Livelihoods Of Rural Households Research Articles

Assessment of Socio-economic Characteristics of Ruminant Livestock Producers in Ushongo Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria

The study assessed the socio-economic and effects of livestock production on the livelihood of rural households in Ushongo Local Government area of Benue State, Nigeria. Does not tally with the title above. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to sample respondents for the study, data was collected using structural questionnaire administered to the respondents. Data was collected from 120 respondents as the population for the study. It was evident from the study that the age category 31-40 years (37.50%) were more actively involved in ruminant production and majority (53.33%) were found to be males while majority (72.50%) were married. Most of the respondents (57.50%) were found to be farmers and majority (45.00%) attained secondary education with 60.83% of them with household size of 6-10 members. Majority (39.17%) have 11-20 ruminants, their membership of formal organization was found to be 75.83% while 99.17% of them produce goats, most of them (58.33%) had annual income of 0-100,000 naira and have low access to production technologies (51.67%). Majority (51.70%) farming experience of 6-10 years. The study concluded that some socio-economic characteristics have significant effects on ruminants’ production on the respondents in the study area (This was not measured). It was recommended that: government through extension agents educate ruminants farmers on modern production technologies; ruminant production farmers should be accessed formal credit in form of loans by government and commercial banks for effective production; ruminant production farmers should also pool their financial resource to enable them remain in production; and ruminant production farmers should engage in formal association to gain more knowledge based on the interaction with others.

Sustainability Practices and Financial Performance of Coffee Producers in Nueva Vizcaya

Coffee is one of the largest traded agricultural commodities in the world. Its production is an important component of the overall economy and is essential to the livelihoods of rural households in the developing countries. This study aimed to determine the extent of sustainability practices and financial performance of seven coffee producers from Nueva Vizcaya in different municipalities. The proponents used a structured questionnaire in gathering the data using descriptive correlational and financial performance analysis. The data was analyzed using the following statistical tools: Mean, Standard Deviation, Financial Profitability Ratio, Spearman Rho, and Thematic Analysis using IBM SPSS version 25. Findings reveal that, coffee producers are generally implementing sustainable practices in their operations, and they are achieving good financial performance, as evidenced by their average ROA, ROE, and ROS ratios. These shows a commendable balance between profitability and sustainability efforts. However, it is also revealed that there is no significant relationship between the variables, and a weak negative correlation between them is discovered. Moreover, most of the respondents are confident in their ability to ensure long-term sustainability as they continuously seek for growth and improvement in their efficiency and profitability. For further findings, the researchers recommend that coffee producers continue to implement sustainability practices, and for future researchers to include liquidity and solvency ratios to provide a more comprehensive assessment of financial health.

Impact of adoption of better management practices and nutrition-sensitive training on the productivity, livelihoods and food security of small-scale aquaculture producers in Myanmar

Small-scale aquaculture is a major source of food in Myanmar. Beyond its importance for food security and nutrition, small-scale aquaculture contributes to the livelihoods of many rural households and is a potentially valuable strategy for rural development. However, small-scale aquaculture producers have limited access to improved production technologies and information, which hampers the productivity and socioeconomic performance of small-scale aquaculture systems. In this study we assessed the impact of the adoption of better management practices and exposure to nutrition-sensitive training by 379 small-scale aquaculture producers in the Sagaing and Shan regions of Myanmar. We focused on whether and how the exposure to these interventions affected household food security through improvements in productivity and livelihoods. We used Propensity Score Matching to compare the performance of groups that were exposed to the intervention for one or two years, for seven impact variables. Exposure to the intervention had a positive effect for most impact variables, with differentiated effects among variables, group comparisons and regions. In terms of food security, beneficiaries had significantly higher dietary diversity (measured as the Food Consumption Score, FCS), but there were no significant differences for fish self-consumption (measured in kg/week). Longer exposure to the interventions produced significantly higher positive effects across most impact variables for the 2-year beneficiaries compared to 1-year beneficiaries and control groups. Our study suggests that the length of exposure to such interventions can be important in mediating the actual impact of small-scale aquaculture systems on household food security and livelihoods. Sustained help to small-scale producers should be considered in initiatives and development projects seeking to enhance the food security and rural development of small-scale aquaculture systems in Myanmar, and beyond.

