The rural non-farm sector: issues and evidence from developing countries

By J. Lanjouw, Peter Lanjouw. 2001

658 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The rural non-farm sector has traditionally been viewed as a low-productivity sector which produces low quality goods. It is often expected to wither away as a country develops. Recent years have seen a shift away from this position towards recognition that the rural non-farm sector can, and often does, contribute to economic growth, rural employment, poverty reduction, and a more spatially balanced population distribution. This paper reviews the literature on the conceptual and empirical underpinnings of this more recent perspective, focussing on the experience in developing countries. The paper documents the size and heterogeneity of the sector, pointing to evidence that in many countries the sector is expanding rather than declining. The issues associated with measuring the sector's economic contribution are discussed, followed by empirical assessments for several countries and regions. The distributional impact of non-farm earnings is examined and it is found that a pro-poor impact, while by no means inevitable, can be considerable. The sector's trajectory over time, in different settings, is reviewed and the scope for, and experience of, various policy interventions is discussed. © 2001 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved.

Subfields: Economics and Econometrics, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Safety Research

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1ed957845218961932deec0c5c324332c15c745a

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Citations in the corpus

Access to Rural Credit Markets in Developing Countries, the Case of Vietnam: A Literature Review (2019, background): “Credit is believed to contribute to the improvement of both farm and non-farm income and household livelihood in rural areas [83,84].”
Determinants of non-farm livelihood diversification: evidence from rainfed-dependent smallholder farmers in northcentral Ethiopia (Woleka sub-basin) (2017, background): “In the past, as described by Lanjouw and Lanjouw (2001), the rural non-farm sector had been considered as a low-productivity sector which produces low-quality goods and was often expected to diminish as a country develops.”
Industrial development and economic growth Implications for poverty reduction and income inequality (2002, background): “As enterprises are often concentrated in urban areas – because of ready access to skilled labour force, better infrastructure, larger markets and technological spillovers (e.g. Lanjouw and Lanjouw, 2001), industrialization may increase inequality between urban and rural areas.”
New investment, old challenges. Land deals and the water constraint in African agriculture (2012, background): “Thus, off-farm income has been widely observed to constitute not only the principal source of agricultural investment in sub-Saharan Africa (Collier and Lal 1986 , Bonnevie 1987 , Reardon 1998 , Lanjouw and Lanjouw 2001 ) but also a major mechanism for generating disparities of wealth within rur”
Urban Proximity, Agricultural Potential and Rural Non-farm Employment: Evidence from Bangladesh (2009, background): “This has been a key concern of policy makers and development economists in recent years (Haggblade, Hazell, & Reardon, 2006; Lanjouw & Feder, 2001; Lanjouw & Lanjouw, 2001).”
An assessment of the extent and causes of food insecurity in northern Ghana using a livelihood vulnerability framework (2006, background): “…Oslo, P. O. Box 1096, Blindern, Oslo 0317, Norway e-mail: jan.hesselberg@sgeo.uio.no J. A. Yaro Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, LG 59, Legon, Ghana together provide a variety of procurement strategies for food and cash (Dercon, 2000; Lanjouw & Lanjouw, 2001).”
Entrepreneurship Selection and Performance : A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Education in Developing Economies (2005, neutral): “In line with Lewis (1954) and Ranis and Fei (1964), studies of economic development have emphasized agriculture and industry.”
Are Rural Youth in Ethiopia Abandoning Agriculture (2014, background): “There are significant levels of non-farm activities that provide either an additional source of income to farmers or serve as the only source of livelihood to landless rural residents (Ellis, 1998, 2000; Lanjouw & Lanjouw, 2001; Reardon, 1997; Reardon, Berdegue, & Escobar, 2001).”
How social and human capital influence opportunity recognition and resource mobilization in India's handloom industry (2010, background): “In a country like India, where about 70% of the people live in rural areas, non-farm enterprises are an important element in the country's ability to absorb potential excess to farm labor (Lanjouw and Lanjouw, 2001).”
Does the Nonfarm Economy Offer Pathways for Upward Mobility? Evidence from a Panel Data Study in Ethiopia (2012, background): “Several studies across developing countries have shown that participation in rural nonfarm employment (RNFE) is positively correlated with total income, wealth and even agricultural productivity (Reardon, 1997, Lanjouw and Lanjouw, 2001, Reardon et al., 2001, Haggblade, 2007).”