Rural Poverty Reduction Research Articles

Distribution of Sheep Fattening Practices and Marketing Systems in the Sagnarigu Municipality in Northern Ghana

The study was conducted in the Sagnarigu Municipality in Northern Ghana to assess sheep fattening practices and marketing systems. Eighty respondents were selected and questionnaires administrated to them. Data was summarized and analysed using SPSS version 20. Majority of the fatteners were within the ages 21-30 years. Sheep fatteners were not equally distributed across the different age groups. Most of the farmers had at least primary education while majority (30.0%) of them had tertiary education. The sheep fattening enterprise in the area was male and Muslim dominant activity. Majority of respondents were engaged in specialized skill work as their main occupation with self-financing as the main source of income for the sheep fattening business. Majority had at most 5 years fattening experience. Semi-intensive system of management was mainly practiced. Farmers use wide range of feed stuff alternatively and supplied from multiple sources. Mature animals (≥ 6 months) sourced from farmers’ own flock were mostly used in fattening. Generating cash was the primary motivation for fattening sheep, with a convenient market for the fattened sheep. Customers of fattened sheep were mainly butchers. mostly at local markets (50%). Price determination for the fattened sheep was bargaining. The major constraints of sheep fatteners were diseases and mortality and lack of capital/financial. It was concluded that sheep fattening practices and marketing system was a business in the Sagnarigu municipality, nevertheless, it was not well organized and developed. To create a lucrative sheep fattening industry, government and non-governmental organizations should promote sheep fattening by providing financial and training support for the fatteners and the teaming youth in Ghana to venture into the business. This could contribute to enhancing livelihood of rural resource poor farmers, unemployment and poverty reduction as well as women empowerment in the country.

Association of crop commercialization and rural households' multidimensional poverty using targeted maximum likelihood estimation

Recent evidence shows the highest prevalence of multidimensional poverty in the world. To alleviate poverty, Ethiopia is investing in stimulating agricultural commercialization for poverty reduction, driving sustainable economic growth, and creating jobs. Therefore, this study investigated the causal relationship between crop commercialization and multidimensional poverty across Ethiopian rural households using the Ethiopia Socioeconomic Survey 2018/19 data, which included 1129 crop commercialized and 1585 completely subsistence rural households. Moreover, this study also examined the causal effect of crop commercialization on the multidimensional poverty mediated by mobile phone ownership status. The study used the double robust method of the augmented inverse probability of treatment weighted (AIPTW) and targeted maximum likelihood estimation (TMLE) methods. The result showed that crop commercialization has an association with multidimensional poverty. Specifically, the TMLE with a default super learner model estimates were the most precise and suggest that the prevalence of risk of being multidimensionally poor among rural households who were crop commercialized is 12.2 % lower than for those who were completely subsistence households. Thus, it is important to have more robust policies like crop commercialization to target rural multidimensional poverty reduction. Moreover, the controlled direct effect estimation analyses showed that crop-commercialized rural households reduced the adjusted risk of multidimensional poverty by; 12 % for those who owned mobile phones and 7.8 % for those who did not. To ensure sustainable livelihoods for rural multidimensional poor households, it is necessary to have a multidisciplinary policy intervention to promote crop commercialization through the spread of mobile phones in rural areas.

Social Capital, Food Consumption Expenditure and Rural Poverty Reduction in Nigeria

Social Capital, Food Consumption Expenditure and Rural Poverty Reduction in Nigeria

Research on the Impact of Rural Tourism on Farmer’s Sustainable Livelihood and Coordinated Development (Case Study Jiwodu Village in Yangshuo, Guangxi)

Rural tourism is considered a viable strategy for achieving sustainable rural economic development and poverty reduction, offering significant economic, social, cultural, and ecological benefits. However, as an external force, rural tourism disrupts the livelihood capital and strategies of farmers, significantly influencing their sustainable livelihoods. This paper uses the sustainable livelihood analysis framework from a micro perspective to assess rural tourism's impact on farmers' livelihoods, particularly in Jiwodu Village, Guangxi, China. By categorizing farmers based on the proportion of rural tourism income in their total household income—Tourism-related, Tourism-dominated, and Tourism-exclusive livelihoods—the study constructs a farmer livelihood capital scale, employs a participatory assessment method, and compares changes in the five major livelihood capitals before and after rural tourism development, exploring farmers' perceptions of its impact.

