm size through the market solutions and encourage small farmers to leave their farmland to engage in more off-farm work.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on farmers' livelihood by exploring the role of farmland transfer decision and the effectiveness of 2014 TPRS reform through the SLA approach.

Dynamic livelihood impacts of COVID-19 on different rural households in mountainous areas of China.

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has brought about severe negative livelihood consequences for rural households worldwide. However, the heterogeneity and dynamics of livelihood impacts have been under-researched. There is also lacking a livelihood assessment of the pandemic based on a whole pandemic cycle. This study aimed to investigate the dynamic and heterogeneous livelihood impacts of COVID-19 pandemic for rural households in 2020 based on a case study of Southeast China. The pandemic in China had experienced a complete cycle from initial outbreak, to intermediate recovery and finally new normal stage in 2020. We conducted face-to-face interviews with 95 rural households randomly drawn from 2 rural villages in Xunwu County, Jiangxi Province, Southeast China. The sampled households are interviewed with a questionnaire through face-to-face surveys in February and March, 2021 to evaluate the overall livelihood impacts of the pandemic during 2020. The survey collected data on demographic and economic characteristics, governmental control measures, and effects of the COVID-19 on agricultural production, employment, income, education, and daily life. In-depth interviews are also conducted to clarify the livelihood impacts of COVID-19 on villages. Results showed that the pandemic tremendously caused substantially negative livelihood impacts, including decreasing household income, and disorders in daily lives. The average income loss of all survey households is 6,842 RMB, accounting for 13.01% of the total household income in 2020. Containment measures also resulted in a series of disturbances in daily lives, such as rising food price additional expenditures, travel restrictions, party restrictions, closure of schools and deceasing living standards. There is remarkable household heterogeneity in the livelihood impacts. Results also revealed that the livelihood strategies of rural households to cope with the threat of COVID-19 were different in various pandemic stages. Our findings have illustrated the severity and heterogeneity of livelihood impacts on rural households induced by COVID-19 pandemic. The dynamics of livelihood impacts is also highlighted in the study. Several policy suggestion was proposed to mitigate these negative consequences of the pandemic.

Rural household livelihood strategies and diet diversification in North Shewa, Central Ethiopia

This study was conducted to examine rural household livelihood strategies and diet diversification in North Shewa Administrative Zone (NSAZ), Central Ethiopia. A total of 372 family heads took part in the study. They were selected through multistage sampling procedure. Data collection took place from February to March 2020 using Questionnaire, Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) plus Key Informant Interviews (KIIs).The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, t -test, ANOVA and binary logistic regression model. The finding showed that rural households who diversified their livelihood strategies by combining agriculture with at least one of the activities outside agriculture make up only about 31.20% of the respondents. Out of eight baskets of food items (legumes, nuts and seeds; cereals; vegetables; fruits; milk and milk products; oils and fats; eggs and meat) considered to calculate Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS), only 22.60% of the sampled households consumed ≥4 baskets of food items within a 24 h recall period. The remaining 77.40% of the studied households consumed <4 baskets of food items and as such, they were subjected to dietary inadequacy. Results obtained from one-way between-groups analysis of variance revealed a statistically acceptable variation in the mean HDDS at p < 0.01 level among farming, non-farming and both farming plus non-farming rural household livelihood groups [F (2, 369) = 20.94, p = 0.00]. Binary logistic regression model also showed that age of a rural family head, labour size in the household, farm size, livestock possession, extension contact, market distance and access to credit are important predictors for diversification of rural household livelihood strategies. Policymakers and stakeholders should consider these variables while designing intervention mechanisms. • Rural families in low-income nations largely rely on small-scale subsistence farming. • Dependence on subsistence farming alone is not adequate to ensure food security. • Diversifying rural households' economic base enhances income and dietary intake.

