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Based on a comparison of the employment trajectories of two cohorts of men and women in the agricultural sector in Sweden, this article gives an account of the past 50 years’ decline in employment in agriculture. The findings show that the decline of employment in agriculture was the result of fewer entries into the sector and more exits out of the sector. The findings also suggest that the restructuring of the agricultural sector has had greater effects on women than men, with women exiting the sector to a greater degree or never entering it to begin with.

This paper investigates the impact of income diversification on farming households' welfare in Nigeria on two rounds of the Nigeria General Household Survey-Panel, namely the 2010/2011 and 2012/2013. The study finds that income diversification is the norm in Nigeria, with about 60 percent of farmers diversifying away from subsistence farming into non-farm activities and cash crops. In addition, using the panel of farmers interviewed before and after a severe drought that hit Northern Nigeria in particular in 2011, the study finds that diversification increased throughout Nigeria from 60 to 64 percent and in the North from 58 to 63 percent. The study postulates the existence of heterogeneous returns on diversification as a consequence of the drought, and estimates the returns through a non-parametric selection model using a local instrumental variable. The choice of this model is dictated by the necessity to account for both heterogeneous effects of diversification and selection bias related to households' decision to diversify. Overall, it is found that diversification positively affects consumption in Nigeria. However, who benefits the most is crucially determined by the initial conditions under which diversification is undertaken and the specific agro-climatic context in which households operate.

This paper investigates China&rsquo, s agricultural households and their individual members&rsquo, off-farm labor supply decision in response to farm production risks and a number of other factors (e.g., demographic characteristics, farm characteristics, and local market features). Whether and to what extent farming risks may affect farmers&rsquo, off-farm employment in China are rarely studied. Our paper provides an empirical study to demonstrate that agricultural production risks significantly impact off-farm labor supply in rural China. The impacts of associated variables on households off-farm labor supply decisions are quantified using a sample of large&ndash, scale nationwide household finance survey in 2010. The results suggest that off-farm employment serves as a risk adaption strategy for Chinese farmers. Policy suggestions on retaining farmers to focus on agricultural production are discussed.

Whether the agricultural and rural industrial sectors compete for key resources, particularly labor, is an important policy question. This paper investigates the determinants of the inter-sectoral flow of labor between farm and off-farm activities, using data from Tianjin, China. Specifically we investigate whether the labor flows are explained by the level of agricultural technology employed by rural households, where the technologies can have positive or negative impacts on farmers’ incentives to remain on the farm. Our model specification and data set allow us to bridge macroeconomic and microeconomic issues in the labor allocation decision that do not appear to have been addressed elsewhere.

[EN] This study examines the process of income diversification among indigenous and mestizo households settled in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. The results of a random-effect tobit model show that agricultural wage work is the principal income source for homes with scarce or no land. Self-employment employs households with low endowments of education but high endowments of capital. Non-agricultural wage income absorbs educated individuals either indigenous or mestizo. [ES] Este estudio analiza la diversificación de ingresos entre hogares indígenas y colonos asentados en una de las áreas más biodiversas del planeta. Los resultados de un análisis tobit de efectos aleatorios reflejan que el trabajo agrícola fuera de finca es la principal fuente de ingresos para hogares con poca tierra y con miembros con escasa escolaridad. El autoempleo ocupa a hogares con bajos niveles de educación pero con altas dotaciones de capital. El empleo asalariado fu Cristian Vasco agradece a la Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de la República del Ecuador (SENESCYT) por financiar su estancia postdoctoral en la Universidad de la Columbia Británica, Canadá.

With agricultural extension being an important method of knowledge transfer and promoting innovation, we explore the factors associated with extension participation in the case of Irish cattle farmers. The cattle sector has a high reliance on direct payments and off farm employment is prevalent; we explore how these factors affect extension participation making use of data from a government funded extension program. By applying a sequential logit model, we found that subsidy dependence and off farm employment both had a significant and negative impact on participation.

This research highlight presents findings from the Myanmar Aquaculture Agriculture Survey 2016 (MAAS)1 on the characteristics of off-farm employment and the rural non-farm economy in four townships close to the city of Yangon. Two groups of village tract were selected to facilitate comparison of the impacts of aquaculture and agriculture on the rural economy: an ‘aquaculture cluster’, located in areas with high densities of fish farms, and an ‘agriculture cluster’ located in areas nearby where cultivation of paddy and pulses was the main form of agricultural production. This research highlight focusses on the characteristics of off-farm employment in the two clusters. Off-farm employment is defined here as all the remunerative work that individuals perform away from their own farms. In the following analysis we distinguish between four main categories of off-farm employment: casual labor, long-term salaried employment, self-employment in non-farm enterprises (e.g., petty trade, transport services, handicrafts production), and self-employment in natural resource extraction (e.g., collecting firewood, fishing). Casual labor can be further subdivided into agricultural labor (e.g., harvesting paddy), and non-farm labor (e.g., basic construction work). Salaried employment can likewise be divided into agricultural (e.g., guarding fish ponds) and non-farm (e.g., school teaching). In keeping with the comparative approach adopted by MAAS, this brief focusses on the characteristics of off-farm employment in agriculture and aquaculture clusters, and on gendered differences in employment opportunities and wage rates. It also presents evidence of transformation in the rural non-farm economy in both clusters