The role of social capital in shaping livelihood for rural Vietnamese households.

This study explores the role of social capital in the livelihoods of rural households in Vietnam, examining both direct and indirect impacts. The author uses a revised sustainable livelihood framework to analyze social capital, focusing on bonding-bridging and linking forms. The study applies quantitative methods to a secondary dataset from a rural household survey, including entropy-weighted indicators, cluster analysis, and SEM models. The findings suggest that social capital has complex and significant impacts on household livelihood strategies. Bridging and linking social capital promotes non-agricultural and wage-based strategies, while bonding social capital drives transfer-based strategies. The study highlights the importance of social capital as a complementary resource to other livelihood capitals, such as financial, human, and physical capital. These results have important implications for policy implementation aimed at supporting rural households and their livelihoods, especially regarding social capital's interaction with other livelihood capitals. By understanding the complex relationship between social capital, other livelihood capitals and livelihood strategies, policymakers can design more effective policies that harness the potential of social connections to support rural households.

Analysis of management practices and production sustainability

Livestock activity in the department of Caquetá plays a crucial role in the economic development of the region and constitutes the main livelihood of rural households. Most of these Caquetá families are dedicated to raising cattle, focusing on the production of meat and raw milk to satisfy the demand of the processing industry and the regional, national and international market. However, the livestock models implemented for years in this region have tended to fail due to their extractivist nature, which transforms the landscape and displaces biodiversity, thus contributing to climate change variations. Although livestock reconversion projects have been developed, they have not been sufficiently effective due to the lack of information on the conditions of the productive units and the recognition of the actors and their identification with these processes. In view of these crucial information needs to improve livestock reconversion processes, our objective in this paper is to carry out an analysis of livestock production management and sustainability practices.

Effect of Rapid Urban Housing Expansion on On-Farm Activities of Rural Household Livelihoods in Simat/Kapseret Ward, Kenya

The study focused on examining how an increase in urban housing expansion affects livelihoods of rural households. The study objective was to determine the effect of urban housing expansion on on-farm activities of households in Kapseret/Simat ward, Kenya. A sample of 164 households was selected from a target population of 13610 households. A systematic random sampling technique was used to obtain the population of the study. A household survey questionnaire and an interview guide were used as tools for data collection taking a mixed methods research design. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive methods in form of frequencies, means and deviation. Inferential statistics specifically Chi square was used to test the hypotheses in terms of the strength and direction of the independent and dependent variables. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically and triangulated into the quantitative data of the study. Quantitative study findings indicated that there was a statistical significant relationship between urban housing expansion and on-farm activities of rural households (p=0.000). The qualitative study findings indicated that there was a shift from on-farm to off-farm livelihood activities of rural households. The study concluded that as land value and land sales increased, there was a higher likelihood for demand for land to facilitate the urban housing developments and ultimately housing expansion within the area of study. The study concluded that there was a significant statistical effect of urban housing expansion on rural household livelihoods.

Climatic extremes’ resilient livelihoods of rural households in the Eastern Ethiopia

Climate change is affirmed as a major challenge to global food security in the twenty-first century and a threat to availability of adequate food for the population. This study was conducted to analyze rural households’ vulnerability to climatic extremes, and their resilience capacities in the eastern Ethiopia. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods of data, and analysis to achieve the objectives. While 397 sample households were randomly selected for household survey, key informants and focus group discussion participants were purposively selected. To analyze the quantitative data, both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed while thematic content analysis was employed to analyze the qualitative data. Rainfall variability, increase in local temperature, frequent drought, irregularity in rainfall, and pest infestation were identified as the key climatic extremes in the study area. The findings of the study asserted that rural local households in the study area have very high vulnerability to climatic extremes underpinned by their dependence on rain-fed farming. Reduction in crop yield (93%), and decline in production and productivity of livestock (91%) were confirmed as the major impacts of climatic extremes in the study area. Contrary to very high vulnerability to climatic vulnerability, local farming households’ resilience capacities were confirmed to be very poor. Moreover, the overall resilience capacity index was 0.44, which is below the minimum threshold and underpinned by low absorptive (0.45), low adaptive (0.47), and low transformative (0.4) capacity of farmers. Furthermore, the indexes derived from the five resilience building blocks imply that the level of household resilience is still poor (0.47). The very high vulnerability to extreme climate conditions and the very low livelihood resilience of rural farmers requires integrated strategies to reduce vulnerability and enhance livelihood resilience by governmental and non-governmental organizations. More importantly, it is worth to initiate rural livelihoods diversification and sustainable natural resource conservation, and management strategies. Above all, it is worth to integrate climate-resilient social protection programs into rural poverty reduction policies at national, regional, and local levels to reduce vulnerability, and enhance resilience of rural households in the study area.

