IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jdevst/v56y2020i6p1190-1209.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Non-farm Income Affect Food Security? Evidence from India

Author

Listed:
  • Andaleeb Rahman
  • Sumit Mishra

Abstract

Livelihood diversification through greater non-farm activities has been considered as an important mechanism to propel growth, lower rural poverty and augment farm income across developing countries. Little, however, is known about its implications for nutritional outcomes such as dietary diversity. Using a nationally representative panel survey of rural households in India, and night-time light intensity as an instrumental variable (IV) for non-farm income, we show that engaging in non-agricultural livelihood has a positive effect on overall food expenditure, especially on non-cereal items, enabling greater dietary diversity. These findings have crucial policy implications for nutrition transition in India where agricultural incomes have been stagnant during the last decade. Our findings further contribute to the existing knowledge of agriculture-nutrition pathways.

Suggested Citation

  • Andaleeb Rahman & Sumit Mishra, 2020. "Does Non-farm Income Affect Food Security? Evidence from India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(6), pages 1190-1209, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:56:y:2020:i:6:p:1190-1209
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2019.1640871
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00220388.2019.1640871
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00220388.2019.1640871?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 look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Azzarri, Carlo & Zezza, Alberto, 2011. "International migration and nutritional outcomes in Tajikistan," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 54-70, February.
    2. de Haen, Hartwig & Klasen, Stephan & Qaim, Matin, 2011. "What do we really know? Metrics for food insecurity and undernutrition," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 760-769.
    3. Stelios Michalopoulos & Elias Papaioannou, 2013. "Pre‐Colonial Ethnic Institutions and Contemporary African Development," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(1), pages 113-152, January.
    4. 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.
    5. Gillespie, Stuart & Harris, Jody & Kadiyala, Suneetha, 2012. "The Agriculture-Nutrition Disconnect in India: What Do We Know?:," IFPRI discussion papers 1187, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Shahidur R. Khandker & Zaid Bakht & Gayatri B. Koolwal, 2009. "The Poverty Impact of Rural Roads: Evidence from Bangladesh," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(4), pages 685-722, July.
    7. Imai, Katsushi S. & Gaiha, Raghav & Thapa, Ganesh, 2015. "Does non-farm sector employment reduce rural poverty and vulnerability? Evidence from Vietnam and India," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 47-61.
    8. 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.
    9. Dave Donaldson & Adam Storeygard, 2016. "The View from Above: Applications of Satellite Data in Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 171-198, Fall.
    10. Ruben, Ruerd & Van den berg, Marrit, 2001. "Nonfarm Employment and Poverty Alleviation of Rural Farm Households in Honduras," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 549-560, March.
    11. Jacoby, Hanan G. & Minten, Bart, 2009. "On measuring the benefits of lower transport costs," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 28-38, May.
    12. de Brauw, Alan & Mu, Ren, 2011. "Migration and the overweight and underweight status of children in rural China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 88-100, February.
    13. Peter Lanjouw & Rinku Murgai, 2009. "Poverty decline, agricultural wages, and nonfarm employment in rural India: 1983–2004," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(2), pages 243-263, March.
    14. Sharma, Ajay & Chandrasekhar, S., 2016. "Impact of commuting by workers on household dietary diversity in rural India," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 34-43.
    15. J. Vernon Henderson & Adam Storeygard & David N. Weil, 2012. "Measuring Economic Growth from Outer Space," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(2), pages 994-1028, April.
    16. J. V. Meenakshi, 2016. "Trends and patterns in the triple burden of malnutrition in India," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(S1), pages 115-134, November.
    17. Sudha Narayanan, 2015. "Food Security in India: The Imperative and Its Challenges," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(1), pages 197-209, January.
    18. Bina Agarwal & Ankush Agrawal, 2016. "To farm or not to farm? Indian farmers in transition," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 012016, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    19. Babatunde, Raphael O. & Qaim, Matin, 2010. "Impact of off-farm income on food security and nutrition in Nigeria," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 303-311, August.
    20. Zezza, Alberto & Carletto, Calogero & Davis, Benjamin & Winters, Paul, 2011. "Assessing the impact of migration on food and nutrition security," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 1-6, February.
    21. Binswanger, Hans P. & Khandker, Shahidur R. & Rosenzweig, Mark R., 1993. "How infrastructure and financial institutions affect agricultural output and investment in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 337-366, August.
    22. Adams Jr., Richard H. & Cuecuecha, Alfredo, 2010. "Remittances, Household Expenditure and Investment in Guatemala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 1626-1641, November.
    23. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    24. 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.
    25. Chinmay, Tumbe, 2011. "Remittances in India: Facts and Issues," MPRA Paper 29983, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    26. Olale, Edward & Henson, Spencer, 2013. "The impact of income diversification among fishing communities in Western Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 90-99.
    27. Bhagowalia, Priya & Headey, Derek D. & Kadiyala, Suneetha, 2012. "Agriculture, Income, and Nutrition Linkages in India: Insights from a Nationally Representative Survey:," IFPRI discussion papers 1195, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    28. Talip Kilic & Calogero Carletto & Juna Miluka & Sara Savastano, 2009. "Rural nonfarm income and its impact on agriculture: evidence from Albania," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(2), pages 139-160, March.
