Title: Livelihood diversification of farm households under rainfed agriculture: a case of Barak Valley of Assam, India

Authors: Himanshu Narayan Prasad; Gurudas Das; Gorky Chakraborty

Addresses: Department of Economics, Vivekananda Satavarshiki Mahavidyalaya, Manikpara, Jhargram, West Bengal, India ' Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology Silchar, Assam, India ' Institute of Development Studies Kolkata, 27/D, D.D. Block, Sector-I, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Abstract: The paper outlines the extent and pattern of rural livelihood diversification of farm households in Barak Valley of Assam, India. The study uses primary data collected from a sample of 450 farm households from the three districts that constitute the valley. We identify the major determinants of diversification towards non-farm activities by the farm households under the valley's rainfed agriculture. We also verify the role of non-farm earnings in improving the long-run economic wellbeing of farm households. We find that, among others, the percentage of household members employed in the non-farm sector, family size, average education of male working members, age of household head and size of landholdings emerge as significant determinants of livelihood diversification. It is also established that a farm household's non-farm earnings has a positive influence over its wealth index which is taken as a measure of its long run well-being.

Keywords: farm household; income diversification; tobit regression; rainfed agriculture; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEBR.2022.122060

International Journal of Economics and Business Research, 2022 Vol.23 No.3, pp.314 - 336

Received: 16 Jul 2020
Accepted: 24 Oct 2020
Published online: 08 Apr 2022 *

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