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The Impact of Off-farm Activities on Rural Household Income in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Received: 24 April 2019     Accepted: 2 June 2019     Published: 12 June 2019
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Abstract

This study presents an empirical analysis of the impact of participation in off-farm activities on household income level in Wolaita zone, southern Ethiopia. The impact of participation in off-farm activities on household income was estimated by using Heckman two-step model. The results of Heckman’s two-step model indicated that participation in off-farm activities has a significant impact on annual income of the households. Moreover, the study identified the factors that affect participation of households in off -farm activities. Consequently, the probit model result revealed that age of the household head, sex of the household head, marital status, distance to the nearest market, agro-ecological zone, credit access, livestock ownership, the amount of farm income, and having mobile phone were key factors that influence participation of households in off-farm activities. With regard to results of Heckman’s two-step model, the participation in off-farm activities, education level of the household head, and agro-ecological zone were found to be the main factors that affect households’ total income level. The positive and significant effect of off-farm activities on total income of the rural households calls for policy measures in order to pave the way to expand off-farm activities so as to bring a substantial contribution to the living standard of the rural society.

Published in Journal of World Economic Research (Volume 8, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.jwer.20190801.12
Page(s) 8-16
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Off-farm Activities, Household Income, Heckman Two-Step Model, Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Ayana Anteneh Astatike, Ermias Ganamo Gazuma. (2019). The Impact of Off-farm Activities on Rural Household Income in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Journal of World Economic Research, 8(1), 8-16. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jwer.20190801.12

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    ACS Style

    Ayana Anteneh Astatike; Ermias Ganamo Gazuma. The Impact of Off-farm Activities on Rural Household Income in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia. J. World Econ. Res. 2019, 8(1), 8-16. doi: 10.11648/j.jwer.20190801.12

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    AMA Style

    Ayana Anteneh Astatike, Ermias Ganamo Gazuma. The Impact of Off-farm Activities on Rural Household Income in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia. J World Econ Res. 2019;8(1):8-16. doi: 10.11648/j.jwer.20190801.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jwer.20190801.12,
      author = {Ayana Anteneh Astatike and Ermias Ganamo Gazuma},
      title = {The Impact of Off-farm Activities on Rural Household Income in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia},
      journal = {Journal of World Economic Research},
      volume = {8},
      number = {1},
      pages = {8-16},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jwer.20190801.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jwer.20190801.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jwer.20190801.12},
      abstract = {This study presents an empirical analysis of the impact of participation in off-farm activities on household income level in Wolaita zone, southern Ethiopia. The impact of participation in off-farm activities on household income was estimated by using Heckman two-step model. The results of Heckman’s two-step model indicated that participation in off-farm activities has a significant impact on annual income of the households. Moreover, the study identified the factors that affect participation of households in off -farm activities. Consequently, the probit model result revealed that age of the household head, sex of the household head, marital status, distance to the nearest market, agro-ecological zone, credit access, livestock ownership, the amount of farm income, and having mobile phone were key factors that influence participation of households in off-farm activities. With regard to results of Heckman’s two-step model, the participation in off-farm activities, education level of the household head, and agro-ecological zone were found to be the main factors that affect households’ total income level. The positive and significant effect of off-farm activities on total income of the rural households calls for policy measures in order to pave the way to expand off-farm activities so as to bring a substantial contribution to the living standard of the rural society.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    T1  - The Impact of Off-farm Activities on Rural Household Income in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia
    AU  - Ayana Anteneh Astatike
    AU  - Ermias Ganamo Gazuma
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jwer.20190801.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.jwer.20190801.12
    T2  - Journal of World Economic Research
    JF  - Journal of World Economic Research
    JO  - Journal of World Economic Research
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    EP  - 16
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7748
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jwer.20190801.12
    AB  - This study presents an empirical analysis of the impact of participation in off-farm activities on household income level in Wolaita zone, southern Ethiopia. The impact of participation in off-farm activities on household income was estimated by using Heckman two-step model. The results of Heckman’s two-step model indicated that participation in off-farm activities has a significant impact on annual income of the households. Moreover, the study identified the factors that affect participation of households in off -farm activities. Consequently, the probit model result revealed that age of the household head, sex of the household head, marital status, distance to the nearest market, agro-ecological zone, credit access, livestock ownership, the amount of farm income, and having mobile phone were key factors that influence participation of households in off-farm activities. With regard to results of Heckman’s two-step model, the participation in off-farm activities, education level of the household head, and agro-ecological zone were found to be the main factors that affect households’ total income level. The positive and significant effect of off-farm activities on total income of the rural households calls for policy measures in order to pave the way to expand off-farm activities so as to bring a substantial contribution to the living standard of the rural society.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 1
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Author Information
  • Department of Economics, Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia

  • Department of Economics, Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia

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