scholarly journals A Quest for Livelihood Sustainability? Patterns, Motives and Determinants of Non-Farm Income Diversification among Agricultural Households in Punjab, Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9084
Author(s):  
Muhammad Amjed Iqbal ◽  
Muhammad Rizwan ◽  
Azhar Abbas ◽  
Muhammad Sohail Amjad Makhdum ◽  
Rakhshanda Kousar ◽  
...  

Many farmers worldwide resort to choosing various income-earning options for diversifying their income sources as a means of risk-avoidance, social protection, and, above all, to finance agricultural operations. Non-farm income generation among farm families has become an imperative part of livelihood earning strategies in recent years amid fast-evolving climatic and sociodemographic changes. In this regard, this study seeks to identify the patterns and socioeconomic factors responsible for the uptake of various non-farm income diversification sources among agricultural households in southern Punjab, Pakistan. For this purpose, a total of 290 farm households were sampled using a random sampling technique to collect relevant data through structured questionnaires. Results show that approximately 79% of the surveyed farmers were involved in non-farm income generation activities, whereas, the income from these sources accounts for about 15% of total household income. The majority of the respondents offered labour for off-farm work followed by self-employment ventures. The major reason to pursue non-farm work includes low income from agriculture, mitigating risks associated with farming, and acquiring funds to finance farming operations, along with the desire to increase family income. A range of socioeconomic and infrastructure-related variables are associated with the decision to participate in specific off-farm activity, such as age, education, family size, farm income, dependency burden, farming experience, and distance to the main city. Results imply the provision of technical support to increase livelihood from farming operations to ensure food security and curb rural-urban migration. However, vocational training can enhance the rural inhabitants’ skillset to diversify on the farm through agribusiness development within rural areas, enabling them to employ local people instead of populating urban centres.

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeniyi Felix Akinrinde ◽  
Kemi Funmilayo Omotesho ◽  
Israel Ogulande

The rising incidences of poverty among rural farming families are the reason behind renewed interest in income diversification. This study determined the level of income diversification; identified alternative income sources; examined the reasons for diversification; and identified the constraints to diversification. A three-stage random sampling technique was used in selecting 160 households on which a structured interview schedule was administered. Descriptive statistics, a Likert-type scale, and the Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation were used for data analyses. Findings reveal that 1.3% of the households had no additional sources of income while 40.6% had at least four. Trading (55%) and livestock keeping (40.7%) were the most popular alternative income sources. The declining farm income (mean = 2.96) was the primary reason for diversification, while poor rural infrastructure (mean = 3.04) was the most severe constraint to income diversification. Farm size, access to extension services, household size, age and educational level of the household head were significantly related to the level of income diversification at p < 0.05. The study concluded that the level of income diversification was high and influenced by socioeconomic characteristics of the households. It recommends that the government should provide adequate infrastructural facilities in rural areas. Farmer associations should also ensure better prices for agricultural produce through joint marketing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Tetteh Anang ◽  
Richard W. N. Yeboah

Income diversification by farm households has gained the attention of researchers and policy makers due to its commonness especially in developing countries. This study sought to empirically investigate the determinants of off-farm income among smallholder farmers in northern Ghana using a sample of 300 rice farmers. A double-hurdle model was used to determine the factors influencing participation in off-farm work as well as the predictors of actual amounts earned from working outside the farm. The results revealed that gender, farming experience, years of education, and access to credit are the factors determining participation in off-farm work while farming experience, years of education, and geographical location are the determinants of income from off-farm work. The paper concludes that measures to enhance rural income diversification will spur the rural economy and these measures should seek to address the problem of low level of formal education in rural areas.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niccolò Riccardi ◽  
Simone Villa ◽  
Andrea Giacomelli ◽  
Mama M Diaw ◽  
Mamoud Ndiaye ◽  
...  

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) unevenly affects individuals across the globe, especially in rural areas of low-income countries. Aim of the study was to assess the impact of social protection to increase TB awareness on treatment outcomes among TB patients in a rural area of Senegal. Materials & methods: The study, conducted in Fimela district (Senegal) from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2019 and the intervention started from 31 January 2013, includes activities to increase awareness, active case finding, active follow-up and social protection. Results: Overall, 435 subjects – mainly male and young – were included in the analysis. Among TB cases, 94% had pulmonary involvement, 87% had no previous TB history, and 6% resulted positive HIV. Improved outcome was observed once intervention began (from 71 to 91%, p < 0.001); whereas mortality decreased (from 15 to 5%; p < 0.001), especially for those HIV co-infected for whom TB mortality rate dropped from 70 to 29%. Conclusion: After beginning the cooperation program, TB treatment success increased as a result of the decline of mortality, especially in people living with HIV.


Income diversification is an important strategy to augments income among small and marginal farmers. This study evaluated the income diversification among farm households in the Ariyalur district. A multi-stage sampling technique was used, and 115 rural households were selected by applying Arkin and Colton formula. The data collected were analyzed using the Herfindahl index and Gini-coefficient. The results showed that the average number of income sources accessed by all marginal farmers is about 1.81, and small farmers are about 1.90, and small farmers had an income diversification range of 0.64 to 0.65, which is a medium diversification category. When the non-farm and off income were considered together with agricultural income, the overall income inequality dropped. The results suggested that the local government should take serious steps to create employment avenues for smallholders outside agriculture that provide credit, training, and necessary inputs to rural households and recommended for public investment in rural infrastructures, such as roads and bridges, telecommunications, education, energy, and water.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazish Kanwal ◽  
Muhammad Ammad Khan ◽  
Zhihao Zheng