Agriculture has been essentially the backbone of economic growth for centuries. The sector has provided employment for the majority of the world population for generations, and has served as a powerful force in transforming of economies towards an industry- and service- based. In many countries, through both productivity increases and farm land expansion, agriculture contributed to the transformation by releasing labor force for the other parts of the economy, providing food security, keeping wage down by providing low cost food, and generating foreign exchange. All these contributions are essential for broader social and economic development (Bruce and Mellor, 1961). In the 21st century, agriculture remains a fundamental instrument for sustainable development and poverty reduction. WDR 2008, Agriculture for Development, convincingly demonstrates the need to increase investment in agriculture and improve the effectiveness of such investment in order to enhance the sector’s role in overall growth, poverty reduction, and environmental sustainability. As an economic activity, agriculture can be a source of growth for the national economy and a provider of investment opportunities for the private sector. Robust empirical evidence from many countries consistently shows that agriculture is several times more efficient in reducing poverty than other sectors, given majority of the world’s poor living in rural area and relying on the sector as a major income source (World Bank, 2008). Agriculture can also be a major provider of environmental services, through sequestering carbon, managing watersheds, and preserving biodiversity. Therefore, agriculture offers great promise in today’s world for growth, poverty reduction, and environmental sustainability. China’s successful development in the past three decades exemplifies the powerful role the agricultural sector can play in a country’s social and economic transformation.

This paper investigates the linkages between farmers' machinery investment decision and off-farm employment in China. Both the theoretical model and the empirical results based on a survey of 453 households in Anhui Province indicate that agricultural labor input and small-size machinery investment are gross complements rather than substitutes when machinery service is available in the market. Consequently, farmers with small machinery are more likely to reduce their off-time employment time.

This paper investigates gender differences in spatial mobility with respect to participation in off-farm employment in rural Tanzania. The mobility issue arises because the recent increase in women participation in off-farm employment is likely to saturate the local labor market/off-farm opportunities and dampen the rural wages/profit among women if it is not accompanied by increased geographical mobility. The results show that, despite the recent increase in their participation, women do not have significant geographical mobility, thus tends to operate more locally as compared to men. The results of decompositions of gender differences in participation in off-farm employment show that a substantial portion of the gender differences is not explained by individuals' endowments. However, policy interventions that could narrow the education gap between male and female are likely to narrow the existing gender gap. Likewise, policies that increases access to water (reduce time needed to collects water) have the potential of reducing the observed gender differences. Since geographical mobility among women is likely to be dictated by cultural factors that tend to have policy inertia, in the short run, there is need to create diversified off-farm opportunities for women within the rural areas in order to reduce unnecessary competition among them.

Overuse of fertilizers in China causes environmental problems and high costs for farmers. In this paper we aim to identify entry points to improve fertilizer use efficiency in Taihu Basin, China. We use stochastic frontier analysis to estimate the technical and fertilizer use efficiency of rice production based on a survey held among 320 households in Wuxi, Zhenjiang and Changzhou, located upstream of Taihu Lake. Subsequently, Tobit model is applied to analyze factors influencing fertilizer use efficiency. The average technical efficiency and fertilizer use efficiency in this area in 2008 were 84.2% and 25.4% respectively. On average, rice production is thus efficient, but fertilizer use efficiency can be substantially improved. The results of the regression analyses explaining fertilizer use efficiency indicate that although extension services have stimulated the use of formula fertilizer in Taihu Basin, the use of formula fertilizer has not (yet) improved fertilizer use efficiency. Environmental awareness on water pollution and on the effect of fertilizers, off-farm income and a positive risk attitude have a significant positive effect on fertilizer use efficiency in Taihu Basin. Possessing a car or truck, labor intensity and the occurrence of disasters, on the other hand, have a significant negative effect on fertilizer use efficiency. Policies aimed at improving fertilizer use efficiency may therefore focus on increasing knowledge on the environment and fertilizer management, improving extension services and encouraging farmers to migrate or work off-farm.

