IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v67y2017icp153-174.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are African households (not) leaving agriculture? Patterns of households’ income sources in rural Sub-Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Davis, Benjamin
  • Di Giuseppe, Stefania
  • Zezza, Alberto

Abstract

This paper uses comparable income aggregates from 41 national household surveys from 22 countries to explore the patterns of income generation among rural households in Sub-Saharan Africa, and to compare household income strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa with those in other regions. The paper seeks to understand how geography drives these strategies, focusing on the role of agricultural potential and distance to urban areas. Specialization in on-farm activities continues to be the norm in rural Africa, practiced by 52 percent of households (as opposed to 21 percent of households in other regions). Regardless of distance and integration in the urban context, when agro-climatic conditions are favorable, farming remains the occupation of choice for most households in the African countries for which the study has geographically explicit information. However, the paper finds no evidence that African households are on a different trajectory than households in other regions in terms of transitioning to non-agricultural based income strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:67:y:2017:i:c:p:153-174
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2016.09.018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919216303864
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.foodpol.2016.09.018?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maros Ivanic & Will Martin, 2008. "Implications of higher global food prices for poverty in low‐income countries1," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 39(s1), pages 405-416, November.
    2. Dilip Ratha & Sanket Mohapatra & Caglar Ozden & Sonia Plaza & William Shaw & Abebe Shimeles, 2011. "Leveraging Migration for Africa : Remittances, Skills, and Investments [Optimisation du phénomène migratoire pour l’Afrique : Envois de fonds, compétences et investissements]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2300, December.
    3. Yamano, Takashi & Kijima, Yoko, 2010. "The associations of soil fertility and market access with household income: Evidence from rural Uganda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 51-59, February.
    4. Paul Winters & Timothy Essam & Alberto Zezza & Benjamin Davis & Calogero Carletto, 2010. "Patterns of Rural Development: A Cross‐Country Comparison using Microeconomic Data," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 628-651, September.
    5. Hamer, Andrew M. & Linn, Johannes F., 1987. "Urbanization in the developing world: Patterns, issues, and policies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: E. S. Mills (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 32, pages 1255-1284, Elsevier.
    6. David de Ferranti & Guillermo E. Perry & William Foster & Daniel Lederman & Alberto Valdés, 2005. "Beyond the City: The Rural Contribution to Development," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7328, December.
    7. Marcel Fafchamps & Forhad Shilpi, 2003. "The spatial division of labour in Nepal," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(6), pages 23-66.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Ivanic, Maros & Martin, Will, 2008. "Implications of higher global food prices for poverty in low-income countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4594, The World Bank.
    11. Marito Garcia & Charity M. T. Moore, 2012. "The Cash Dividend : The Rise of Cash Transfer Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2246, December.
    12. McCullough, Ellen B., 2017. "Labor productivity and employment gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 133-152.
    13. Unknown, 1961. "The Role of Agriculture in Economic Development," International Journal of Agrarian Affairs, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 3(2), pages 1-1, April.
    14. Luc Christiaensen & Joachim Weerdt & Yasuyuki Todo, 2013. "Urbanization and poverty reduction: the role of rural diversification and secondary towns," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 44(4-5), pages 435-447, July.
    15. Frank Ellis, 2000. "The Determinants of Rural Livelihood Diversification in Developing Countries," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 289-302, May.
    16. Hans P. Binswanger-Mkhize & Alex F. McCalla & Praful Patel, 2010. "Structural Transformation and African Agriculture," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 2(2), pages 113-152, May.
    17. Barrett, C. B. & Reardon, T. & Webb, P., 2001. "Nonfarm income diversification and household livelihood strategies in rural Africa: concepts, dynamics, and policy implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 315-331, August.
    18. Deichmann, Uwe & Shilpi, Forhad & Vakis, Renos, 2008. "Spatial specialization and farm-nonfarm linkages," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4611, The World Bank.
    19. Brian McCaig & Nina Pavcnik, 2013. "Moving out of Agriculture: Structural Change in Vietnam," NBER Working Papers 19616, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Marcel Fafchamps & Forhad Shilpi, 2005. "Cities and Specialisation: Evidence from South Asia," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(503), pages 477-504, April.
    21. Thomas Reardon & J. Edward Taylor & Kostas Stamoulis & Peter Lanjouw & Arsenio Balisacan, 2000. "Effects of Non‐Farm Employment on Rural Income Inequality in Developing Countries: An Investment Perspective," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 266-288, May.
    22. Lanjouw, Jean O. & Lanjouw, Peter, 2001. "The rural non-farm sector: issues and evidence from developing countries," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 1-23, October.