The Influence of Seasonality on the Sustainability of Livelihoods of Households in Rural Tourism Destinations

Even though seasonality is an important concern in tourism research, only a few scholars have focused on the seasonality of rural tourism. Therefore, this study examines seasonality in rural tourism destinations. We adopt a mixed research approach to explore the sustainable livelihoods of households in rural tourism destinations from a seasonality perspective, using the case of rural tourism destinations in Yulong River basin, Guangxi, China. First, in-depth interviews and grounded theory are used to construct a sustainable livelihood model for households in rural tourism destinations under the influence of seasonality. Second, the model is tested using the data envelopment analysis model and statistical analysis. We find that (1) psychological capital, a previously neglected livelihood capital, is an important component of rural households’ livelihood capital in rural tourism destinations under the influence of seasonality; (2) rural tourism does not significantly improve rural livelihoods due to seasonal influences; and (3) participating in tourism work in the off-season and combining it with other work practices are the main livelihood strategies of rural households to cope with seasonality; however, over-dispersing resources reduces the livelihood efficiency. This study’s findings will prove useful for policy formation by governments to deal with seasonality in rural tourism.

How Close Are We to Self-Provisioning? A Look at the Livelihood Strategies of Rural Households in the Southern Andean Region of Colombia

Production for self-provisioning contributes to food security in rural territories; however, studies have indicated that this capacity is limited. We analyzed the impact of livelihood strategies on self-provisioning conditions in 162 rural households in the department of Huila, Colombia. We analyzed: a. source of foods; b. composition of home gardens; c. push and pull factors towards self-provisioning. We found that rural households are 79% dependent on grocery stores for their food. Only 51% of households have a home garden, with limited plant species diversity. Capacity for self-provisioning varies according to the livelihood strategies and capitals endowment of the household. Those households with a greater diversity of agricultural activities have higher capacity for self-provisioning. Conditions that are often the main objective of rural development programs, such as improving the economic income of families, turn out to be contradictory to the capacity to produce the food itself. For example, the larger the area to grow crops or keep livestock and the better the economic income, the greater the external dependence on food.

Immediate impact of COVID-19 pandemic on farming systems in Central America and Mexico

CONTEXTThe COVID-19 pandemic has affected all sectors and human activities around the World. OBJECTIVEIn this article we present a first attempt to understand the immediate impact of COVID-19 and the sanitary measures taken by governments on farming systems in Central America and Mexico (CAM). METHODSThrough a review of information generated in these initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic (webinars, blogs, electronic publications, media) and 44 interviews with key informants across the region, we have identified the main impacts felt by different types of farming systems in the region. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSFrom corporate agricultural production systems, to small and medium scale entrepreneurs and smallholder subsistence farm households, all types of farming systems were impacted, more or less severely, by the different measures implemented by governments such as reduced mobility, closure of public and private venues and restrictions in borders. Larger corporate farming systems with vertical market integration and high level of control or coordination within the supply chain, and smallholder or subsistence farming systems with important focus on production for self-consumption and little external input use, were both relatively less impacted and showed greater adaptive capacity than the medium and small entrepreneurial farming systems dependent on agriculture as their primary income and with less control over the upstream and downstream parts of their supply chain. All types of farming systems implemented a series of mechanisms to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic including the development of alternative value chains, food and agricultural products delivery systems and the exponential use of digital means to communicate and maintain the viability of the different agricultural systems. Collective action and organization of farmers also proved to be an important coping mechanism that allowed some farmers to acquire inputs and deliver outputs in the context of restricted mobility, price volatility, and general uncertainty. Some features of the CAM region played an important role in mediating the impact of COVID-19 and associated sanitary measures. We identify as particularly relevant the nature of agricultural exports, the current structure of the agricultural sector, the diversified livelihood strategies of rural households, and the importance of mobility for rural livelihoods. SIGNIFICANCEThe results presented focus only in the immediate effect of COVID-19 pandemic and the mechanisms implemented by farmers in the first months. Whether these impacts and response mechanisms will result in a transformation of the farming systems towards greater resilience and sustainability is still an open question.

Environmental income and remittances: Evidence from rural central highlands of Vietnam

Extraction of environmental resources and migration are closely related livelihood strategies of rural households in developing countries. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the relationship between environmental income and remittances is needed to lower the existing pressure on environmental resources and to promote rural development. This study aims at investigating this relationship by using panel data at the household and village levels collected in 2013, 2016, and 2017 from three provinces in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. A Heckman model is applied to identify the factors of the decision to send remittances. A fixed effects two-stage least squares analysis is conducted to investigate the determinants of environmental income and a quantile regression shows the distribution of effects. The findings reveal differences between asset-poor and -rich households. Since the former are often more dependent on labour-intensive livelihood strategies such as extraction, a decrease in household labour due to migration leads to reduced extraction. For asset-rich households who are normally less capital-constrained, remittances lead to more extraction of natural resources. The findings support the claim for encouraging rural labour markets and education, especially for asset-poor people, and for a sustainable and collective natural resource management.