Agricultural and rural development interventions and poverty reduction: Global evidence from 16 impact assessment studies

Agricultural and rural development interventions can reduce global poverty by providing growth-oriented tools, including access to finance, training, and markets. While such interventions effectively reduce monetary poverty (e.g., $1 a day poverty line), there is increasing interest in incorporating non-monetary poverty indicators, such as education, health, and living standards, to capture inherent multidimensionality in poverty. This study analyzes data from 16 impact evaluation studies conducted between 2019 and 2023 to examine whether and to what extent agricultural and rural development interventions affect multidimensional poverty of small-scale producers. Our analysis shows a 4 percent reduction in multidimensional poverty for treatment households compared to comparison households. Our findings suggest that agricultural and rural development interventions play a positive role in reducing poverty and have the potential to improve the long-term well-being of poor households.

Does Expenditure Structure Affect Rural Poverty Alleviation in Indonesia? The Role of Village Fund Management

This study aimed to explore public financial management at the village level and identify the types of village fund expenditures that had the most significant relationship in reducing short-term rural poverty in Indonesia. Using the 2019-2021 panel data and the fixed effect method, the authors analyzed the relationship between the five types of village fund spending on poverty in 49,192 village units. The estimation results showed that spending merely on village development negatively and significantly affected the number of low-income rural families in Indonesia. Meanwhile, spending on disaster management, emergencies, and village urgency indicated a positive and significant relationship with the number of low-income families in the village. It implies that the government should focus on spending programs and activities that create job opportunities and increase income for rural poverty reduction. The government also needs to improve data related to uniformity and validity in measuring, recording, and reporting data in ministries, institutions, and regional governments. Thus, in allocating village funds, the government must expand the formula allocation so that village funds can significantly reduce rural poverty.

An integrated agroforestry-bioenergy system for enhanced energy and food security in rural sub-Saharan Africa

Most people in rural sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity and rely on traditional, inefficient, and polluting cooking solutions that have adverse impacts on both human health and the environment. Here, we propose a novel integrated agroforestry-bioenergy system that combines sustainable biomass production in sequential agroforestry systems with biomass-based cleaner cooking solutions and rural electricity production in small-scale combined heat and power plants and estimate the biophysical system outcomes. Despite conservative assumptions, we demonstrate that on-farm biomass production can cover the household’s fuelwood demand for cooking and still generate a surplus of woody biomass for electricity production via gasification. Agroforestry and biochar soil amendments should increase agricultural productivity and food security. In addition to enhanced energy security, the proposed system should also contribute to improving cooking conditions and health, enhancing soil fertility and food security, climate change mitigation, gender equality, and rural poverty reduction.

Escaping poverty: changing characteristics of China’s rural poverty reduction policy and future trends

Eliminating poverty is a shared aspiration of people worldwide. This article analyzes 762 rural poverty-related texts promulgated and implemented by the Chinese Government since 1984 using content analysis based on a three-dimensional framework encompassing the time of policy issuance, policy goals, and types of policy instruments. The study outlines the overall landscape and evolutionary context of the policy system. The results show that, during absolute poverty governance, China’s rural poverty governance can be broadly divided into three stages: regional development-oriented poverty alleviation, comprehensive poverty alleviation, and targeted poverty alleviation. Based on the production-oriented welfare model, economic development became the primary goal of poverty alleviation policies, while insufficient attention was given to service support and capacity-building goals. The alleviation of poverty mainly relied on the propulsive force generated by supply-side policy instruments led by the Government and the external driving force generated by environmental policy instruments, with a significant deficiency in the propulsive force produced by demand-side policy instruments. Entering the phase of relative poverty governance, optimizing poverty governance policy instruments requires breaking free from path dependence, following the evolutionary pattern of poverty governance. It involves ensuring that policy instruments support economic development while emphasizing addressing service support and capacity-building goals. It is crucial to increase the frequency of using demand-side policy instruments, stimulate their pulling force on poverty alleviation, and achieve a trend of evolutionary innovation and the collaborative governance of policy instruments.

Second stage land certification and land rental market in northern Ethiopia

AbstractThe establishment of secured and easily transferable land use rights is a key component of rural development and poverty reduction pathways in many underdeveloped countries. In this study, we use balanced panel data collected from 407 farm households between 2009/10 and 2014/15 production seasons and apply difference‐in‐difference approach to examine impact of second‐stage land certification on tenure security, participation and extent of participation in the land rental market. Our finding shows that second‐stage land certification has helped to boost tenure security of smallholder farmers. However, the differences in difference results show that the second stage land certification has not yet started to influence farm households’ participation in the land rental market. This could probably be due to the fact that the program is at its early stage of implementation and may warrant further scrutiny with additional time.

