IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/iaae18/276988.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Dynamics of Off-farm Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Van Den Broeck, G.
  • Kilic, T.

Abstract

Off-farm income constitutes a significant share of the household livelihood portfolios across Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, the determinants of and dynamics in individuals participation in off-farm activities have not received adequate attention due to the broader weaknesses in individual-level data collection and the lack of longitudinal studies that track individuals over time. This paper uses national panel survey data from Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda; provides recent empirical evidence on off-farm employment participation rates; and analyzes the drivers of entry into employment and continued employment. The analysis is conducted across gender, and across rural and urban areas. A significant share of the population participates in employment. Men participate in wage and self-employment to a greater extent compared to women across time as well as within and across countries, with the exception of women s rural non-farm entrepreneurship being more common in Ethiopia and Nigeria. The participation shares are static over time, with only marginal increases in Malawi and Tanzania. However, a substantial share enters and exits employment over time, pointing to the dynamic nature of employment. Drivers of entry into employment and continued employment are country-specific, with initial asset holdings, occurrence of shocks and social factors as most important determinants. Acknowledgement : We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Research Foundation - Flanders and the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study - Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA).

Suggested Citation

  • Van Den Broeck, G. & Kilic, T., 2018. "Dynamics of Off-farm Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 276988, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:iaae18:276988
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.276988
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/276988/files/485.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.276988?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heath, Rachel, 2017. "Fertility at work: Children and women's labor market outcomes in urban Ghana," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 190-214.
    2. Thomas Reardon & Kostas Stamoulis & Prabhu Pingali, 2007. "Rural nonfarm employment in developing countries in an era of globalization," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 37(s1), pages 173-183, December.
    3. Sarah Alobo Loison, 2015. "Rural Livelihood Diversification in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Literature Review," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(9), pages 1125-1138, September.
    4. Carlos Oya, 2013. "Rural wage employment in Africa: methodological issues and emerging evidence," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(136), pages 251-273, June.
    5. de Brauw, Alan & Mueller, Valerie & Lee, Hak Lim, 2014. "The Role of Rural–Urban Migration in the Structural Transformation of Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 33-42.
    6. Merima Ali & Jack Peerlings, 2012. "Farm households and nonfarm activities in Ethiopia: does clustering influence entry and exit?," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 43(3), pages 253-266, May.
    7. Nagler, Paula & Naudé, Wim, 2017. "Non-farm entrepreneurship in rural sub-Saharan Africa: New empirical evidence," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 175-191.
    8. Sosina Bezu & Christopher Barrett, 2012. "Employment Dynamics in the Rural Nonfarm Sector in Ethiopia: Do the Poor Have Time on Their Side?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(9), pages 1223-1240, September.
    9. Davis, Benjamin & Di Giuseppe, Stefania & Zezza, Alberto, 2017. "Are African households (not) leaving agriculture? Patterns of households’ income sources in rural Sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 153-174.
    10. Louise Fox & Lemma W. Senbet & Witness Simbanegavi, 2016. "Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges, Constraints and Opportunities," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 25(suppl_1), pages 3-15.
    11. Emily Nix & Elisa Gamberoni & Rachel Heath, 2016. "Bridging the Gender Gap: Identifying What Is Holding Self-employed Women Back in Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Republic of Congo," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 30(3), pages 501-521.
    12. Daniel Gilligan & John Hoddinott & Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse, 2009. "The Impact of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme and its Linkages," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(10), pages 1684-1706.
    13. de Jong, Eelke & Smits, Jeroen & Longwe, Abiba, 2017. "Estimating the Causal Effect of Fertility on Women’s Employment in Africa Using Twins," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 360-368.
    14. Haggblade, Steven & Hazell, Peter & Reardon, Thomas, 2010. "The Rural Non-farm Economy: Prospects for Growth and Poverty Reduction," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1429-1441, October.
    15. Bezu, Sosina & Holden, Stein, 2014. "Are Rural Youth in Ethiopia Abandoning Agriculture?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 259-272.
    16. Charles Ackah, 2013. "Nonfarm Employment And Incomes In Rural Ghana," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(3), pages 325-339, April.
    17. Rijkers, Bob & Costa, Rita, 2012. "Gender and Rural Non-Farm Entrepreneurship," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(12), pages 2411-2426.
    18. McCullough, Ellen B., 2017. "Labor productivity and employment gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 133-152.
    19. Dennis Essers, 2017. "South African Labour Market Transitions Since the Global Financial and Economic Crisis: Evidence from two Longitudinal Datasets," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 26(2), pages 192-222.
    20. Yoko Kijima & Tomoya Matsumoto & Takashi Yamano, 2006. "Nonfarm employment, agricultural shocks, and poverty dynamics: evidence from rural Uganda," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 35(s3), pages 459-467, November.
    21. VAN DEN BROECK, Goedele & MAERTENS, Miet, 2016. "Horticultural exports and food security in developing countries," Working Papers 232595, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Agricultural and Food Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pierotti, Rachael S. & Friedson-Ridenour, Sophia & Olayiwola, Olubukola, 2022. "Women farm what they can manage: How time constraints affect the quantity and quality of labor for married women’s agricultural production in southwestern Nigeria," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    2. Sènakpon Fidèle Ange Dedehouanou & Abdelkrim Araar, 2020. "Gender, entrepreneurship and food security in Niger," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 815-830, August.
