Livelihood diversification strategies in the Himalayas*

Review Development Economics

2018

Using nationally representative data from Bhutan, and applying an exogenous switching treatment regression model, this study assessed the food security status between male‐headed households (MHHs) and female‐headed households (FHHs). The study demonstrates that there is no significant difference between MHHs and FHHs in terms of food security, but when MHHs are compared with de jure FHHs, the food security is significantly lower among the de jure FHHs. The food security gap between MHHs and de jure FHHs is due to the differences in both observable and unobservable characteristics of the households. The food security gap between de facto and de jure FHHs can be explained by the influence of connections and wider access to off‐farm income. Most of the previous studies consider all FHHs as a homogenous entity and ignore the concept of de jure FHHs (i.e., a household run by single, widowed, or divorced woman) and de facto FHHs (i.e., a household where there is a husband, but he is not physically present because of his work off‐farm). As the present research takes this into account, the econometric findings from our study, thus have important implications in formulating special food security policies targeting the most vulnerable FHHs.

Section: Gender Issues In Bhutanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untangling gender differentiated food security gaps in Bhutan: An application of exogenous switching treatment regression

Aryal

Mottaleb

Review Development Economics

2018

“…A household's capacity to supply labor to the non-farm sector is determined by the household size and structure (Micevska & Rahut, 2008;Rahut & Micevska Scharf, 2012a, 2012bReardon, 1997). Therefore, larger households with a large proportion of young male members are able to diversify into non-farm sectors, which require skills and physical energy.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rural livelihood diversification in developing countries has become important for reducing risk and poverty and enhancing the well‐being of rural households. This subject has gained attention from researchers in recent years (Bernstein, Crow, & Johnson, ; Ellis, ; Fafchamps & Quisumbing, , ; Fafchamps & Shilpi, ; Haggblade, Hazell, & Brown, ; Micevska & Rahut, ; Rahut & Micevska Scharf, , ; Reardon, ; Reardon, Berdegué, & Escobar, ; Saith, ; von Braun & Pandya‐Lorch, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rural Livelihood Diversification Strategies in Nepal

Poverty &Amp; Public Policy

Ali²,

Kassie

et al. 2014

Self Cite

This article constructs a rural livelihood strategy using the Nepal Living Standard Survey Measurement from 1996 and 2004 and explores the determinants of rural livelihood strategies. This study finds that education, ethnicity, and location play an important role in livelihood diversification outside agriculture, and suggests the importance of keeping children in school for non-farm livelihood diversification and poverty reduction. Important policy implications of the current study include the need for investment in education, as the current literacy rate in Nepal is quite low. Investing in education will help households to diversify their livelihood outside of the farm and pave a way out of poverty.

“…2005; Lay et al. 2008; Rahut and Micevska Scharf 2012). We follow this strand of literature and differentiate between non‐farm self‐employment and wage employment 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non‐farm employment and incomes in rural Cambodia

Micevska

2012

Asian-Pac Economic Lit

Self Cite

Rural households in Cambodia derive income from various sources. On average, non-farm income accounts for more than 60 per cent of total household income. However, the average masks the substantial heterogeneity of non-farm employment. We account for this heterogeneity and find significant differences in non-farm participation and incomes across segments of the income distribution. The poor and the less well-educated participate less in the non-farm sector, and when they do work in the non-farm sector, they work in low-paid jobs and earn lower incomes. Accounting for endogeneity and sample selection issues, we conduct an empirical enquiry of the determinants of participation in non-farm activities and of non-farm incomes. As expected, we find that education plays a major role in accessing more remunerative non-farm employment. Interestingly, we do not find evidence that women, ethnic minorities, or the land-poor are disadvantaged in access to the non-farm sector. Geographical location plays a role in access to and income from non-farm employment, indicating the importance of local context.