Community living standards and rural household decision making

Abstract Reducing deforestation and environmental degradation in the tropics while alleviating rural poverty requires effectively engaging with small-scale fishing, farming and forest-dependent households. The changing aspirations of rural households, however, have increasingly been attributed as the cause of rural households changing from ecologically sustainable to intensive and destructive livelihoods and natural resource uses. Theories of rural household decision-making, however, have historically used normative assumptions about rural households that have not addressed the interconnections between culturally and locally specific community living standards and livelihood decisions. In this article, a novel framework for assessing household goals and community living standards is presented, along with how these differentiated goals are tied to household livelihood strategies. Through case studies of fishing, farming and forest-dependent communities in a coastal landscape in Indonesia, the orientation of household livelihood strategies towards the achievement of household goals are demonstrated. The consistency and differentiation of household goals within and between communities is also discussed, demonstrating that smaller, insular communities are more likely to have homogeneous living standards than larger, more integrated communities. In addition, the mechanisms that facilitate changes in community living standards and household goals change are also discussed, which include access to consumer markets, social integration and the provision of government infrastructure and services. The results demonstrate that a comprehensive understanding of rural household goals and community living standards is a critical first step for understanding and influencing rural household livelihood strategies. Through addressing the motivations of rural households more systematically in association with their livelihood strategies, more effective, equitable and acceptable interventions for addressing environmental degradation caused by small-scale producers are possible.

Reviewing land access livelihood diversification strategies and factors influencing wellbeing of rural households in Mnquma, Eastern Cape: implications to extension agents

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of land access and livelihood strategies of rural households to well-being of households ' implications to extension agents in Mnquma, Eastern Cape. A cross-sectional research design was utilised to collect data from 105 randomly selected households. Descriptive statistics was then used to profile livelihood strategies and characteristics such as age, gender, years of farm experience, the availability of water and land for crop production and the income farmers generate from the sale of crops produced. Multinomial logistic regression results demonstrated that land size and location have a positive significant influence (p = 0.001) on household well-being. It is concluded that though land size has a positive influence on well-being, expanding farms through adding plots and distant farming hinders the attainment of well-being. Moreover, households with large number of dependents and those working in exclusive farming are disadvantaged in the attainment of well-being. There is therefore room to enhance progress in attainment of well-being through reducing the distance to farms and promoting diversification of livelihood strategies. The Eastern Cape department of Agriculture and Rural Development is advised to support distant farmers with settlements in their destinations. Furthermore, extension agents do play a significant role in promoting livelihoods of rural households and contribute towards improved land access. Keywords: Land access, livelihood strategy, rural households, South Africa

Livelihood Strategies of Rural Households in Ning’er Earthquake-Stricken Areas, Yunnan Province, China

Natural hazards not only cause direct losses of household income and assets but also affect the choice and outcome of livelihood strategies. Based on the questionnaire survey from 2007 on Mw 6.1 Ning’er earthquake-hit areas in Southwest China, we analyzed the relationship between livelihood assets (or capitals) and livelihood strategies of local rural households and identified the main factors influencing the choice of livelihood strategy. The results indicate that statistically significant differences exist in livelihood assets among livelihood strategies. The choice of livelihood strategies is affected significantly by the status of livelihood assets. High financial capitals enable households to engage in higher-returns or capital-intensive livelihood activities. Improving vocational education and skills training for rural residents, especially for the youth, is also important in developing new livelihood strategies beyond their traditional lifestyle. Higher social capitals provide households the opportunity to select a higher return and income livelihood strategy. In addition, as part of efforts to enhance physical capitals, housing construction planning and technical guidance are of critical importance to improve the anti-seismic performance of rural buildings and decrease their livelihood risk in earthquake-prone areas. It is important for farmers to improve and diversify their livelihood strategies according to regional geographical environment and the comparative advantages of their own livelihood assets.

