Majority of the population in rural Nigeria like in other developing countries are poor peasants and hugely dependent on agriculture and related activities for their livelihood. The high incidence of poverty is attributable to the challenges confronting agricultural production which has resulted in dwindling income from on-farm sources. The state of on-farm production and the increasing popularity of the off-farm sector has changed the status of a significant rural population from on-farm specialised to of farm diversified households. Such adjustment is expected to have an impact on poverty status and income distribution. The current study therefore examined the factors that drive household's participation in off-farm sector activities in rural Nigeria and assessed its effect on their poverty status and rural income inequality using data of rural households obtained from the RIGA database. Employing the probit models, the empirical results reveal that the participation decisions of rural household Me influenced mainly by human and social capital characteristic" farm production factors and locational characteristics. Based on the assumption that the participation decision is two-part, an analysis of the intensity of participation in the off farm activities using the double hurdle model shows that beside the categories of variables identified under the participation decision, labour market conditions and 8-%et status of households play n· major role in determining the intensity of off-farm work. The result, obtained from employing the propensity score matching and the FGT poverty measure Lo assess the effect of off-farm income on the expenditure outcome and poverty status of rural households, respectively show, significant effect on the welfare of rural households. Results reveal that income obtained from undertaking off-farm wage and self employment activities significantly contributes to enhancing the expenditure and poverty status of rural households. Specifically, of-farm income contributed to reducing the incidence, depth and severity of poverty.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:658000 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Ibrahim, Mohammed Kebiru |
| Publisher | University of Reading |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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