    3. Fred Mawunyo Dzanku, 2020. "Poverty Reduction And Economic Livelihood Mobility In Rural Sub‐Saharan Africa," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 636-683, July.
    4. Adedoyin Mistura Rufai & Adebayo Isaiah Ogunniyi & Kabir Kayode Salman & Mutiat Bukola Salawu & Abiodun Olusola Omotayo, 2021. "Rural Transformation and Labor Market Outcomes among Rural Youths in Nigeria," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Kaat Van Hoyweghen & Goedele Van den Broeck & Miet Maertens, 2020. "Employment Dynamics and Linkages in the Rural Economy: Insights from Senegal," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(3), pages 904-928, September.
    6. Mamoudou Ba & Amar Anwar & Mazhar Mughal, 2021. "Non‐farm employment and poverty reduction in Mauritania," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 490-514, April.
    7. Sènakpon Fidèle A. Dedehouanou & Didier Y. Alia, 2020. "Dynamics of off-farm self-employment in West African Sahel," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-142, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Livini Donath & Oliver Morrissey & Trudy Owens, 2022. "Universal primary education and household welfare in Tanzania," Discussion Papers 2022-02, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    9. Rumman Khan & Oliver Morrissey, 2020. "Income diversification and household welfare in Tanzania 2008-2013," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-110, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Franque Grimard, 2019. "The Services Industry and its Potential for Youth and Women Employment in an African Context: A review of the literature," Working Papers idrcdpruservices, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Van den Broeck, Goedele & Kilic, Talip, 2019. "Dynamics of off-farm employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: A gender perspective," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 81-99.
    2. Mamoudou Ba & Amar Anwar & Mazhar Mughal, 2021. "Non‐farm employment and poverty reduction in Mauritania," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 490-514, April.
    3. Van den Broeck, Goedele & Swinnen, Johan & Maertens, Miet, 2017. "Global value chains, large-scale farming, and poverty: Long-term effects in Senegal," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 97-107.
    4. Zeeshan & Geetilaxmi Mohapatra & Arun Kumar Giri, 2022. "How Farm Household Spends Their Non-farm Incomes in Rural India? Evidence from Longitudinal Data," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(4), pages 1967-1996, August.
    5. Janssens, C. & Van Den Broeck, G. & Maertens, M. & Lambrecht, I., 2018. "Mother s Non-Farm Entrepreneurship and Child Secondary Education in Rural Ghana," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277038, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Marwan Benali & Bernhard Brümmer & Victor Afari‐Sefa, 2018. "Smallholder participation in vegetable exports and age‐disaggregated labor allocation in Northern Tanzania," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(5), pages 549-562, September.
    7. Bethuel Kinuthia & Abdelkrim Araar & Laura Barasa & Stephene Maende & Faith Mariera, 2019. "Off-Farm Participation, Agricultural Production and Farmers’ Welfare in Tanzania and Uganda," Working Papers PMMA 2019-01, PEP-PMMA.
    8. Misganaw Teshager Abeje & Atsushi Tsunekawa & Enyew Adgo & Nigussie Haregeweyn & Zerihun Nigussie & Zemen Ayalew & Asres Elias & Dessalegn Molla & Daregot Berihun, 2019. "Exploring Drivers of Livelihood Diversification and Its Effect on Adoption of Sustainable Land Management Practices in the Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-23, May.
    9. Janssens, Charlotte & Van den Broeck, Goedele & Maertens, Miet & Lambrecht, Isabel, 2018. "Mothers’ non-farm entrepreneurship and child secondary education in rural Ghana:," IFPRI discussion papers 1705, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Van Hoyweghen, Kaat & Van Den Broek, Goedele & Maertens, Miet, 2018. "Understanding the importance of wage employment for rural development: Evidence from Senegal," Working Papers 272323, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Agricultural and Food Economics.
    11. Islam, Asif M. & Amin, Mohammad, 2023. "The gender labor productivity gap across informal firms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    12. Dula Etana & Denyse J. R. M. Snelder & Cornelia F. A. van Wesenbeeck & Tjard de Cock Buning, 2021. "The Impact of Adaptation to Climate Change and Variability on the Livelihood of Smallholder Farmers in Central Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-21, June.
    13. Katrina Kosec & Hosaena Ghebru & Brian Holtemeyer & Valerie Mueller & Emily Schmidt, 2018. "The Effect of Land Access on Youth Employment and Migration Decisions: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 100(3), pages 931-954.
    14. Jayne, T.S. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Traub, Lulama & Sitko, N. & Muyanga, Milu & Yeboah, Kwame & Nkonde, Chewe & Anseeuw, Ward & Chapoto, A. & Kachule, Richard, 2015. "Africa’s Changing Farmland Ownership: Causes and Consequences," Miscellaneous Publications 208576, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    15. Fabry, Anna & Van den Broeck, Goedele & Maertens, Miet, 2022. "Decent work in global food value chains: Evidence from Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    16. Nkechi S. Owoo & Wim Naudé, 2017. "Spatial proximity and firm performance: evidence from non-farm rural enterprises in Ethiopia and Nigeria," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(5), pages 688-700, May.
    17. Peter Brummund & Joshua D. Merfeld, 2022. "Should farmers farm more? Comparing marginal products within Malawian households," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(2), pages 289-306, March.
    18. Jayne, Thomas S. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Traub, Lulama & Sitko, N. & Muyanga, Milu & Yeboah, Felix & Nkonde, Chewe & Anseeuw, Ward & Chapoto, Anthony & Kachule, Richard, 2015. "Africa's Changing Farmland Ownership: The Rise of the Emergent Investor Farmer," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212028, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    19. Carol Newman & Christina Kinghan, 2015. "Economic transformation and the diversification of livelihoods in rural Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series 064, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Biggeri, Mario & Carraro, Alessandro & Ciani, Federico & Romano, Donato, 2022. "Disentangling the impact of a multiple-component project on SDG dimensions: The case of durum wheat value chain development in Oromia (Ethiopia)," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor and Human Capital;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:iaae18:276988. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaaeeea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.