This contribution documents the effect of the global financial crisis on women's off-farm employment in China's rural labor force. It begins by comparing the difference between the actual off-farm employment rate and the off-farm employment rate under the assumption of “business as usual” (BAU – a counterfactual of what off-farm employment would have been in the absence of the crisis). The study also examines how the impact of the financial crisis hit different segments of the rural off-farm labor market. Using a primary dataset, the study found that the global financial crisis affected women workers. By April 2009, there was a 5.3 percentage point difference between off-farm employment under BAU and actual off-farm employment for women, and the monthly wages of women declined. Most of this impact affected migrant wage earners; however, the impact did not fall disproportionately on women. The recovery of women's employment was as fast as that of men's employment.

[EN] This study examines the process of income diversification among indigenous and mestizo households settled in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. The results of a random-effect tobit model show that agricultural wage work is the principal income source for homes with scarce or no land. Self-employment employs households with low endowments of education but high endowments of capital. Non-agricultural wage income absorbs educated individuals either indigenous or mestizo., [ES] Este estudio analiza la diversificación de ingresos entre hogares indígenas y colonos asentados en una de las áreas más biodiversas del planeta. Los resultados de un análisis tobit de efectos aleatorios reflejan que el trabajo agrícola fuera de finca es la principal fuente de ingresos para hogares con poca tierra y con miembros con escasa escolaridad. El autoempleo ocupa a hogares con bajos niveles de educación pero con altas dotaciones de capital. El empleo asalariado fu, Cristian Vasco agradece a la Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de la República del Ecuador (SENESCYT) por financiar su estancia postdoctoral en la Universidad de la Columbia Británica, Canadá.

One way that farm households may adjust to downward pressures on farm incomes is by diversifying their sources of earned income. However, a variety of different factors could lead to a farm household having a member with off farm work. A logit model was estimated to determine whether farm income levels are a determinant of the likelihood of a household member having off farm employment. The model emphasized the role of the family composition and farm size in influencing whether household mem¬ bers worked off-farm. Although there was evidence that the incomes from farming of households with off farm work were significantly below those without off farm work, income variables were not significant in the estimated logit model. Two financial variables appear to be important, higher farm net worth decreased, and higher current liabilities per hectare increased, the likelihood of off-farm work., Il est admis que pour compenser la baisse de revenu annuelle de leurs exploitations les agriculteurs devraient diversifier leurs activités rémunératrices. Les résultats de récentes études faites au Royaume-Uni suggèrent que les agriculteurs sont peu disposés à se tourner vers des activités non agricoles leur procurant de nouvelles sources de revenus. Afin de savoir si le niveau du revenu agricole détermine la possibilité qu'un membre de la famille occupe un emploi hors de l'exploitation, il faut séparer l'incidence de la composition de la famille de celle du revenu. Un sondage complémentaire auprès des participants du Scottish Farm Accounts Scheme (FAS) fut effectué afin d'obtenir des détails sur la composition des ménages et l'emploi des membres de la famille. Ces informations, ainsi que les données sur le revenu recueillies par le FAS, furent utilisées pour construire un modèle de probabilité d'emploi des ménages agricoles écossais hors de l'exploitation. Le modèle logit montre que la dimension de l'exploitation et la composition de la famille sont des facteurs permettant de déterminer si un membre de la famille a une chance de travailler hors de l'exploitation. Cette probabilité, réduite à la base par rapport à la taille de l'exploitation, augmente de nouveau pour les entreprises les plus grosses. La probabilité de travailler hors de l'exploitation s'accroît quand la famille compte de jeunes adultes, surtout des jeunes filles, ainsi qu'en fonction de l'éducation ou de la formation supérieure non agricole de la femme de l'exploitant. Étant donné que seulement 5 % des exploitants de ce sondage travaillent hors de l'exploitation, cette variable semble indiquer que, plus la femme de l'exploitant est jeune, plus il est probable qu'elle travaille hors de l'exploitation (25% des cas). On constate qu'un actif plus élevé et un passif exigible par hectare plus faible diminuent la probabilité d'emploi hors de l'exploitation. On pourrait s'attendre à ce que les grosses exploitations agricoles ayant un actif plus élevé et un passif exigible moindre aient un revenu plus élevé ; ces variables pourraient alors refléter les effets du revenu. Cependant, comme les chiffres du revenu ne semblent pas significatifs cette interprétation ne peut être retenue. D'autres raisons, y compris l'interaction entre la vie familiale, la vie professionnelle et la date d'achat des terrains, semblent esquisser un rapport entre le travail hors de l'exploitation et le niveau des capitaux propres et du passif. Par ailleurs il se peut qu'un niveau de fortune plus élevé diminue l'empressement des actifs familiaux à chercher du travail hors de l'exploitation., Davies A. Simon, Dalton Graham E. A probabilistic model of off-farm work in Scotland. In: Cahiers d'Economie et sociologie rurales, N°32, 3e trimestre 1994. Le fonctionnement des marchés agro-alimentaires. Imperfections et interventions publiques. pp. 21-37.

