Determinants of Participation in Off-farm Employment among Small-holder Farming Households in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Off-farm activities have become an important component of livelihood strategies among rural households in most developing countries. It is often assumed that shrinking land availability is the main reason for the growing role of off-farm income among farm households in developing countries. In this paper, we used survey data from 220 small-holder farming households in rural areas of Kwara State, Nigeria to show that this assumption is not always true. Descriptive analysis and Multivariate Probit model was used to analyze the determinants of household participation in different off-farm activities. Descriptive results indicate that although limited farm land is not a major constraint in the study area, off-farm income accounts for 50% of total household income and about 65% of the households participated in off-farm employment. Indeed, financial capital appears to be the most limiting factor for farming, so that cash income from off-farm activities can also help to expand farm production. Econometric analysis shows that the significant determinants of participation in off-farm employment were household size, gender of household head, education of household head, education of other household members, amount of productive assets, access to electricity, pipe-water and distance to nearest urban market. Given the existing complementarities, welldesigned policies could promote farm and off-farm income-earning opportunities simultaneously, especially for the poorer households.