Forest products monetary contribution to households’ income: A means to improve the livelihood of a low-income rural community in South Ethiopia

Forest products and forest-based activities in Ethiopia play a substantial economic contribution to the livelihoods of rural households. Despite its pivotal role, empirical data are inadequate on forests' monetary contribution across a range of ecological locations and social situation, particularly for rural agrarian communities of the developing nations, like Ethiopia. We estimated the economic contributions of forest products and forest-based activities to forest-dependent rural households’ income and highlighted key socioeconomic characteristics in Wolaita, Ethiopia. We collected demographic, socioeconomic, and forest use data using a semi-structured questionnaire survey of 384 households, and surveyed markets to determine the prices of forest products for the valuation of forest use in three districts. We used descriptive statistics, the Chi-square test, the two-sample t-test, and one-way ANOVA to analyze the data. Findings showed that all respondents were engaged in one way or another in forest-based activities, while 84.6 % were involved in farming. The annual average income from forest products was 252.7US per household, contributing to 28.1 % of the total yearly average income (989.4US$), and 38.3 % relative forest income (RFI). Annual mean household income from crops was 648.1US$. Average annual household income from grazing, charcoal, firewood, woodcutting, cut-and-carry, NTFP, seed selling, medicinal plants, and seedling selling was 77.3 %, 58.4 %, 50.2 %, 24.1 %, 18.5 %, 12.7 %, 7.1 %, 6.8 % and 5.4 % of the total annual mean income, respectively revealing a significant difference (p < 0.05). Family size, farmland size, distance to the forest, and occupation were the determinants of the contribution of forest products to household income. In general, poor households derive the highest relative forest income implying high dependence of the poorer on forest resources in the study area. The findings provide useful information for developing sustainable forest management policies and strategies to enhance the economic and ecological benefits of forests, and highlight the need for funding projects to pay attention to the specific household variables that affect forest use. Mainstreaming conservation activities in development sectors and integrating development and conservation projects may improve the livelihood of the low-income family in the region.

IMPACTS OF COVID-19 LOCKDOWN RESTRICTION ON RURAL HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOOD ACTIVITIES OF ARABLE CROP FARMERS IN YENAGOA AGRICULTURAL ZONE, BAYELSA STATE, NIGERIA

With economic recoveries slowing, COVID-19 uncertainties and disruptions continuing, and worsening fiscal capacity, the outlook for food and nutrition security for many low- and middle-income farmers and their livelihood is of significant concern. The study analyzed the effect of COVID-19 lockdown restriction on rural household food security and livelihood activities of arable crop farmers in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Data were collected through well-structured questionnaire from 100 arable crop farmers. Data were analyzed using simple descriptive and inferential statistical tools. The result showed that fever (x=3.8), cough (x=3.1), shortness of breath (x=3.5), headache (x=3.5), sore throat ( x=3.3) and congestion or running nose (=3.2) were perceived COVID-19 symptoms. Transportation (tricycle and taxi driving) (x=3.7), arable crop farming (x=3.4), handicraft (x=2.5), oil palm farming (x=3.4), fish farming (x=3.2), vegetable farming (x=3.4) and snail farming (x=3.1) were livelihood activities affected by COVID-19 movement restriction. Food availability (x=2.9), feeding efficiency/sufficiency (x=2.6), economic access to food (=2.5) and food quality (=2.5) were food status of the sample arable crop farmers. The regression result showed that the coefficient of COVID-19 movement restriction (2.531) was positive and statistically significant at 1%. The study concluded that COVID-19 movement restriction significantly affected food security status and livelihood activities of arable crop farmers negatively. Hence, the study recommended effort should be made by government and other agricultural agencies to establish food storage, preservation and processing facilities so that during movement restrictions farmers can have access to food and to avoid malnutrition for the aged farmers...

