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Few Opportunities, Much Desperation: The Dichotomy of Non-Agricultural Activities and Inequality in Western Kenya

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  • Lay, Jann
  • Mahmoud, Toman Omar
  • M'Mukaria, George Michuki

Abstract

Summary Using data from Western Kenya, we confirm the existence of a dichotomous non-agricultural sector. The poverty and inequality implications of the differently motivated diversification strategies only partly correspond to expected patterns. While high-return activities are indeed confined to richer households, low-return activities constitute an important income source for households across the entire income distribution. Finally, we examine the wider implications of our findings for rural livelihoods. We find that only engagement in high-return non-agricultural activities is significantly associated with increased agricultural productivity. It seems that such high-return activities play a key role in triggering cumulative effects of relative livelihood success.

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  • Lay, Jann & Mahmoud, Toman Omar & M'Mukaria, George Michuki, 2008. "Few Opportunities, Much Desperation: The Dichotomy of Non-Agricultural Activities and Inequality in Western Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2713-2732, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:36:y:2008:i:12:p:2713-2732
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    2. Bezu, Sosina & Barrett, Christopher B., 2010. "Activity Choice in Rural Non-farm Employment (RNFE): Survival versus accumulative strategy," MPRA Paper 55034, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Christina Kinghan & Carol Newman, 2015. "Social capital, political connections, and household Enterprises: Evidence from Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-001, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Mulwa, Chalmers K. & Visser, Martine, 2020. "Farm diversification as an adaptation strategy to climatic shocks and implications for food security in northern Namibia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    5. 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.
    6. Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Scharf, Maja Micevska, 2012. "Livelihood diversification strategies in the Himalayas," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 56(4), pages 1-25, December.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. Kakungulu, Moses & Akoyi, Kevin Teopista & Van Hoyweghen, Kaat & Vranken, Liesbet & Isabirye, Moses & Maertens, Miet, 2018. "Who should diversify and move out of agriculture? Income portfolios and household welfare in rural Uganda," Working Papers 276469, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Agricultural and Food Economics.
    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. Sarah Alobo Loison, 2019. "Household livelihood diversification and gender: panel evidence from rural Kenya," Post-Print hal-02618651, HAL.
    12. Vimefall, Elin, 2015. "Income diversification among female-headed farming households," Working Papers 2015:11, Örebro University, School of Business.
    13. Sumanta Prakash Shee & Ramkrishna Maiti, 2019. "Land acquisition, livelihood and income: the case of JSW Bengal Steel Plant at Salboni Block, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 2997-3014, December.
    14. 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.
    15. Chamberlin, Jordan & Jayne, T.S., 2013. "Unpacking the Meaning of ‘Market Access’: Evidence from Rural Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 245-264.
    16. Carol Newman & Christina Kinghan, 2015. "Social capital, political connections, and household enterprises: Evidence from Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series 001, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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