This paper investigates the linkages between farmers’ machinery investment decision and off-farm employment in China. Both the theoretical model and the empirical results based on a survey of 453 households in Anhui Province indicate that agricultural labor input and small-size machinery investment are gross complements rather than substitutes when machinery service is available in the market. Consequently, farmers with small machinery are more likely to reduce their off-time employment time.

This paper investigates the determinants of agricultural households’participation in off-farm employment. Towards this end, a logit model is employed to identify factors that determine the participation in off-farm employment. Here, determinants of participation in off-farm employment are divided into four categories – individual, household, farm and local area characteristics. With regards to the local area characteristics, the analysis is extended by including a new variable, which is the economic characteristic of the area. The results of the analysis show that the main determinants that influence the farmer’s decision to participate in off-farm employment are age, gender, household size, dependency ratio, remittance, land size, types of agricultural activities, working hours allocated to the farm, the ratio of income from agricultural sources in total income of the farmer. Furthermore, this study uncovers that the economic characteristic of the area where the farmer reside is important determinant of the farmer’s decision to participate in off-farm job.One of the policy implications from the finding of this study is that, if the agricultural households are to be encouraged to participate in off-farm jobs, a balanced development in the rural areas must be pursued.

International audience; Economic reforms in rural China have brought opportunities to diversify both within-farm activities and off-farm activities. Participation in these activities plays an important role in increasing rural households' income. This paper analyzes the factors that drive rural households and individuals in their income-source diversification choices in a Northern China township. At the household level, we distinguish three types of diversification as opposed to grain production only: within farm (non-grain production) activities, local off-farm activities, and migration. We find that land availability stimulates on-farm diversification. Local off-farm activities are mostly driven by households' assets position and working resources, while migration decisions strongly depend on the household size and composition. At the individual level, we analyze the determinants of participation in three different types of jobs as compared to agricultural work: local off-farm employment, local self-employment and migration. We find a clear gender and age bias in access to off-farm activities that are mostly undertaken by male and by young people. The households' assets position as well as village networks are found to strongly affect participation in off-farm activities.

The new CAP reform aims to stimulate the role of agriculture as provider of public goods. An analytical framework is developed to model farmers’ decision making and to gain insight into farmers’ behavior in response to a number of policy instruments. The framework integrates characteristics of farm, farmer, market, as well as the policy instruments. Theoretical analysis suggests that attitudes, off-farm employment opportunities, non-pecuniary benefits and expectations of future developments can play important roles in farmer’s decision making regarding the provision of public goods. Empirical research is needed to test the hypothesis.

This article assesses the relative importance of risk preferences and rainfall availability on households’ decision to engage in off-farm employment. Devoting time for off-farm activities, while it helps households earn additional incomes, involves a number of uncertainties. Unique panel data from Ethiopia which includes experimentally generated risk preference measures combined with longitudinal rainfall data is used in the analysis. An off farm participation decision and activity choice showed that both variability and reduced availability of rainfall as well as neutral risk preferences increase the likelihood of off-farm participation. From policy perspective, the results imply that expanding off farm opportunities could act as safety nets in the face of weather uncertainty. In addition, policy initiatives geared towards encouraging income diversification through off farm employment need to address underlying factor that condition risk bearing ability of households.

The new CAP reform aims to stimulate the role of agriculture as provider of public goods. An analytical framework is developed to model farmers’ decision making and to gain insight into farmers’ behavior in response to a number of policy instruments. The framework integrates characteristics of farm, farmer, market, as well as the policy instruments. Theoretical analysis suggests that attitudes, off-farm employment opportunities, non-pecuniary benefits and expectations of future developments can play important roles in farmer’s decision making regarding the provision of public goods. Empirical research is needed to test the hypothesis.

There is a widely held view that off-farm income in developing countries tends to reduce poverty, leading to the conclusion that policies should focus on the further diversification of income options of rural households. However, much off-farm employment might be initiated rather as a survival strategy but as a sustainable way to reduce poverty in the long run. Using a rich data set from Tanzania, this study examines the potential income increases generated by off-farm income with a particular focus on off-farm income contributed by women. The findings indicate that women’s contributions to household income through off-farm activities are limited and smaller as compared to those of men. Investigating the possible reasons, fetching water and collecting firewood as well as the number of dependants limit women’s time that can be spent on off-farm activities.