Employment of Land-Expropriated Farmers: The Effects of Land Expropriation and Gender Difference

The employment inequality between males and females in the context of land expropriation is not conducive for land-expropriated farmers to earn a sustainable livelihood. In this study, based on the data of two waves of household surveys, the “Chinese Family Panel Study” in 2016 and 2018, the PSM-DID method is used to test the effects of land expropriation on the employment behavior of the rural labor force, and the heterogeneous results of men’s and women’s employment behaviors are analyzed. The following conclusions are drawn. Land expropriation significantly reduces the employment probability of the labor force, encouraging the rural labor force to withdraw from the labor market voluntarily; land expropriation significantly shortens the employment distance of the labor force overall, promoting the urbanization of the rural labor force in the vicinity; land expropriation has a greater impact on the unemployment of the female labor force than that of the male labor force, and it increases the employment distance of males and reduces that of females, promoting the return of females’ labor to the family. The policy significance of this study is to attach importance to the long-term sustainable livelihoods of rural households and the employment equality of males and females in urbanization. Findings suggest family–friendly compensation for land expropriation should be formulated, rural construction land should be allowed to enter the market instead of being expropriated, and cooperation between county and developed regions should be encouraged for the creation of more jobs.

Determinants of market participation among smallholder teff farmers, empirical evidence from central Ethiopia

The livelihood of many Developing-world rural households depends on agricultural productivity. Commercializing smallholder agriculture is a crucial step in advancing the economic development of most developing nations, including Ethiopia. Although having a lot of production and marketability potential, Teff crop marketing hasn't received enough attention. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to identify variables that affect smallholder Teff producer-farmer decisions regarding market participation as well as the amount of Teff sales in central Ethiopia. For this study, primary data were acquired from 355 Teff producer farm households who were chosen at random throughout the 2022/23 production seasons. Descriptive statistics and Probit and Tobit censored models were employed to analyze the data. The result of the survey indicates that out of a total of 355 Teff producers, 146 households are participants and 209 households are non-participants in Teff crop output. Extension contact, output, and membership in farmer organizations had an impact on households' participation decisions as well as their level of involvement. According to the study, it is necessary to address significant socioeconomic and resource issues to increase the level of market involvement of smallholder farmers in the studied area. Policy interferences that pursue improving these factors are very important to market participation.

Does Land Transfer Enhance the Sustainable Livelihood of Rural Households? Evidence from China

Land transfer and its socio-economic impact are key areas of research interest. Such an examination can help to enhance the sustainability of farming livelihoods, maximise livelihood strategies, and achieve sustainable development. This paper establishes a sustainable livelihood evaluation index for rural households based on sustainable livelihood theory. It measures the degree of sustainability in the livelihoods of farmers based on field research data from 650 rural households in Hubei Province, China, and analyses the impact of land transfer using a multiple linear regression model. A number of control variables were identified and introduced into the analysis. It also uses the regression decomposition approach to investigate the impact of each factor on the sustainable livelihoods of rural households. The findings revealed that (1) land transfer can significantly increase the sustainability of rural households’ livelihoods; (2) livelihood sustainability increases with the size of the land transfer area; and (3) the primary elements determining the ability of rural households to maintain sustainable living are land transfers, the amount of land transferred, and the size of the family. Based on these findings, this study argues for the need to improve land transfer management, accelerate agricultural industrialisation and promote the transfer of land contract management rights to improve the livelihoods of rural households.

Estimating Livelihood Vulnerability and Its Impact on Adaptation Strategies in the Context of Disaster Avoidance Resettlement in Southern Shaanxi, China