Sensitivity of Livelihood Strategy to Livelihood Capital: An Empirical Investigation Using Nationally Representative Survey Data from Rural China

Research on the association between rural households’ livelihood capitals and livelihood strategies has long been of interest in geography, management, economics, ecology and other disciplines. However, the existing micro-empirical studies are mostly small-scale surveys of rural households; there are much fewer large-scale investigations at the national level. Meanwhile, few empirical studies have analyzed the sensitivity of rural households’ livelihood strategies to various types of livelihood capitals in different types of villages, from the perspective of village type. This study uses survey data from 8031 rural households in 226 villages from 27 provinces (cities) of China; the villages were divided into three types: plain villages, hilly villages and mountainous villages. The livelihood capitals and livelihood strategies of rural households in different types of villages were examined, and ordinal logistic regression models were construed to explore the sensitivity of rural households’ livelihood strategies to various types of livelihood capitals in different types of villages. The results revealed that: (1) the sample of rural households had similar livelihood asset structures and livelihood strategy selections across the different types of villages. Among them, human capital was the most important livelihood asset for rural households, while rural households had the lowest dependence on natural capital; off-farm work was the main livelihood strategy for rural households, followed by on-farm work, while the proportion of households engaged in part-time work was the smallest. (2) Rural households’ livelihood strategies had different sensitivities to various types of livelihood capitals, and there were also differences in the sensitivities among different types of villages. For the total sample, as well as the hill and mountain village sub-samples, human and financial capitals had significant positive impacts on livelihood strategy, while nature and social capitals had significant negative impacts on livelihood strategy; physical capital had no significant impact on livelihood strategy. For the plain village sub-sample, human and physical capitals had significant positive impacts on livelihood strategy, while nature capital had a significant negative impact on livelihood strategy; financial and social capitals had no significant impacts on livelihood strategy. This study enhances our understanding of the characteristics of rural households’ livelihood capital structures and livelihood strategy selections as well as the sensitivity of rural households’ livelihood strategies to various types of livelihood capitals among different types of villages in China. These findings provide reference for the formulation of policies related to the improvement of rural households’ livelihoods in different types of villages.

Risky Business? Rural Entrepreneurship in Subsistence Markets: Evidence from Burundi

Present-day development theory and practice highlight the potential of micro-entrepreneurship for poverty reduction in rural Africa. At the same time, subsequent studies show that entrepreneurial propensity is not often exhibited by subsistence farmers. Basing our analysis on a cross-section dataset from Burundi, we analyze the entrepreneurial livelihood strategies of rural households: diversifying crops, processing food for sale, supplementary wage work, and non-agricultural employment. We find that the farmers living close to subsistence level are more risk averse in their decision making and less likely to pursue these opportunities. Further, we show that risk aversion is negatively correlated to employment diversification, while there is no significant correlation for the other strategies. Employment diversification is indeed the most risk-bearing strategy that the subsistence farmers cannot afford as adverse outcomes would endanger their households’ survival. Our results also suggest that this risk effect is mitigated by the participation in formal and informal networks.

Getting stuck, falling behind or moving forward: Rural livelihood movements and persistence in Nepal

Research on household livelihood dynamics is central to rural poverty reduction. In this paper, we adopt a three-wave panel dataset to explore the persistence of and transitions in household livelihoods in three districts of Nepal using duration and dynamic probit models. The results demonstrate that the livelihood strategies of rural households are dynamic: approximately 16 per cent of the sample households transitioned up to high-remunerative livelihood strategies, 10 per cent of the households shifted down to either low- or medium-remunerative livelihood strategies, and 69 per cent remained trapped in low-remunerative livelihood strategies. The major upward transition occurred from medium-remunerative strategies to high-remunerative strategies (14 per cent). Overall, 70 per cent of the households persisted in one of the three livelihood strategies, and the remaining 30 per cent changed their strategy at least once. This dynamic is associated with the households’ duration in a particular livelihood strategy and the various characteristics of households and household heads. Understanding livelihood movement, livelihood persistence and the associated covariates and targeting the poor on this basis is crucial to combating rural poverty and dismantling poverty traps. To this end, the present study suggests (i) strengthening physical and financial asset endowments to address low-remunerative strategies, (ii) improving infrastructure connectivity, particularly in remote and inaccessible areas, (iii) insuring against shocks, iv) enhancing opportunities for generating remittances and enabling petty trade, and (v) supporting the establishment of business ventures.