The goal of this study is to assess the dynamics of rural households' labor market participation in the wake of China's efforts to develop rural labor markets in a manner that is conducive to its transition to a market economy. Based on a theoretical model that emphasizes the impact of duration, i.e. of the number of years households spent part-time farming or full-time farming, respectively, we investigate the shifts between these two states. We also identify socioeconomic factors that determine these shifts. The empirical study is based on discrete time hazard approaches, using micro-level panel data from Zhejiang, Hubei, and Yunnan provinces from 1995 to 2002. Estimation results suggest relatively high chances of shifts from full-time to part-time farming and a considerable lower risk for the shift in the opposite direction. Significant negative duration dependence is found for the move from full-time to part-time farming suggesting lock-in effects. In addition, we find that labor market participation decisions are significantly related to several household, farm and village characteristics. In particular, the likelihood of shifts from full-time farming to part-time farming is positively related to the educational level of households' workforce.

A body of literature has addressed off-farm work by the farm household, but little is known about the association between off-farm work and food consumption. This paper investigates the extent to which off-farm employment by the farm operator and the spouse affects food expenditures at home and away from home. A dual treatment effect model is developed to estimate a simultaneous equation system of four food categories consumed at home and aggregate food away from home, with binary endogenous off-farm employment by the operator and spouse. Off-farm employment by farm operator and spouse both increase food expenditure away from home, while operator’s off-farm employment decreases staple food consumption at home. Socio-demographic characteristics also play important roles in food expenditures at home and away from home.

Keywords: rainfall risk, ex-ante risk management, ex-post risk coping strategies, off-farm labor supply, fertilizer adoption, Northern Ethiopia, Tigray. Rural households in semi-arid areas often experience rainfall-related shocks that result in low and uncertain income. Household’s survival depends on the ability to anticipate and to cope with this uncertain income. Through time, households have developed ex-ante risk management and ex-post risk coping strategies. These include crop portfolio adjustments and off-farm activity diversification. This thesis investigates the role of rainfall and rainfall risk on households’ risk management and risk coping strategies. Econometric models based on the neo-classical household production and consumption model were used. These methods were applied to a four-year (1996, 1997, 2001, and 2002) panel data sample of Tigray (Northern Ethiopia) farm households. The study showed that farmers’ ex-ante strategic response to rainfall risk is through diversification of crops to be grown. Choosing the crops most suited to specific rainfall conditions was proven to be a strategy of farmers to cope with unpredictable rainfall. In times of low rainfall, the dominant crops to be chosen are teff and grass pea. Rainfall risk also increases the probability of off-farm labor supply. Therefore, households’ off-farm labor supply can be seen as an ex-ante and ex-post income smoothing strategy. Moreover, this study showed that ex-post consumption variability and rainfall risk negatively correlated with ex-ante fertilizer adoption decisions. This implies that households are biased toward technologies that are less risky. This leads to the conclusion that any mechanism that allows farmers to smooth consumption ex-post will raise ex-ante fertilizer adoption. Ex-ante crop choice, fertilizer adoption, and reliable water availability for farming can be viewed as complements. These complementarities suggest that policies that focus on rainwater harvesting techniques and promoting small-scale irrigation would promote fertilizer adoption. Reducing rainfall-induced risk leads to more fertilizer use, and therefore, to more production and income. Expansion of off-farm employment opportunities inside and outside agriculture would also improve households’ risk management and risk coping capacities.

During the transition towards a market economy in Romania most enterprises established at the time of industrialization and urbanization project of the communist period reduced or stopped their activity and many employees lost their jobs. A reverse migration from urban to rural areas took place, thus contributing to the increase in employment and underemployment in agriculture - the main occupation in the rural areas. The emerging farmers without necessary production factors, know-how and confronted with inadequate input and output markets decreased their agricultural sales and purchase of agricultural goods, while increasing self-consumption in the household. Given the interaction between unemployment, the increase of employment in agriculture and consequently in self-consumption in the households, the paper analyzes how the differences in the off-farm employment opportunities in the different regions impact agricultural commercialization.