Community Based Tourism, Livelihood Asset and Poverty: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia

ABSTRACT Based on cross-sectional survey data collected from rural households (n = 446), this study analyzes the impact of community-based tourism (CBT) on sustainable livelihood assets of rural households and poverty. The propensity score matching (PSM) finding revealed that CBT has improved the overall livelihood asset value of participants by 30.4%. The FGT poverty analysis result also showed that multidimensional/asset poverty greatly varies by participation and is found to be high among CBT nonparticipants. Thus, rural poverty reduction through enhancing livelihood assets demands further emphasis by policymakers and tourism development stakeholders at all levels for the sustainability of both household livelihoods and tourism development.

Agriculture-livestock-forestry nexus and household income diversification: Experiences from selected villages of West Bengal, India

CONTEXTThe COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to the livelihoods of rural households, especially in developing countries. The reverse migrated workers faced the most economic crisis. They have created additional pressure on local resources and opportunities to maintain their livelihood. In this connection the agriculture-livestock-forestry nexus plays a significant role by providing them livelihood opportunities. OBJECTIVESThis paper attempts to understand the resource use patterns during the post-COVID period, and analyse the impact of agriculture-livestock-forest nexus on household income diversification and poverty reduction. METHODSThe present study uses a novel approach to fulfil the objectives of the study. A well-designed survey was conducted to collect the necessary primary data from sixteen sample villages of West Bengal, India. The scientific design of the survey and data collection procedure is maintained. Moreover, geospatial techniques are used to examine the land use and land cover patterns of the study areas. The econometric models are estimated to inspect the role of agriculture-livestock-forest nexus and household characteristics on household level income diversification and the reduction of poverty. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSOur analysis reveals that a significant number of the sample households depend on agriculture, livestock and forestry to maintain their livelihoods. The reverse migration of workforce has created additional pressure on these activities. This is mainly due to non-availability of other non-farm employment opportunities locally. The analysis of econometric models shows that while engagement in different activities of the primary sector makes income diversified, it is more so when the households possess necessary technologies, skills and financial supports. All of these are crucial given that income diversification helps households to overcome of poverty. SIGNIFICANCEThe intricate web of the agriculture-livestock-forestry nexus serves as a critical source of livelihood for a substantial number of households, yet the challenges and opportunities it presents necessitate targeted policy interventions. Enabling technology transfer, fostering skill development, and extending financial support emerge as key measures to diversify rural livelihoods, thereby fostering sustainable rural development and poverty reduction in the post-pandemic landscape. The integration of socioeconomic data and geospatial satellite information offers an invaluable basis for formulating effective policy strategies in this evolving era.

Securing agropastoral system and rural livelihood through the market garden in Niger: unfolding smallholders’ resilience to interwoven challenges

Market gardens in Niger are a crucial tool for securing agropastoral systems and rural livelihoods amid interwoven challenges such as climate change, conflicts and insecurity, demographic pressure and poverty. A study of 60 small garden farmers found that market gardens significantly enhance farmers’ income and household food security. The average annual income from market gardens is 126.51 USD, accounting for 70% of total income. However, challenges like water scarcity, land insecurity, and limited access to credit and markets hinder their full socio-economic role. The farmers try to overcome those obstacles through cooperation, sending remittance from part-time off-farm activities, and mobilisation of resources based on their social capital. Those who could not overcome the challenges left the village for a ‘safer’ location. The study emphasises the need for community collective action, rural-urban networking, and external support to improve market gardens for rural poverty reduction and food security improvement.

How does payment for watershed ecosystem services alleviate farmer poverty in conservation intervention areas? Evidence from China.

Payment for watershed ecosystem services (PES) has been applied to water conservation and poverty reduction in an increasing number of developing countries. This study evaluates the effect of payment for watershed ecosystem services on farmers' income in conservation intervention areas using a difference-in-differences model and a panel dataset that covers 18 countries in the Xin'an River Basin in China for fourteen consecutive years (2006-2019). The results show that PES programs increase farmers' income and that the poverty reduction effect is sustainable. The PES programs mainly increase the farmers' income in conservation intervention areas through two paths: triggering the transfer of agricultural labor and promoting agricultural restructuring. PES programs are pro-poor and more conducive to increasing the income of farmers in upstream regions and counties with lower levels of economic development. This paper reveals the specific role played by PES in promoting rural poverty reduction in developing countries, providing insights into alleviating the contradiction between poverty and watershed ecosystem protection.