The undermining of rural labor out-migration by household strategies in China's migrant-sending areas: The case of Nanyang, Henan Province

Although migrant labor shortages have affected migrant-receiving areas in Eastern China for many years, research shows that there is still an abundance of laborers in rural China. Therefore, the dynamics that undermine the out-migration of rural laborers in migrant-sending areas is a critical factor in the pace of China's urbanization process. Public policies promulgated by the central government focus on institutional reform, such as offering urban hukou33Also known as the household registration system, the hukou assigns citizens rural status (rural or agricultural hukou) or urban status (urban or non-agricultural hukou) in de jure terms. to rural migrants. Still, the decision-making processes of rural villagers and potential migrants remain unclear. Based on a case study of 32 townships in Nanyang, and further investigation in nine migrant-sending provinces, this paper probes into the livelihood strategies of rural households, rather than accepting the current conclusions of many Western research models. Preliminary findings reveal that rural livelihood strategies are undermining further out-migration of rural laborers in migrant-sending areas in three ways: 1) income diversification strategies that reflect emerging local off-farm job opportunities; 2) peri-urbanization driven by rural hukou that rural residents find increasingly attractive compared to urban hukou; and 3) localized urbanization driven by rural industrialization, better public services and rural residents' desire to keep families intact. These findings differ from previous explanations of the coexistence of migrant labor shortages and an abundant rural labor supply. Most importantly, they suggest that opening urban hukou entitlement will not promote further rural-to-urban migration per se to the extent that is generally assumed, unless a more coordinated rural–urban development model can be achieved to change rural household livelihood diversification strategies.

Agrobiodiversity of homegardens in a commercial sugarcane cultivation land matrix in Uganda

ABSTRACTUnderstanding biodiversity in homegardens embedded in landscapes dominated by commercial monoculture agriculture is critical for sustainable management of agrobiodiversity and meeting rural households’ needs in the face of global changes. We assessed agrobiodiversity in the 120 homegardens and its contribution to rural household livelihood strategies within a commercial monoculture sugarcane cultivation land matrix in eastern Uganda. We recorded a total of 68 plant species from 46 genera representing 27 families. Species richness spanned 6 to 19 species, and α-diversity (H’) ranged from 0.6 to 2.3; with 86.67% of the homegardens having H’ >1. Species composition differed significantly (global RANOSIM = 0.153, p < 0.001) among the villages. The most important and commonly maintained plants were those that provided food, fuelwood and money income and included Zea mays L., Manihot esculenta, Phaesolus spp., Coffea sp., Musa spp., Ipomea batatus and Artocarpus heterophyllus. Most of the crops cited as useful by households were also frequent and visible in many of the homegardens. Although homegardens still hold some valuable plants, there is also loss of important plants from the agricultural system including cowpeas, soya beans, bambara groundnuts, finger millet, cotton, aerial yams and oysternut essential for sustaining household livelihoods. This loss, precipitated by increased land-use/cover change to commercial sugarcane plantations threatens agrobiodiversity conservation and the benefits households derive from homegardens. Our findings underline the importance of homegardens in the conservation of indigenous agrobiodiversity, and indicate that with the continued expansion of commercial sugarcane cultivation this opportunity may be lost.

Characteristics and driving factors of rural livelihood transition in the east coastal region of China: A case study of suburban Shanghai

Based on data from 412 households, this study used the sustainable livelihoods approach to analyse changes in livelihood strategies and the relationship between those changes and rural household attitudes in an eastern coastal region of China. Focussing on household off-farm employment decisions and land transfer decisions, we classified the households into six types based on their livelihood strategies, namely, off-farm employment-oriented, balanced, off-farm, idle, professional, and conventional. The survey results indicate that two capital factors, age and education, and two mediating factors, wage and crop prices, are important influences of off-farm employment decisions, whereas factors such as policies and subsidies, machinery, activities organized by local agricultural cooperatives, and land rent substantially influence land transfer decisions. By analysing the characteristics, trends and driving factors of livelihood transitions, i.e., changes in rural household livelihood strategies, from 1993 to 2013, we explored the mechanisms of livelihood transitions. The results indicate that the proportion of conventional households decreased and the proportion of off-farm employment-oriented households and off-farm households increased. Agricultural production transformed from a system of scattered households (conventional and off-farm employment-oriented households) into broad-scale management households (professional and balanced households). These changes were the main characteristics of livelihood transitions under rapid industrialization combined with rapid urbanization in the Qingpu district. Rural livelihood transitions exhibited a stepped pattern, going through an initial stage, a self-organizing stage, and a government-led stage.