Abstract The agricultural sector in Pakistan is not well-established to provide full employment opportunities and sufficient income for needed living standard to the rural population. Stagnant agricultural productivity and low returns in farming have led rural residents to look for alternative livelihoods, especially non-farm employment. With this background, the present study is an endeavor to empirically determine the factors of non-farm income diversification of rural farm households in Peshawar district of Pakistan. The study was undertaken in four villages and data was amassed from 196 small farming households by using the multi-stage sampling technique. The data were analyzed using the descriptive statistical measures, the mean of income shares approach and the ordinary least squares regression analysis. The results indicate that in all the selected villages, the pattern of non-farm employment was more or less the same; however, the income from non-farm employment activities had an important contribution towards incrementing the absolute income of farm households. Non-farm income diversification is hence crucial for sustaining livelihoods and an integral dimension for invigorating rural economies. Therefore, the study recommends the promotion of non-farm employment as a good strategy for supplementing the income of small farmers without shifting attention from agriculture.


2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 39-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birte Nienaber ◽  
Irma Potočnik Slavič

Abstract Multifunctionality of rural areas in Europe has become an important aspect of rural development in the last years. An important instrument to ameliorate the multifunctionality is diversification of farm income. As various forms of farm income diversification have been developed throughout Europe, the paper will survey the effectiveness of undertaken measures. First the issue of farm diversification will be argued theoretically. Then case studies from Saarland, Germany, and from Slovenia will analyse the importance of diversification for rural areas. A comparison of the two regions will reveal the chances and risks of diversification in a comparable new and old EU member state.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manan Aslam, Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Ahsin Ayub

The study investigated the impact of major factors influencing the women education in district Faisalabad. The multi-stage sampling technique was used to collect the data. The Faisalabad district was selected for this purpose. The tehsils of Faisalabad district were Faisalabad, ChakJhumra, Jaranwala, Summandri and Tandianwala. The data was collected in three phases. In first phase tehsil Faisalabad was selected and in second phase the tehsil Faisalabad was categorized into three segments based on the income distribution, the first segment represented the low-income class of the society and the second category represents the middle-class areas and the later represents the higher income group families. While in the third phase, the two areas from each class were selected for data collection using random sampling technique. The 40 respondents were selected from each class i.e. lower income, middle income and higher income. The total sample size was consisted of 120 respondents. The comprehensive questionnaire carried the information including social and economic conditions of the household was designed data collection. The data was analyzed using statistical packages for social sciences SPSS. The study inferred that the women education was influenced by the rising poverty, family income and social barriers. Finally, the study recommended that government should take steps in reducing poverty by establishing departments that raises the employment rate for women so that peoples don’t neglect the major portion of social capital the females.   


Author(s):  
Ettah O. I. ◽  
Ebu B. O.

Formal agricultural loan is an important tool in agricultural development and key to agricultural modernization.  This is because this source of loans enables farmers to have access to production inputs as well as adopt modern farm technologies. For agricultural development to be achieved and sustained, agricultural loan is required especially in the rural areas where majority of the populace are engaged in agriculture. The study set out to analyse the determinants of agricultural loan access from formal sources in Cross River State central agricultural zone, Nigeria and proffer policy recommendations based on the findings. A three-stage random sampling technique was employed to get a total of 100 respondents with the use of a detailed structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression model were used to analyse the data. Result of the analysis showed that socio-economic characteristics of farmers such as: age, gender, occupational status, household size, educational level, farming experience, farm size, farm income, off- farm income, and labour use by respondents determined farmers access or otherwise to loan from formal sources and result of the logit regression model showed that age, education, farm size, collateral, farm income and cooperative membership all affected access of loan from formal sources positively, while farm experience do not determine access of loan from formal sources. The following recommendations were made: farmers in the area should be encouraged by government to enhance their educational level, more farmland should also be made available to increase their farm size and cooperative society’s membership should be encouraged by government.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Bhaswati Mondal

Commuting helps to keep balance between residence and workplace of workers. With growing accessibility and connectivity, the importance of commuting is increasing all over the world. It is becoming a major substitute to migration. In commute-studies, commute-pattern is an important chapter. It highlights commuters’ directions of movement, distance they cover, modes of transport they use, the time they take to commute, etc. Unlike the urban-based commute pattern, commute pattern in rural areas are relatively an under-researched issue. In fact, traditionally rural people are thought to carry a sedentary lifestyle. Using primary data, this study aims to explore the commute patterns of rural workers located in the village of Gandharbapur of Barddhaman district of West Bengal, India. All the commuters were found to be engaged in non-farm work. Commuters stem from two major groups. One group of commuters is accumulated farm-income induced. They possess sufficient agricultural land. Investing their surplus farm-income, they have established non-farm works. The second group of commuters is poverty-driven. They are landless poor or are marginal farmers and to escape poverty, they have slipped into these works. Located beyond the suburban area (Memari being the nearest town), most commuters commute to nearby rural areas. Due to non-availability of public transport, women commute less than men do. Regular-paid government employees commute longer than other workers commute. The article concludes with a summary of findings and recommendations for further research.


2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Esperanza Vera-Toscano ◽  
Eduardo Moyano Estrada

Using data from a regional survey undertaken in 2008 to a sample of female rural residents of Andalucía, this paper analyzes the distributive effects of the increase in female employment on family income inequality. Results show the significant contribution of female earnings to family income and its distribution in rural areas. Nonetheless, female employment tends to be highly unstable with a high degree of seasonality and makes no contribution to the Social Security System. This situation exposes low income families, in particular, towards a high risk of social exclusion.


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