    23. Nagler,Paula & Naude, Wim & Nagler,Paula & Naude, Wim, 2014. "Non-farm enterprises in rural Africa : new empirical evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7066, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Davis,Benjamin K. & Di Giuseppe,Stefania & Zezza,Alberto & Davis,Benjamin K. & Di Giuseppe,Stefania & Zezza,Alberto, 2014. "Income diversification patterns in rural Sub-Saharan Africa : reassessing the evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7108, The World Bank.
    2. Jan Fałkowski & Maciej Jakubowski & Paweł Strawiński, 2014. "Returns from income strategies in rural Poland," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 22(1), pages 139-178, January.
    3. Asfaw, Solomon & McCarthy, Nancy & Paolantonio, Adriana & Cavatassi, Romina & Amare, Mulubrhan & Lipper, Leslie, 2015. "Diversification, Climate Risk and Vulnerability to Poverty: Evidence from Rural Malawi," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 230216, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Asfaw, Solomon & Savastano, Sara, 2015. "Topic: Building Resilience to Climate Change Through Social Protection and Climate-Smart Agriculture: Synergies and Trade-offs," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 210963, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Varun Kumar Das & A. Ganesh-Kumar, 2019. "Off-the-farm livelihood choice of farm households in India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2019-032, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    6. Gamel Abdul-Nasser Salifu, 2019. "The Political Economy Dynamics of Rural Household Income Diversification: A Review of the International Literature," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(3), pages 273-290, December.
    7. Dethier, Jean-Jacques & Effenberger, Alexandra, 2012. "Agriculture and development: A brief review of the literature," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 175-205.
    8. Rijkers, Bob & Soderbom, Mans & Loening, Josef, 2009. "Mind the gap ? a rural-urban comparison of manufacturing firms," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4946, The World Bank.
    9. Riithi, Alexander Njuguna & Irungu, Patrick & Munei , Kimpei, 2015. "Determinants Of Choice Of Alternative Livelihood Diversification Strategies In Solio Resettlement Scheme, Kenya," Dissertations and Theses 269714, University of Nairobi, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    10. Nagler,Paula & Naude, Wim & Nagler,Paula & Naude, Wim, 2014. "Non-farm enterprises in rural Africa : new empirical evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7066, The World Bank.
    11. Benjamin Davis & Paul Winters & Gero Carletto & Katia Covarrubias & Esteban Quinones & Alberto Zezza & Kostas Stamoulis & Genny Bonomi & Stefania DiGiuseppe, 2007. "Rural Income Generating Activities; A Cross Country Comparison," Working Papers 07-16, Agricultural and Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO - ESA).
    12. Unai Pascual & Edward Barbier, 2005. "On- and off-farm labor decisions by slash-and-burn farmers in Yucatan (Mexico)," Environmental Economy and Policy Research Working Papers 06.2005, University of Cambridge, Department of Land Economics, revised 2005.
    13. Ayenew, Habtamu Yesigat & Sauer, Johannes & Abate-Kassa, Getachew, 2016. "Rural Non-Farm Sector, Agricultural Self-Employment And Wage Employment In Agricultural Households: The Implications For Income And Risk In Rural Ethiopia," 56th Annual Conference, Bonn, Germany, September 28-30, 2016 244809, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    14. Benjamin Davis & Paul Winters & Thomas Reardon & Kostas Stamoulis, 2009. "Rural nonfarm employment and farming: household‐level linkages," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(2), pages 119-123, March.
    15. Bezu, Sosina & Barrett, Christopher B. & Holden, Stein T., 2012. "Does the Nonfarm Economy Offer Pathways for Upward Mobility? Evidence from a Panel Data Study in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1634-1646.
    16. Rijkers, Bob & Söderbom, Måns & Loening, Josef L., 2010. "A Rural-Urban Comparison of Manufacturing Enterprise Performance in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 1278-1296, September.
    17. Nilsson, Pia & Backman, Mikaela & Bjerke, Lina & Maniriho, Aristide, 2017. "One cow per poor family: effects on consumption and crop production in Rwanda," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 462, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    18. Kumar Bhaumik, Sankar, 2007. "Diversification of Employment and Earnings by Rural Households in West Bengal," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 62(4), pages 1-22.
    19. Gero Carletto & Katia Covarrubias & Benjamin Davis & Marika Krausova & Kostas Stamoulis & Paul Winters & Alberto Zezza, 2007. "Rural income generating activities in developing countries: re-assessing the evidence," The Electronic Journal of Agricultural and Development Economics, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, vol. 4(1), pages 146-193.
    20. Davis, Benjamin & Winters, Paul & Carletto, Gero & Covarrubias, Katia & Quiñones, Esteban J. & Zezza, Alberto & Stamoulis, Kostas & Azzarri, Carlo & DiGiuseppe, Stefania, 2010. "A Cross-Country Comparison of Rural Income Generating Activities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 48-63, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income; Non-farm employment; Agriculture; Africa; LSMS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q1 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • R2 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis

    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:eee:jfpoli:v:67:y:2017:i:c:p:153-174. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    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.