Keywords: Smallholder poor farmers, market access, bananas, productivity, efficiency, labour demand, labour supply,Uganda.This study investigates the effects of factor and commodity markets on the development of the banana sub-sector in central and southwesternUganda.The study analyses smallholder household response to production constraints (crop pests and diseases, soil constraints) and development of product markets and off-farm employment opportunities.The study was carried out in central region, Masaka and southwest, which have divergent production constraints and opportunities.Various analytical tools were employed in this study.Cost benefit analysis was used to assess the competitiveness of banana production versus other crop enterprises.The stochastic production frontier was used to analyze the technical and productive efficiency of banana farmers.Production functions were estimated for the important crops to analyze the allocative efficiency of farmers in each study region.Finally, labour supply and demand functions were estimated to determine the factors that influence labour allocation decisions and to assess the farmers' response to changes in economic conditions.A multinomial logit model was fitted to identify factors that influence farmers' labour supply decisions between farm and off-farm work.Results for the cost benefit analysis show that banana is the most profitable of all the crops grown, in terms of gross margin.However, imperfections in labour and food markets cause farmers in the central region to allocate more land and labour to the less profitable annual crops (sweet potatoes, maize and cassava) but are more satisfying in terms of household food requirements.High food prices and limitations in access to the off-farm labour market induce farmers to rely on own farm production for their household food needs.Results from the technical efficiency analysis show that banana farmers in Uganda are technically inefficient, and output can be increased by 30 in the southwest and 58% in the central region.Improved roads, formal education and access to credit are some of the factors that improve technical efficiency.Agricultural extension visits significantly increases banana productivity in the southwest.Results confirm that pest (banana weevil) and disease (Sigatoka) infestation contribute to the low banana production in the central region.Farm size is positively related to farm productivity.However, production is more efficient on smaller plots (decreasing returns to scale).The low productivity on small farms puts to question the sustainability of smallholder agriculture, given the imperfections in labour and food markets and limited access to purchased inputs.Analysis of the marginal products of labour shows that farmers are allocatively inefficient and production and consumption decisions are nonseparable.Findings from labour supply analysis show that farmers respond positively to changes in shadow wage rates and negatively to changes in shadow income.This implies that the farmers are responsive to economic incentives.Access to off-farm opportunities takes away the most productive labour from farm production.Thus improved road access and high wage rates are associated with lower farm labour productivity and lower labour supply.Education and road access have a positive effect on time allocated to off-farm activities while farm size is negatively related to work hours in off-farm activities.The study reveals that policies that promote income diversification into off-farm activities can contribute to sustained development in the rural sector.In particular, policies that reduce transaction costs are likely to improve productivity and efficiency in both the off-farm sector and farm sector.Investment in road infrastructure, education and financial institutions that are suited to smallholder production needs could help in alleviating the bottlenecks in the labour, food and financial markets, and improve resource allocation between the farm and nonfarm sectors.

