Opportunities and Challenges of Rural Livelihoods in Dandi Woreda, Ethiopia
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Date
2015-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This case study investigates the opportunities and challenges of rural livelihoods in Dendi Woreda
from the point of view of determinates of livelihoods of peasant farmers, namely, land, non-farming
activities, supplementary farming, utilization of technology and agricultural diversification in the
Dano Egersa Gibe rural area. Dano Egersa Gibe kebele was selected purposively to investigate and
understanding the status of livelihoods of rural farmers in terms of different agricultural production,
non- farming activities and supplementary agricultural result of households. These different
economic activities and levels can measure the level of livelihoods of rural households. Based on the
different economic levels, Dano Egersa Gibe households were classified into three wealth categories.
These three wealth categories of households are: Better off life, medium and poor households. Among
three categories of households, 60 sample households were selected for data collection. To collect
data; key informant interview, field observation and interview questionnaires techniques were
employed. The results of the study showed that lack of oxen, land scarcity, utilization of agricultural
inputs, problem of financing agriculture, low of agricultural diversification and climatic related
change and food insecurity have negatively affected the livelihoods of households in the study area.
In contrast, high utilization of agricultural technology, quality of personal behavior, hard working
and quality of land holding improve the livelihoods of peasant farmers in target area. Moreover, the
problem of poverty, low attention of work, food insecurity, recourse loss and addicts – in brief have
exacerbated the severity of local communities. In general, personal factors impacting the livelihoods
of household farmers, for most among these are factors related to the character of individuals
including early adoption of technology, risk taking behavior, identifying opportunities and
competitiveness are the most important attributes to improve the livelihoods of householders in local communities. In case of these challenges, the living conditions of the most peasant farmers are declined. As a result, the study suggests that the government interference should be needed to reduce
the drawbacks of the living condition of households and to accelerate the pace of the development of local communities
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Geography and Environmental Studies