    29. Gillespie, Stuart & Kadiyala, Suneetha, 2011. "Exploring the agriculture-nutrition disconnect in India," 2020 conference briefs 20, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    30. Nguyen, Minh Cong & Winters, Paul, 2011. "The impact of migration on food consumption patterns: The case of Vietnam," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 71-87, February.
    31. Ashok K. Mishra & Kh. A. Mottaleb & Samarendu Mohanty, 2015. "Impact of off-farm income on food expenditures in rural Bangladesh: an unconditional quantile regression approach," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(2), pages 139-148, March.
    32. Shahidur R. Khandker & Gayatri B. Koolwal & Hussain A. Samad, 2010. "Handbook on Impact Evaluation : Quantitative Methods and Practices," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2693.
    33. Chang, Hung-Hao & Mishra, Ashok, 2008. "Impact of off-farm labor supply on food expenditures of the farm household," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 657-664, December.
    34. Lisa Pfeiffer & Alejandro López‐Feldman & J. Edward Taylor, 2009. "Is off‐farm income reforming the farm? Evidence from Mexico," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(2), pages 125-138, March.
    35. Tian, Xu & Yu, Xiaohua, 2015. "Using semiparametric models to study nutrition improvement and dietary change with different indices: The case of China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 67-81.
    36. Mishra, Ashok K. & Chang, Hung-Hao, 2012. "Can off farm employment affect the privatization of social safety net? The case of self-employed farm households," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 94-101.
    37. 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.
    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. Rahman, Andaleeb, "undated". "Does off-farm income affect food security? Evidence from India," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 273882, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. 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.
    3. Seidu, Ayuba & Onel, Gulcan & Moss, Charles B. & Seale, James L., 2016. "Do Off-farm Work and Remittances affect Food Consumption Patterns? Evidence from Albania," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235851, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Alwin D'Souza & Ashok K. Mishra & Stefan Hirsch, 2020. "Enhancing food security through diet quality: The role of nonfarm work in rural India," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(1), pages 95-110, January.
    5. Musa Hasen Ahmed & Kumilachew Alamerie Melesse, 2018. "Impact of off-farm activities on technical efficiency: evidence from maize producers of eastern Ethiopia," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-15, December.
    6. Mondal, Ripon Kumar & Selvanathan, Eliyathamby A & Selvanathan, Saroja, "undated". "The impact of rural nonfarm employment on agricultural input use and productivity in Bangladesh," 2020 Conference (64th), February 12-14, 2020, Perth, Western Australia 305251, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    7. repec:lic:licosd:38016 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Dsouza, Alwin & Mishra, Ashok K. & Tripathi, Amarnath, "undated". "Improving Diet Quality through Off-Farm Work: Empirical Evidence from India," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274494, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. 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.
    10. Pham Bao Duong & Pham Tien Thanh & Tihomir Ancev, 2021. "Impacts of off‐farm employment on welfare, food security and poverty: Evidence from rural Vietnam," International Journal of Social Welfare, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 84-96, January.
    11. Cristian Vasco & Rodrigo Valdiviezo & Herman Hernández & Valdano Tafur & David Eche & Estefanía Jácome, 2020. "Off-Farm Employment, Forest Clearing and Natural Resource Use: Evidence from the Ecuadorian Amazon," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-16, June.
    12. Stifel, David & Minten, Bart, 2017. "Market Access, Well-being, and Nutrition: Evidence from Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 229-241.
    13. Babatunde, Raphael O. & Qaim, Matin, 2010. "Impact of off-farm income on food security and nutrition in Nigeria," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 303-311, August.
    14. 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.
    15. Mora-Rivera, Jorge & van Gameren, Edwin, 2021. "The impact of remittances on food insecurity: Evidence from Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    16. Islam, Masanori Matsuura Yir-Huieh Luh Abu Hayat Md. Saiful, 2021. "Climate Variability, Livelihood Diversification, and Household Food Security in Bangladesh," 2021 ASAE 10th International Conference (Virtual), January 11-13, Beijing, China 329402, Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE).
    17. Ma, Wanglin & Vatsa, Puneet & Zheng, Hongyun & Rahut, Dil Bahadur, 2022. "Nonfarm employment and consumption diversification in rural China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 582-598.
    18. Truong Lam Do & Trung Thanh Nguyen & Ulrike Grote, 2019. "Nonfarm employment and household food security: evidence from panel data for rural Cambodia," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(3), pages 703-718, June.
    19. Abraham Amoussouga Gero, 2024. "A new insight impact of off-farm work on food security of smallholders: evidence of heterogeneous effects from Benin," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 26(2), pages 683-703, August.
    20. Dedehouanou, Sènakpon Fidèle Ange & Araar, Abdelkrim & Ousseini, Aichatou & Harouna, Abdoulaziz Laouali & Jabir, Maimounata, 2018. "Spillovers from off-farm self-employment opportunities in rural Niger," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 428-442.
    21. Donato Romano & Silvio Traverso, 2020. "Disentangling the Impact of International Migration on Food and Nutrition Security of Left-Behind Households: Evidence from Bangladesh," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(4), pages 783-811, September.

    More about this item

    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:taf:jdevst:v:56:y:2020:i:6:p:1190-1209. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FJDS20 .

    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.