Farm and farmer characteristics and off‐farm work: evidence from Algeria

Abstract

Off‐farm work is a widespread, two‐edged, phenomenon that can help both the survival and the demise of small‐ and medium‐sized agricultural exploitations. Given the prevalence of poverty in rural areas, nonfarm income has been credited with helping farmers to survive. But the observed shrinking of rural areas has also raised the question of whether off‐farm work is pulling farmers permanently away from farming. This paper explores the impact of farmer characteristics on the decision to work off‐farm in developing countries where this phenomenon has been largely neglected. A review of theory and prior empirical work suggests four main hypotheses which we test empirically. The results suggest that while some farmer characteristics appear to be universal, others appear to be country‐ or culture‐specific.

Examining how internet use and non-farm employment affect rural households’ income gap? Evidence from China

“…In Sub-Saharan Africa, off-farm income accounts for a large portion of the household livelihood portfolio (Van den Broeck and Kilic, 2019). Considering the prevalence of poverty in rural regions, it is commonly believed that non-farm income helps farmers survive and reduces income disparities (Bouchakour and Saad, 2020). In China's rural areas, non-farm employment has considerably broadened the income streams of rural residents.…”

Accelerating Strategies in Developing Superior Agricultural Commodities in Maybrat, West Papua Province

“…The importance of agriculture in the Maybrat community can be seen from the lifestyle of the people, where most of the people work as farmers. However, some characteristics of farmers appear universal, while others appear specific to a particular country or culture [3]. Nevertheless, the view is to cover the most important and broad-minded topics, including land reform and rural development, technological advances and productivity growth, changing food consumption patterns, rural education and human capital accumulation, and poverty alleviation [4].…”