In order to alleviate ecological environmental degradation and to enhance sustainable rural household livelihoods, the Shaanxi government of China launched a disaster mitigation program: the disaster avoidance resettlement. Measuring household livelihood vulnerability and further assessing its influence, hold the key to strengthening livelihood adaptation in the context of disaster resettlement. Taking Ankang—in southern Shaanxi Province, China—as an example, this article explores the impact mechanism of household livelihood vulnerability on adaptation strategies through a multinominal logistic regression model in which 657 rural questionnaires were employed. In order to provide more integrated empirical evidence, we draw lessons from the livelihood of the previously proposed vulnerability framework, which has three dimensions: the degree of sensitivity, exposure, and adaptive capacity. The adaptive strategies were divided into pure farming, non-agricultural, and diversified adaptation types according to the types of income sources. The results indicated that livelihood vulnerability varies with different resettlement characteristics. In terms of adaptive strategy types, the vulnerability of pure farming households was the largest. This article found that the relocated households who had a lower sensitivity preferred the non-farming livelihood adaptation strategy. Local households with a high adaptive ability preferred to implement diversified adaptation strategies. The weaker the social support network of the relocated households, the more likely they were to choose off-farm adaptation strategies. Our research results are robust and have broader implications in terms of promoting rural household diversifications of adaptation strategies and reducing livelihood vulnerability.

Effects of rabbit production on income and livelihood of rural households in Nigeria

AimsMore effort and actions are needed to combat the rising levels of food insecurity and poverty in developing countries, particularly among rural households. Rural households can significantly contribute to reducing poverty, enhancing their nutritional condition, and enhancing their standard of living by engaging in rabbit production but there are few empirical studies on the contribution of rabbit production to households’ livelihood and income. Therefore, this study examines how producing rabbits affects rural farmers' income and household livelihood in Nigeria. Methods and resultsMultiple regression and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data gathered from 240 rabbit farms. The findings demonstrated that rabbit farming is a male-dominated enterprise (male 77.5%). According to the regression analysis, the income of rural households was positively and significantly impacted by the income from rabbits. Farmers' ages, interactions with extension agents, credit they accessed, and assets were further determinants of their income. Additionally, rabbit production improved the level of living of rural households. Access to forage, the prevalence of diseases, scarcity of veterinary, and the high cost of medication, were the severe constraints faced in rabbit production. ConclusionsIt may be concluded that rabbit production had a significant contribution to the economic situation, way of life, and well-being of rural households. Although there were some constraints with the operation. Females are to be encouraged in rabbit production as livelihood diversification. Also, it is crucial that banks, governments, and non-governmental organizations offer farmers easily accessible and reasonable loan facilities as this will boost their revenue. Training on forage production and storage is also recommended. Significance and the impact of the studyParticipation will be improved by having an understanding of how rabbit farming affects the income and way of life of rural dwellers. As a result, the findings of this study would enable policymakers to intervene in enhancing its production thereby encouraging more farmers to be involved in the production and also, enhancing the well-being of rural households.

Effect of Microcredit on Welfare of Rural Households in Oyo State, Nigeria

The impact of microcredit on the livelihoods of poor rural households and its contribution to the socioeconomic development of the poor cannot be underestimated. This study investigated the effect of microcredit on rural households irrespective of the enterprises engaged. Primary data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires. A total of one hundred and fifty rural household heads were interviewed using a multi-stage sampling technique to select the respondents and only 134 (89.33%) questionnaires were used for the analysis. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Mean Per Capita Household Expenditure (MPCHE), and ordered logistic regression models. The results of findings showed that 57.46% of the respondents were males, 82.84% were married and 67.91% were literate. The mean of age, household size, and years of formal education were 38.9years, 6.22, and 9.59years respectively. The findings further revealed that household size (Pα0.5), years of formal education (Pα0.1), years of experience (Pα0.1), the interest charged on the credit (Pα0.0a 5), the time lag of credit delivery (Pα0.05), payback period (Pα0.01), and distance to credit source (Pα0.1) were significant to microcredit access in the study area. The ordered logit result revealed that distance to credit source and household total expenditure were significant to welfare level at Pα0.1 and Pα0.01 respectively however, household size and amount borrowed are negatively correlated to welfare level and significant at Pα0.01 and Pα0.1 respectively. The Mean Per Capita Household Expenditure (MPCHE) was N7064.14 with a welfare line of N709.36 and the welfare categories are low (18.66%), average (41.04%), and high (40.30%). It is therefore recommended that the payback period should be extended to allow ease of repayment with low-interest rates and the means of accessing credit should be improved so that more households could benefit. Also, the government should intensify efforts toward education beyond the primary level among rural households.

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.

