Few Opportunities, Much Desperation: The Dichotomy of Non-Agricultural Activities and Inequality in Western Kenya |
| |
Authors: | Jann Lay Toman Omar Mahmoud George Michuki MMukaria |
| |
Institution: | aKiel Institute for the World Economy, Kiel, Germany;bGerman Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, Germany |
| |
Abstract: | Using data from Western Kenya, we confirm the existence of a dichotomous non-agricultural sector. The poverty and inequality implications of the differently motivated diversification strategies only partly correspond to expected patterns. While high-return activities are indeed confined to richer households, low-return activities constitute an important income source for households across the entire income distribution. Finally, we examine the wider implications of our findings for rural livelihoods. We find that only engagement in high-return non-agricultural activities is significantly associated with increased agricultural productivity. It seems that such high-return activities play a key role in triggering cumulative effects of relative livelihood success. |
| |
Keywords: | income diversification non-agricultural activities inequality agricultural productivity sub-Saharan Africa Kenya |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |