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Survey Of Farm Source Of Income Among Residents
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Income diversification is a form of risk management strategy aimed at
cushioning the effects of shocks (economic and agro-climate), poverty
reduction, reduction in income inequality, production instability and
overall improvement in the standard of living of the people (Barrett
& Reardon, 2000; Abdulai&CroleRees, 2001; Barrett, Reardon &
Webb,
2001; Deininger &Olintro, 2001; Little, 2001;
Woldenhanna&Oskan, 2001; Adugna, 2006; Minot, Epprecht, Anh
&Trung, 2006). Abdulai and CroleRees (2001) maintained that income
diversification is the allocation of productive resources among
different income generating activities, both on-farm and off-farm. Some
researchers asserted that income diversification involves adding
income-generating activities including livestock, crop, non-farm and
off-farm activities (Barrett, Bezuneh&Aboud, 2000; Barrett et al.,
2001a; Kydd, 2002; Reardon, Berdegue, Barrett &Stamoulis, 2006).
Income diversification among rural farmers is geared towards improving
their household livelihood (Dixon, Gulliver & Gibbon, 2001). More
comprehensively, Minot et al. (2006) stated that income diversification
has been used to describe four distinct but related concepts. One
definition refers to an increase in the number of sources of income or
the balance among the different sources (Joshi, Gulati,
Birthal&Twari, 2003; Ersado, 2003; Ijaiya et al., 2010). A second
definition concerns the switch from subsistence food production to
commercial agriculture. This also implies an increasing mix of income
activities on the farm. Third, income diversification is often used to
describe expansion in the importance of non-crop or non-income.
Fourthly, income
diversification can be defined as the process of
switching from low-value crop production to higher-value crops,
livestock and non-farm activities (Ibrahim &Onuk, 2009). High-value
crops are defined as crops that generate high economic returns per unit
of labour or land.
The literature on income diversification varies in
its use of terms such as “on-farmâ€, “non-farm†and “off-farm†(Barrett
et al. 2000b). Terms like off-farm and non-incomes have been used at
first glance in a synonymous way with slightly different definitions
(Schwarze& Zeller, 2005). Barrett et al. (2000c) pointed out that
the terms “off-farmâ€, “nonfarm†and “non-agricultural†are used in
seemingly synonymous ways but actually refer to very different settings
under which activities take place. Kim (2011) affirmed that farm
diversification refer to farm activities and off-farm diversification
refers to seeking business or employment opportunities other than
traditional crop production and livestock rearing and it relates to
agriculture as it includes processing and trading of agricultural
produce. According to Reardon et al. (2000) and Escobal (2001), nonfarm
diversification includes offfarm wage labour and nonfarm
self-employment. Barrett et al. (2000b) and Ellis (2000a) stated that
“farm/nonfarm†distinction revolves around sectoral classifications
(primary, secondary and tertiary sectors); where farm activities are
associated with primary sector production while nonfarm activities are
associated with secondary and tertiary sector production.
“On-farm/off-farm†distinction reflects the spatial distribution of
activities, with off-income generated away from one’s own farm.
According
to Enete and Uguru (2012), agriculture in the developing world remains
one of the most vulnerable sectors as a result of climate change.
Changes in precipitation patterns and rises in extreme weather events
increase the likelihood of production failures and overall production
declines. Income diversification is often necessary in agriculture-based
peasant economies because of risks such as variability in soil quality,
crop diseases, animal diseases, price shock, unpredictable rainfall and
other weather-related events (Ibrahim et al., 2009). Kwadwo and Samson
(2012) reiterated that climate change could substantially reduce yields
from rainfed agriculture in some countries. Therefore, diverse
agricultural activities which are able to combat these problems in
Nigeria have been sought after. The farm and non-farm sectors have been
changing in structure through diversification of activities on one hand
and through increasing employment and income generation on the other
(Pal & Biswas, 2011). Whether the two sectors are complementary or
substitutable in the context of overall economic development is an issue
attracting the interest of recent researches.
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