Examining how internet use and non-farm employment affect rural households’ income gap? Evidence from China

The objective of this study is to assess the effect of Internet use on the income disparity between rural households and to determine how Internet usage can be used to reduce this income gap. We use the Recentered Influence Function Regression (RIF) and data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) conducted by the China Social Science Survey (CSSS) center at Peking University to make the results of regression estimation more reliable. The results reveal that Internet use can make rural households’ income gap shrink considerably, and that the degree of non-farm employment among rural families has a mediating effect between Internet use and the income disparity of farm households. In addition, the Eastern region experiences a stronger mitigating effect from Internet use, whereas ethnic minorities find out no such mitigating effect. This study expands the scope of income disparity theory, provides new ideas for the construction of digital villages, and identifies new empirical evidence and decision-making grounds for improving the livelihoods of rural households and narrowing the income gap between rural households.

The Impact of Basotho Migrant Labourers’ Retrenchment from South African Mines on Rural Development in Lesotho: The Post-Mine Livelihood Strategies of Former Basotho Miners at Koro-Koro in the Maseru District

The migration of Basotho men in search of employment opportunities in South African diamond and gold mines dates back to the 1800s. The South African mining industry has been the source of employment and livelihood for many Basotho families by remitting incomes for centuries. However, there was a downturn in events starting in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when many South African mines started to downsize their foreign labour force. This contributed to the loss of remittances that were invested in farming and the maintenance of many rural households in Lesotho. This study was conducted to investigate the post-mine livelihood strategies of former Basotho migrant labourers at Koro-Koro in the Maseru district. The research followed a descriptive research design where primary data was collected from a sample of 50 former Basotho mine workers using snowballing and simple random sampling techniques. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using face-to-face interviews and observation. The collected data was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively using descriptive statistics, mainly percentages. It is argued in this paper that retrenchment and the loss of jobs by many Basotho men in South African mines were major blows to the livelihoods of many rural households. In addition, Basotho men who worked in South African mines are now confronted with unemployment as well as futile exertions while engaging in alternative income generating activities, both farm and non-farm.

Contribution of Shea-Based Livelihoods to Income of Rural Women in North-Western Ghana

The shea industry is a self-contained industry, and it is argued that with critical investment in processing machinery and skill training of the primary actors, it can sustainably enhance the livelihoods of poor rural households. Following an investment in semi-mechanised shea butter processing projects in two communities in North-Western Ghana, this study examined the contribution of the projects to rural women’s income in the communities. Data were collected from 156 shea butter producers, using questionnaires, two key informant interviews and two focus group discussions with the executives of the producer associations. The study found that although farming is the main occupation of the majority of women, shea butter processing is the leading sector because it contributes relatively higher to women’s income. Intriguingly, the income from shea-based livelihood is higher than the minimum annual wage in Ghana. This implies that the shea sector has the potential of contributing to household income, just as the formal sector. In order to enhance the role of the sector towards livelihoods, continuous support to the primary actors (women), and the ability to link them to external market remain critical.

Management Practices and Economic Contribution of Eucalypts Woodlots to the Rural Household Livelihoods: The Case of Cheha District, Southern Ethiopia

In Ethiopia rural households growing Eucalypts at farm level in the form of woodlot become popular and Eucalyptus woodlot products play a significant role in household economy in particular and economic development of the nation in general. This study was conducted in Cheha districts in the Guraghe zone to assess the farmers’ management practices and analyze the socioeconomic contribution of Eucalypts woodlot to the livelihood of the rural households in the area. Economic data was collected by employing a formal survey using a structured questionnaire. Woodlot inventory was conducted on farmers’ eucalyptus woodlots to identify the existing trees' frequency distribution by diameter classes that indicated economic value. The latest version of Stata, version 13, SAS version 9.1, sigma plot version 12, and Microsoft Excel were used to analyze the data. The result of the study revealed that most of the sampled farmers in the study area had Eucalypts woodlot, targeting either to earn more income or to increase the productivity of the land which has denied growing cereal crops and pastures. Most of the farmers considered Eucalypts as one of the major sources of income and risk aversion. Excluding household consumption, the aggregate cash income contribution of Eucalypts woodlot products to rural households was more than 34% for midland and 37% for highland agro-ecologies. Further studies are needed on the management aspect of Eucalypts woodlots for the productivity of allocated land.