Quantifying rural livelihood strategies in developing countries using an activity choice approach

Øystein Juul Nielsen; Santosh Rayamajhi; Patricia D C Uberhuaga de Arratia; Henrik Meilby; Carsten Smith-Hall

doi:10.1111/j.1574-0862.2012.00632.x

Quantifying rural livelihood strategies in developing countries using an activity choice approach

Øystein Juul Nielsen, Santosh Rayamajhi, Patricia D C Uberhuaga de Arratia, Henrik Meilby, Carsten Smith-Hall

69 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This article uses a quantitative activity choice approach, based on identification of activity variables and application of latent class cluster analysis, to identify five major rural livelihood strategies pursued by households (n= 576) in Bolivia, Nepal, and Mozambique. Income sources and welfare outcomes are compared across strategies and household differences in asset holdings are analyzed using multinomial logit regression. Findings reveal that income diversification is the norm, that a higher degree of specialization does not characterize more remunerative livelihood strategies, that nonfarm income significantly contributes to higher income earnings, that environmental reliance does not vary across strategies, and that small-scale farmers are the largest and poorest livelihood group. Some livelihood strategies are superior to all other strategies in terms of income earned; access to more remunerative livelihood strategies is determined by land ownership, education, and ethnic affiliation. Finally, the article also highlights that additional work is required to determine the most suitable methods for livelihood strategy identification.

Original language	English
Journal	Agricultural Economics
Volume	44
Issue number	1
Pages (from-to)	57-71
Number of pages	14
ISSN	0169-5150
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-0862.2012.00632.x
Publication status	Published - Jan 2013

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10.1111/j.1574-0862.2012.00632.x

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1574-0862.2012.00632.x/full

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title = "Quantifying rural livelihood strategies in developing countries using an activity choice approach",

abstract = "This article uses a quantitative activity choice approach, based on identification of activity variables and application of latent class cluster analysis, to identify five major rural livelihood strategies pursued by households (n= 576) in Bolivia, Nepal, and Mozambique. Income sources and welfare outcomes are compared across strategies and household differences in asset holdings are analyzed using multinomial logit regression. Findings reveal that income diversification is the norm, that a higher degree of specialization does not characterize more remunerative livelihood strategies, that nonfarm income significantly contributes to higher income earnings, that environmental reliance does not vary across strategies, and that small-scale farmers are the largest and poorest livelihood group. Some livelihood strategies are superior to all other strategies in terms of income earned; access to more remunerative livelihood strategies is determined by land ownership, education, and ethnic affiliation. Finally, the article also highlights that additional work is required to determine the most suitable methods for livelihood strategy identification. ",

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AU - Nielsen, Øystein Juul

AU - Rayamajhi, Santosh

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AU - Smith-Hall, Carsten

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AB - This article uses a quantitative activity choice approach, based on identification of activity variables and application of latent class cluster analysis, to identify five major rural livelihood strategies pursued by households (n= 576) in Bolivia, Nepal, and Mozambique. Income sources and welfare outcomes are compared across strategies and household differences in asset holdings are analyzed using multinomial logit regression. Findings reveal that income diversification is the norm, that a higher degree of specialization does not characterize more remunerative livelihood strategies, that nonfarm income significantly contributes to higher income earnings, that environmental reliance does not vary across strategies, and that small-scale farmers are the largest and poorest livelihood group. Some livelihood strategies are superior to all other strategies in terms of income earned; access to more remunerative livelihood strategies is determined by land ownership, education, and ethnic affiliation. Finally, the article also highlights that additional work is required to determine the most suitable methods for livelihood strategy identification.

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