Abstract:Despite the economic dominance of agriculture in the study area, farm households widely practice diverse income generating activities as livelihood strategies to overcome diverse challenges and risks. The existing capacity of agriculture to attain food and livelihood security is tremendously declining from time to time. The main aim of this study was to identify the determinants of farmers' participation in income diversification in the study area. The study involved primary data which were collected from randomly selected 300 households in four districts of the zone. For selection of study units probability proportional to the size was applied and respondents were selected through systematic sampling technique. In addition, key informant interview and focus group discussion were used to supplement the survey with qualitative information. Secondary data were also collected from various relevant sources. Descriptive statistics were applied to characterize the sample households' social, economic, demographic and institutional factors. The findings of the study indicates that rural households in the study area practice diversified income sources, in that about 57.7% of the households combine agriculture with other activities (non/off-farm). Some farmers were pursuing non-farm and off-farm activities as the primary income sources rather than agriculture. Considering the wealth status, the poor households derive almost half (50%) of their income from nonagricultural activities whereas the latter accounts for only 6.4% of the income of the better-off households'. Binary logit model was applied to investigate factors influencing the households' participation in income diversification. In this regard, out of total explanatory variables included in the model, 8 were significant. The results confirm that factors such as sex, farm size, livestock ownership, oxen ownership, education, leadership, annual cash income and market distance were key determinants of farmers' participation in income diversification. Further, the study identifies income diversification as a cumulative effects of several factors, and therefore urges policy makers to give due attention to them with a view to overcoming the challenging bottlenecks.

Due to sever land scarcity, high population pressure and recurrent drought, farm households in the study area widely engage in and pursue diverse activities as livelihood strategies. The carrying capacity of agriculture to attain food and livelihood security is extremely declining from time to time. Diversifying livelihood strategies at current time become a common phenomenon in the study area. The major objectives of this study are, therefore, to identify the existing livelihood strategies adopted by rural households and to assess factors that determine households' decision to choose alternative livelihood strategies. For the purpose of this study primary data were collected from randomly selected 300 households in four woredas (districts) of the zone. Descriptive statistics was applied to characterize the sample households' social, economic, demographic and institutional factors. The finding of the survey result indicates that rural households in the study area practice diversified livelihood strategies, in that large part of the respondents (57.7%) combine agriculture with other activities (non/off-farm). Surprisingly, some farmers were pursuing non-farm and off-farm activities as the primary livelihood strategies rather than agriculture. Multinomial logit model applied to investigate factors influencing the households' choice of livelihood strategies. In this regard, a total of 19 explanatory variables were included in the empirical model of which 11 were significant. These variables include agro-ecology, sex, education, farm size, livestock ownership, participation in social leadership, annual cash income, fertilizer use, improved seed use, age, and training which were determining farmers' choice of livelihood strategies. The results of this study suggest that development interventions, policies and supportive services should be designed to suit the felt needs and circumstances of different groups of farmers.

This study was conducted at Boloso Sore district of Southern Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to identify determinants of Small-scale irrigation use. A total of 104 farmers were randomly selected and interviewed by using semistructured questionnaire. To collect the required data several methods like interview schedule, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were used. Various documents were reviewed to collect the secondary data. Descriptive statistics, inferential statistics (chi-square and independent t-test) and econometric model analysis were used to analyze quantitative data. As the binary logistic regression model result indicates, four variables were found to be significant namely training, land size and labor which had significant and positive effect on the use of irrigation water use at less than 10% probability level, while, distance from the river had significant and negative effect on the use of irrigation water at 5% significant level. Governmental and non-governmental organizations should give emphasis on provision of training to create awareness creation and skill about irrigation technologies and increases their access to use irrigation water in the study area. They also should give emphasis on intensifying agricultural production in order to enhance the productivity of limited land. Therefore, to alleviate these problems and improve small-scale irrigation utilization, woreda (district) agricultural and rural development office and other concerned bodies should attempt to address those factors that hinder small-scale irrigation utilization in the study area.

This data article presents a comprehensive data set about Wolaita Zone (Ethiopia), and the Woredas / Districts within it. The tables cover administrative, demographic, educational, agricultural, transport, and water aspects of the zone. The majority of the data is from 2013/2014, however, a few tables provide trend data over recent years. The evidence shows rapid population growth, significant educational challenges, limitations of health coverage, disparities of agricultural extension service provision and potable water. The data are otherwise not available to researchers and these data sets enable greater contextualization for any on-going or future research within the zone. The data were provided by the Zonal Administration in 2015, and were part of a research project that was approved by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute and supported by the Regional Health Bureau.

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