Abstract:
Expanding non-farm income generating sources for drought prone subsistence farmers plays
a significant role in reducing deep rooted poverty, minimizing chronic household food
security as well as enhancing resilience building and climate change adaptation capacities of
rural communities. This study intended to identify household level determinants of
participation in non-farm income generating activities (NFIGA) among smallholder farmers
of rural Dire Dawa Administration (DDA), Eastern Ethiopia. Hence, cross-sectional research
design that used both descriptive and inferential statistics was employed. Data were collected
from 250 sample household heads by using simple random sampling technique from 12 rural
kebeles of DDA. Whereas semi-structured interview schedule, personal observation and focus
group discussions were made directly. The Tobit model result revealed that saving habit, and
family size were significant and positively related with the probability of participation in
NFIGA while land size owned, livestock ownership and active labor force were found to be
negatively related. Moreover, low market access and information, lack of knowledge and
skill, lack of capital and credit, lack of transport, lack and sustainability of input supply, lack
of appropriate training and advice and lack of close supervision were the major constraints
which hindered farmers from undertaking non-farm activities. This shows the need for nonfarm
activities to be part of rural development policies. The interventions should also be
designed to suit the needs and situations of different categories of the households in the study
area.