Migrations et recompositions des stratégies socio-économiques des familles rurales au Mozambique : une lecture institutionnelle des circulations contemporaines

À partir d’une étude de cas au Mozambique, cet article analyse le rôle des migrations dans les recompositions des stratégies socio-économiques des familles en termes de diversification des activités et de processus d’accumulation d’actifs. Les résultats, fondés sur une approche institutionnelle associée à la notion de circulation en géographie sociale, mettent en lumière les rôles décisifs des formes de migrations et de leurs dimensions institutionnelles dans les dynamiques de différenciation économique observées.

Relationship between Livelihood Resources and Livelihood Strategies of Rural Households in Southeast Nigeria: Implication for Rural Development

Relationship between Livelihood Resources and Livelihood Strategies of Rural Households in Southeast Nigeria: Implication for Rural Development

SOCIAL FACTORS AFFECTING LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES OF RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA: IMPLICATION FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Negative social values have hampered the various rural development efforts for sustainable livelihoods in rural Nigeria over the years. This study analyzed the social factors affecting livelihood strategies of rural households in Southeast Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to identify the predominant livelihood strategies of rural households and analyses the social factors affecting livelihood strategies of rural households in the study area. With the aid of a structured and validated interview schedule, data were collected from a sample size of 180 household-heads selected from a population of 754,702 households in the study area using a multi-stage sampling procedure. The statistical tools used in data analysis included mean, frequency, percentage and factor analysis. The result indicated that the predominant agricultural livelihood strategies found among rural households in southeast Nigeria include crop farming (mean = 3.47), livestock farming (mean = 3.13) while the predominant non-agricultural livelihood strategies includes petty trading (mean =3.13) and remittances from relatives (mean = 2.70). The social factors affecting livelihood strategies of farm-families in the study area include lack of trust and dependability among members of the community (mean = 3.02), misappropriation of resources by corrupt political appointees at both state and local levels (mean = 3.27. Factor analysis result showed 2 major social factor loadings affecting livelihood strategies of households in the study area as corrupt social order and insecurity. It is concluded that social factors affected the livelihood strategies of households in Southeast Nigeria. It is therefore recommended that sustainable programmes on social reformation, transformation and re-orientation of national values should be designed and mounted by government at all tiers, groups and organis ations. Keywords: Social factors, livelihood strategies, rural households, Southeast Nigeria

Rural Household Livelihood Strategies: Options and Determinants in the Case of Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Due to sever land scarcity, high population pressure and recurrent drought, farm households in the study area widely engage in and pursue diverse activities as livelihood strategies. The carrying capacity of agriculture to attain food and livelihood security is extremely declining from time to time. Diversifying livelihood strategies at current time become a common phenomenon in the study area. The major objectives of this study are, therefore, to identify the existing livelihood strategies adopted by rural households and to assess factors that determine households’ decision to choose alternative livelihood strategies. For the purpose of this study primary data were collected from randomly selected 300 households in four woredas (districts) of the zone. Descriptive statistics was applied to characterize the sample households’ social, economic, demographic and institutional factors. The finding of the survey result indicates that rural households in the study area practice diversified livelihood strategies, in that large part of the respondents (57.7%) combine agriculture with other activities (non/off-farm). Surprisingly, some farmers were pursuing non-farm and off-farm activities as the primary livelihood strategies rather than agriculture. Multinomial logit model applied to investigate factors influencing the households’ choice of livelihood strategies. In this regard, a total of 19 explanatory variables were included in the empirical model of which 11 were significant. These variables include agro-ecology, sex, education, farm size, livestock ownership, participation in social leadership, annual cash income, fertilizer use, improved seed use, age, and training which were determining farmers’ choice of livelihood strategies. The results of this study suggest that development interventions, policies and supportive services should be designed to suit the felt needs and circumstances of different groups of farmers.