The economy in western Kenya, like most of the other regions in Kenya is agriculture based with smallholder farm households forming the bulk of the population. While all smallholder households engage in agricultural production to meet their food and cash needs, income earned outside the farm forms a significant component of household income. For these households, labour is the main input in both farm and off-farm activities. This study was motivated by three reasons: Firstly, there are contradicting perceptions regarding availability of labour in smallholder farm households of western Kenya. One view point suggests abundant labour due to the high population density and few employment opportunities. On the other hand, poor uptake of labour intensive agricultural technologies is frequently attributed to lack of labour and/or poor returns thereby suggesting scarcity of labour in the households. Secondly, previous studies mainly focus on the pros and cons of diversification in terms of employment, income effects, consumption effect or lost labour effect. Few however, have studied the efficiency or outcomes of household behaviour given the wide portfolio of economic activities they engage in. Thirdly, there are significant differences in outcomes between livelihood strategies and significant gains to be made by shifting between strategies. Labour has desirable characteristics, such as its versatility, divisibility and mobility, which make it attractive for technical and policy interventions targeting poor households. However, labour as an entry point for change may become an ineffective where its mobility is constrained. The aim of this thesis was to identify barriers that hinder farm households from benefiting from interventions targeting them. Efficiency studies provide an indication of how well households use their resources and the mobility of factors of production in the household. Where households are efficient, it means that factors of production easily move to activities with highest returns. The aim of this study was therefore achieved by establishing whether farm households are efficient in allocation of labour and by identifying the factors responsible for deviations from expected behaviour. The study contributes to the AfricaNUANCES project “Exploring tradeoffs around farming livelihoods and the environment” by illuminating the dynamics which lead to varied perceptions about the opportunity cost of labour and its availability in smallholder farm households. Most studies on allocative efficiency are mainly carried out at the household level with the assumption that allocative efficiency prevails within the household. Such an assumption although convenient ignores the effects on labour use of; seasonality, heterogeneity within farms and the uncertainty in uncontrolled environments. Where these situations prevail, within household efficiency cannot be assumed. For example, farm households normally sub-divide their land into independent units either due to the heterogeneity in biophysical conditions and/or the wide range of crops grown so as to meet food and cash needs. When agricultural production is simultaneously carried out in such semi-autonomous units, allocative efficiency may be at stake. The second situation where within household allocative efficiency may be questioned is where household resources are allocated on the basis of gender. The third situation where within household allocative efficiency cannot be assumed is where there is strong seasonality in production activities or where there is uncertainty because agricultural production occurs in uncontrolled environments. In such cases where labour demand varies over the season, efficiency in labour allocation cannot be assumed. The assumption of most behavioural studies is that households are faced with a single price in decision making which under perfect markets is the market wage rate. There are situations however where households may experience more than one wage rate for their labour. For example, where households cannot sell as much labour as they would wish because of rationing in the labour market or where financial or insurance markets have failed. In this case, labour allocation between farm and off-farm activities is influenced by the prevailing conditions on the farm as well as off the farm. A holistic approach to allocative efficiency was adopted by addressing three research questions namely: whether farm households are efficient within their farms i.e. whether marginal reallocation of labour would lead to better outcomes on the farm, whether farm households are efficient over the cropping season and lastly whether farm households are efficient in labour allocation between farm and off-farm activities i.e. whether their involvement in labour markets affects the marginal efficiency of labour use. The study combined one and two-step production functions, and labour supply and demand functions in addressing these questions. In Chapter 2, the data used and the characteristics of the study area are described. In addition the diversity of household strategies in terms of labour use and incomes sources is described and comparisons made to highlight the relative importance. The dataset used comprises of household and plot level data collected from a random sample of farm households in Kakamega, and Vihiga districts of western Kenya. Like other parts of Kenya, the economy in western Kenya is mainly driven by an agricultural sector which mainly comprises of smallholder farmers. Much of the land in the two districts (Kakamega, and Vihiga) falls in the high to medium potential areas where the rainfall ranges from 1400mm to 2000mm. Farms are on average small. The average farm size is 0.97 ha and 0.58 ha for Kakamega and Shinyalu respectively and fifty percent (50%) of the households own not more than 0.81 ha in Kakamega and 0.5 ha in Vihiga. It is a common practice for smallholder farmers to subdivide their farms into distinct plots. The plots are normal small with a mean of 0.24 hectares in Kakamega and 0.16 hectares in Vihiga. In spite of the small farm sizes, farming is the main economic activity for households in the study area and the family is the main source of labour. Nutrient mining, soil erosion and little use of fertilisers characterise the farming landscape in the two districts. Consequently, majority of the households experience food deficits and earn little from their farms. Household income is normally supplemented with cash from sale of livestock products and live animals, off-farm employment and remittances. Majority of the households have at least one member working off-farm. The poverty incidence in western Kenya is however high with 57% falling below the poverty line. In Chapter 3, a horizontal view point of labour use was adopted whereby within farm allocative efficiency was examined. The total number of distinct plots for each household range from one to six with most households having two to four plots. The outcomes of household behaviour in labour allocation to various crops was examined while controlling for variability in bio-physical characteristics of the farm. An index indicating the extent of inefficiency within the farm was created from model parameters and the factors influencing this inefficiency determined. The study reveals that there is room for improvement in efficiency of labour allocation within the farm. It shows that farm households tend to allocate more labour to food crops like maize and beans compared with other crops that are more market oriented. The labour applied to maize relative to other crops increases with the household’s labour capacity and with remoteness but reduces when the liquidity position of a household improves. These results may be explained by the different perception of output prices by the household when there are imperfections in output markets. A vertical perspective of labour use was adopted in Chapter 4. Seasonality and uncertainties in agricultural production result in a varying labour constraint over the season. A model which captures the sequential nature of farm household decisions over the cropping season was adopted in deriving optimal levels of stage-specific labour input and output. The resultant econometric model of two labour functions and a production function was applied to maize production and household’s allocative efficiency of labour use over the season evaluated. Efficiency was evaluated by comparing returns to labour applied at the beginning of the season and at weeding. For over 90% of the farm households the marginal product of labour applied at the beginning of the season was larger than the marginal product of labour applied at weeding. This suggests that households in western Kenya are most labour constrained at the beginning of the season. There are a few households that are more labour constrained at weeding or maintain constant returns to labour across the season. The results are suggestive of imperfections in the labour market. An index of inefficiency was created and related to various farm and household characteristics. Simulations using model coefficients show how the model results can be interpreted for farm households with different characteristics. The change in the relative value of labour (due to changing farm and household characterstics) was expressed in monetary terms to demonstrate the application of model results to real life situations. In Chapter 5 we examine household efficiency in labour allocation between farm and off-farm activities and the determinants of labour supply and demand. Efficiency was evaluated by comparing information generated in chapter 3 regarding returns to labour within the farm with information generated in chapter 5 regarding returns to labour off the farm. In determination of factors influencing household behaviour, we did not choose a particular wage but allowed the household to demonstrate how the payments to labour on the farm, off-farm and village wage rates influence its decisions. On average differences in returns to labour between farm and off-farm employment are large and significant implying that efficiency in use of family labour can be improved. However, households which participate in labour markets as sellers or buyers are more productive on the farm and efficient in use of family labour on the farm. There is unavailability or rationing in off-farm jobs for some categories of skilled labour. Distance to market is an important determinant in the decision to sell labour off-farm. We simulated the expected farm household response to changes of 10% in the key factors influencing supply and demand namely; farm size, family size, income and education level. Increasing household income results in increased consumption of leisure as households reduce farm labour supply by 6.8%. This reduction in farm labour supply is however compensated with an increase (6.3%) in demand for hired labour. Households with a higher labour capacity supply more labour on-farm (3.7%) and off-farm (5.8%). Such households generally demand less hired labour (2.7%) with the exception of those that sell labour off-farm where a 2.5% increase in demand for hired labour was observed. The largest increase in supply of labour to the farm may be achieved through an increase in farm size which results in 3.7% increase in supply of labour and a 2.4% increase in demand for hired labour. Moving from complete illiteracy to a level where the head has some basic skills resulted in reduced off-farm labour supply probably because there are few opportunities for persons with basic skills compared to opportunities available for illiterate persons. Off-farm employment opportunities are least available for persons with secondary and above secondary education because moving from just primary education to secondary or above results in a big drop in labour supplied off-farm. The simulations also showed that when off-farm opportunities are unavailable, more labour is employed on the farm. In Chapter 6 we conclude the study by revisiting the key issues addressed and discussing the key findings. Household inefficiency in labour allocation has been attributed to market imperfections particularly output and labour markets. These imperfections hinder labour mobility within the farm, across the season and between farm and off-farm activities. Policy measures that would steer farm households towards more efficient use of labour include reducing marketing costs for farm output, increasing participation in labour market and improving the functioning of other rural markets. This study quantified the degree of efficiency of the allocation of labour in the household. It did so for the allocation over crops, over time, and between on and off-farm employment. In this way the study contributes new measures of the effects that the varying degrees of integration in the markets have on the allocation of the household's most important production factor, their labour.

