Land tenure security has long been touted as key to increased performance of the agricultural sector in developing countries. At the same time, off-farm employment is seen as a strategy to diversify rural economies.

This study examines current land access and livelihood choices of rural youth in Southern Ethiopia. We found that youth in rural south have limited access to agricultural land because of land scarcity and land market restrictions.

We study rural employment transitions in Ethiopia between farming and both low- and high-return nonfarm employment.

Empirical studies across many developing countries routinely document a positive correlation between participation in rural nonfarm employment and households’ wealth or income.

The study attempts to investigate the link between food security and nonfarm employment using the survey data collected from 151 randomly selected households from six villages of Woreda Gantafeshum, Eastern Tigrai, Ethiopia.

After two decades of agricultural-led development strategies since the early 1990s, economic growth has been erratic, land degradation has worsened, and the country has failed to enjoy significant drop in the number of food insecure population.

This study analyses the determinants of off-farm work participation decisions of farm households in Ethiopia. A bivariate probit model is applied to account for the simultaneity of participation decisions of both male and female members of farm households. The results of the analysis show that human capital variables such as health and training on non-farm activities have a positive effect on the off-farm participation decisions of male members of farm households.

As environmental goods such as fuelwood and fodder become more scarce, rural households in developing countries spend more time in their collection. It has been suggested that as a result households may reallocate labor away from own-farm agricultural production.