Impact of Rural Livelihood Diversification among Rural Household in Nigeria

Abstract

Livelihood diversification can be referred to as attempts by individuals and households to raise diverse means of income to survive and improve their standard of living. The key driver of diversification is to increase income because the main source of income is not enough to provide a satisfactory livelihood. This study aimed to determine the factors influencing livelihood diversification in rural household poverty reduction in Nigeria. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 30 rural households in South-Eastern Nigeria. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the households, and data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using statistical software (SPSS version-20). The majority (63.3%) of the respondents were male, and about 50.0% had 5-10 family members. Most of the respondents (36.7%) were between 46-60 years of age. Food security (36.7%) was the major reason for livelihood diversification from all the respondents, followed by income with 33.3%. A statistically significant association was found between non-farm activity and land ownership. The study revealed that income was the main reason to engage in livelihood diversification in the rural household because more income is needed to adequately take care of the large family size. The influencing factor for non-farm activities was the market (demand and supply). A further study of a larger population of households in rural areas is needed to ascertain the extent of rural livelihood diversification.