Keywords: rainfall risk, ex-ante risk management, ex-post risk coping strategies, off-farm labor supply, fertilizer adoption, Northern Ethiopia, Tigray. Rural households in semi-arid areas often experience rainfall-related shocks that result in low and uncertain income. Household’s survival depends on the ability to anticipate and to cope with this uncertain income. Through time, households have developed ex-ante risk management and ex-post risk coping strategies. These include crop portfolio adjustments and off-farm activity diversification. This thesis investigates the role of rainfall and rainfall risk on households’ risk management and risk coping strategies. Econometric models based on the neo-classical household production and consumption model were used. These methods were applied to a four-year (1996, 1997, 2001, and 2002) panel data sample of Tigray (Northern Ethiopia) farm households. The study showed that farmers’ ex-ante strategic response to rainfall risk is through diversification of crops to be grown. Choosing the crops most suited to specific rainfall conditions was proven to be a strategy of farmers to cope with unpredictable rainfall. In times of low rainfall, the dominant crops to be chosen are teff and grass pea. Rainfall risk also increases the probability of off-farm labor supply. Therefore, households’ off-farm labor supply can be seen as an ex-ante and ex-post income smoothing strategy. Moreover, this study showed that ex-post consumption variability and rainfall risk negatively correlated with ex-ante fertilizer adoption decisions. This implies that households are biased toward technologies that are less risky. This leads to the conclusion that any mechanism that allows farmers to smooth consumption ex-post will raise ex-ante fertilizer adoption. Ex-ante crop choice, fertilizer adoption, and reliable water availability for farming can be viewed as complements. These complementarities suggest that policies that focus on rainwater harvesting techniques and promoting small-scale irrigation would promote fertilizer adoption. Reducing rainfall-induced risk leads to more fertilizer use, and therefore, to more production and income. Expansion of off-farm employment opportunities inside and outside agriculture would also improve households’ risk management and risk coping capacities.

End of Project Report This project addresses gender relations on dairy farms in Irish Republic. Its aim was to explore the way women who are married to farmers but who are employed in paid employment off the farm are constructed in agricultural policy discourse. It was proposed that discourses encapsulate the values and interests of powerful actors and are constitutive in their effect. Hence they are implicated in women’s experience of life within a ‘farm family’. Following on from this it may be said that women’ s continued subordination in Irish farming or indeed their chances of achieving equal status are circumscribed by dominant discourses.