Rural Households’ Livelihood Diversification Activities: A Case Study from Borena District, North Central Ethiopia

Abstract

In Ethiopia, farm households are not adequately engage and pursue diverse livelihood activities to cope with various challenges due to livelihood asset crisis and persistent cultural bottle neck. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to identify the rural households’ livelihood diversification activities in Borena district, north central Ethiopia. The study follows a pragmatism paradigm with a cross sectional study design. The required data were drawn both from primary and secondary sources. The study used multistage sampling procedure, involving a combination of purposive and random sampling techniques to select 358 sample household heads. Household sample surveys, key informant interviews and focus group discussions were the principal means used to acquire primary data. In analyzing and interpreting the primary data, quantitative research techniques was employed. Percentages, mean and standard deviation were employed to analyze the quantitative data while thematic narration techniques were used to analyses the qualitative data. The result indicate that slightly more than one-third (33.8%), one-fourth (26.5%) and nearly half (49.7%) of the respondents were engaged exclusively in on-farm, off-farm and non-farm activities, respectively. Thus, policy makers need to intervene in the highest possible means of livelihood diversification while designing and reforming strategies related to diversification of livelihoods.