Breaking the chains of poverty: examining the influence of smartphone usage on multidimensional poverty in rural settings

We analyze the impact of smartphone usage on multidimensional poverty reduction. Utilizing the A-F approach, we compute a multidimensional poverty index based on five dimensions: education, health, income, living standard, and labor force. This index categorizes multidimensional poverty into three levels: Vulnerable Multidimensional Poverty Index (VMPI), General Multidimensional Poverty Index (GMPI), and Extreme Multidimensional Poverty Index (EMPI), following MPI criteria. Furthermore, we investigate the mediating role of social capital in the smartphone-multidimensional poverty relationship through a mediating effects analysis. We used the survey data of 382 sample out-of-poverty rural households in Jiangxi, China, in 2020. Our results indicated that: (1) Education (37.80%), labor force (29.7%), and health (20.40%) were identified as the primary contributors to multidimensional poverty. (2) Increasing deprivation categories correlated with declining multidimensional poverty index, following an inverted U-shaped pattern. (3) Smartphone usage significantly reduced VMPI (57.6%), GMPI (52.6%), and EMPI (5%). (4) Social capital fully mediated EMPI reduction through smartphones (91.67%), and partially mediated VMPI (14.09%) and GMPI (20.84%) reduction. These insights inform targeted policy formulation for rural multidimensional poverty reduction.

Exploring the Rural Revitalization Effect under the Interaction of Agro-Tourism Integration and Tourism-Driven Poverty Reduction: Empirical Evidence for China

Under the robust impetus of China’s rural revitalization strategy, agro-tourism integration and tourism-driven poverty reduction have profoundly impacted various aspects of China’s economy, society, and ecology. This has propelled coordinated urban–rural development and the sustainable development of the tourism industry. This study introduces an analytical framework encompassing tourism-driven poverty reduction, agro-tourism integration, and rural revitalization. Through PVAR and threshold models, it empirically examines the interactive effects, dynamic relationships, and threshold effects between agro-tourism integration, tourism-driven poverty reduction, and rural revitalization. The conclusions are as follows: Firstly, the indices of rural revitalization and the level of agro-tourism integration show an increasing trend across Chinese provinces, with varying trends in tourism-driven poverty reduction efficiency. Secondly, there is a significant dynamic relationship among these factors, with the explanatory power of tourism-driven poverty reduction and agro-tourism integration gradually strengthening. Agro-tourism integration is identified as the most effective means of driving rural revitalization, while tourism-driven poverty reduction has a relatively weaker direct impact. Thirdly, tourism-driven poverty reduction exhibits a positive impulse response to agro-tourism integration. The improvement in tourism-driven poverty reduction efficiency propels further development in agro-tourism integration, thereby fostering rural revitalization. The efficiency of tourism-driven poverty reduction presents a single threshold effect in the process of agro-tourism integration promoting rural revitalization. Fourthly, the development of China’s tourism industry has become an indispensable means of promoting rural revitalization and poverty reduction. However, rural revitalization is a comprehensive project influenced by various factors, requiring improvements and development across multiple aspects.

Pobreza rural, laços de rede e forças institucionais: uma análise de evidências empíricas em Aguascalientes, México

Abstract The research objectives are: 1) to determine the effects that knowledge, educational and socio-cultural capabilities have on poverty reduction; 2) to determine the effects that collaborative networks have on knowledge, educational and socio-cultural capacities; and 3) to determine the effects of legal protection and government support on collaborative networks. The capability approach was taken as a theoretical basis to develop the study variables. We conducted an empirical study, using a sample of 95 farmers located in the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico. Important implications were obtained on the necessity to have network ties to impact capabilities that reduce rural poverty. One of the most important findings was not finding empirical evidence on the relationship between educational capabilities and the reduction of rural poverty. For this reason, this situation must be reviewed in-depth by the educational policy of the region. Farmers who reported having better socio-cultural capacities had the greatest effects in reducing poverty within their rural communities. Similarly, collaborative networks favor knowledge capacities because important information is shared through social and economic actors.

Research on the Impact of Digital Inclusive Finance on Rural Poverty Reduction and Income Increase

Research on the Impact of Digital Inclusive Finance on Rural Poverty Reduction and Income Increase

