This article makes an initial analysis of the implications of income diversification for technical change and agricultural research policy in Africa, leading to two insights. First, that the dilution effect of income diversification means that, as the proportion of non‐farm income increases, so must the expected gains from adopting a new agricultural technology. Second, that diversified producers will face disproportionately large transactions costs associated with information acquisition to inform technology choice decisions. Two hypotheses about how diversified producers are likely to react are then explored. Both point to the conclusion that income diversification among the poor is likely to constrain significantly the direct poverty impacts of agricultural research. The policy implications of these findings are then considered.
In the context of areas that have little prospect in the medium term of providing even minimal livelihoods locally for their overwhelming poor and increasingly migration-dependent rural populations, what does education for sustainable development (ESD) mean? Do efforts to qualitatively improve migration offer a viable strategy for reducing poverty and fostering sustainable development in the source areas? What skills and knowledge enhancement can concurrently improve the livelihoods of migration-dependent households? This paper examines these questions through a narrative on the formative years of the Aajeevika Bureau, an innovative programme dedicated to the improvement in livelihood opportunities for poor, migrant labourers of Rajasthan, India.
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