Understanding good governance: voices of rural people in South-Western Nigeria

Scholars and policymakers widely acknowledge the critical role of good governance in rural development and poverty reduction. Unfortunately, decades of good governance reforms have not reduced poverty in Nigeria. But what is good governance? The problem is that the working definition and popularized principles of good governance do not actually emanate from the poor. Moreover, there is a lack of contextualization of the concept of good governance within the Nigerian context. Rather, donors’ institutional understanding is universalized through the imposition of a good governance agenda. This study aims to bridge this gap by examining the concept of good governance through the lens of rural communities in south-west Nigeria. Understanding good governance from the viewpoint of local citizens, who are the recipients of governance reforms, is vital for effective targeted reform. The study is based on the premise that communities possess a deep understanding of their own social circumstances and possess the capacity to express their unique insights. Employing Participatory Action Research (PAR) and qualitative methods like semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, the research engaged a purposively selected sample from three rural communities in south-west Nigeria. The findings revealed that, for these communities, good governance primarily involves the government's ability to meet basic needs and provide welfare-enhancing infrastructure. Conversely, bad governance is characterized by declining welfare, economic hardship, and inadequate infrastructure. Interestingly, participants did not prioritize reforms like regular elections or anti-corruption measures as core attributes of good governance, although they did not oppose these aspects. This study underscores the need to incorporate the perspectives of local citizens in defining good governance, allowing for homegrown solutions that might offer quicker and cost-effective strategies for development.

Influence of Traditional Medicine as Initiative for Rural Tourism and Poverty Reduction Strategy Tanzania: A Case of Kisarawe District

Despite recent scientific advancement and globalization, traditional medicines and complementary/alternative medicine are still primary sources of health care, livelihoods and income generation among local communities falling under Rural Tourism (RT). This study assessed the influence of traditional medicine initiative as a rural tourism strategy inter alia for poverty reduction in Kisarawe district in Tanzania. The main objective was to examine the local community perception on traditional medicine administered by traditional healers whether it has impact in promoting community health compared to modern medicines; but also, as eco-tourism strategy for poverty reduction; while sustaining environmental protection and conservation of various bio-diversities. The study employed mixed methods included structured questionnaires, key informants’ interviews, application of Likert scale range from 1 to 7 in data collection from a sample size of 100 respondents. Other methods entailed direct field observation and reviews of relevant literature. SPSS software version 20 was used to analyze multivariate analysis. Results showed willingness of community members to undergo training on improvement of knowledge on traditional medicines supported by tourism programmes, government policies and regulations for sustainable RT, poverty reduction, environmental protection and conservation. The study concluded that, community perception on traditional medicine positively moderates the relationship between rural tourism development and poverty reduction; however, there was limited co-ordination of tourism activities; and insufficient collaboration between the public and private sector. It recommended that; future research should network with traditional healers in order to know more indigenous medicinal plant species in order to formalize their application in public health while promoting eco-tourism for social economic development of local communities in Kisarawe district.

Tumpangsari-Agroforestry Practices and Its Socioeconomic Impact on Communities in the Gunung Arjuna-Lalijiwo Forest Reserve, East Java, Indonesia

The issue of poverty remains a significant and persistent challenge in Indonesia, particularly in rural areas. Agroforestry has been practised in the Gunung Arjuna Reserve Forest, which has been managed by Perhutani since the 1970s. However, the absence of effective oversight and guidance has hindered substantial socioeconomic progress. In 2016, the management of 544.74 hectares of this forest was taken over by Universitas Brawijaya (UBF). This study focused on the Karangploso sub-district, specifically within the Tawangargo, Donowarih, and Ngenep villages under UBF's management. The study aimed to assess the impact of the transition from Perhutani's management to UBF's current administration of the Gunung Arjuna Reserve Forest. It did so by (i) analyzing factors influencing the total area of cultivated land in the tumpangsari-agroforestry system and (ii) evaluating the socioeconomic consequences of this management shift. A quantitative approach and convenience sampling technique were employed, selecting respondents based on accessibility and proximity to the researcher on-site. The results indicated that 34% of respondents cultivated crops on land areas ranging from 1.0 to 1.5 hectares. The regression analysis demonstrated a strong relationship (R2 = 0.847) between factors such as work duration, plant diversity, education level, income, and the number of family members engaged in farming and the total cultivated land area. The study also found that the transition from Perhutani to UBF management had a significantly positive impact on socioeconomic aspects, such as total income, social interactions, and infrastructure, as perceived by 67% of respondents. Furthermore, 70% of respondents acknowledged their reliance on the agroforestry system for income, with 88.86% strongly agreeing that it contributed to family income, and 84.57% strongly agreeing that it was a vital source of raw materials for sustenance. The implication of transferring the 544.74-hectare reserve forest to Universitas Brawijaya had a favourable outcome, enhancing the living standards of the communities in the vicinity. The tumpangsari-agroforestry system not only improved socioeconomic conditions but also fostered social interactions, improved infrastructure, and preserved the forest's ecology. It is recommended that the community continue cultivating a variety of crops with guidance from UB Forest management and other stakeholders. Creating national awareness about the benefits of agroforestry in rural poverty reduction is vital, emphasizing the need to explore and adopt diversified livelihood strategies.