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The present study sought to establish the human and social capital that determines rural households’ participation in agricultural projects and programmes implemented by the Kenyan government and development partners. The research was carried out among rural households in the three counties of the coastal region of Kenya. Multi-stage sampling techniques (purposive, proportionate random and simple random sampling) were used to select the study area and the study sample. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire, Focus Group Discussion and observation schedules. The data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics and regression analysis with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 22. The findings revealed that individuals with human capital; namely age (-0.15), primary education (-0.16), secondary education (-0.14), vocational training (0.35), and on the of job training (0.25), have a higher likelihood of participating in agricultural development initiatives. Households with the social capital of membership to groups (0.51), engaged in economic activities (0.53) and have linkages with development agencies (0.44) have a higher likelihood of participating in development initiatives. Key policy recommendations for county government and development partners include: encourage the community members to enrol in adult education; provide support for vocational and technical training; register as members in existing groups or form groups based on common interest, and engage in economic activities. The county governments should enhance advisory services to ensure close contact with professionals who will facilitate training, meetings and interactions with groups leading to the empowerment of members.

With agriculture being the main source of livelihood, migration has posed severe constraints, thus hampering the livelihood of many households. This research focused on the effects of migration on the livelihood of rural households in Nigeria. Descriptive statistics, Probit and Tobit regression models were the analytical tools employed. Most of the households were male-headed and two-thirds of the rural households had members who had migrated for at least six months. Internal migration was the predominant type of migration while rural households were found to have a low level of livelihood. Age, education, household size, type of employment, land access, type of dwelling, migrant status and physical assets were significant in determining livelihoods of rural households. Thus, lessening the rural-urban divide in the rural areas through public-private partnerships in terms of innovations to support and expand the livelihood possibilities of rural households at all levels of governance should be prioritized.

The Czech Republic ranks among the countries with a strong tradition of home food self-provisioning. In this article, we focused our attention specifically to the traditional and frequently neglected phenomenon of rural self-provisioning while newly introducing a data-based analysis of the phenomenon in two areas, i.e., suburbs and peripheries of the South Moravian region. Unlike the research carried out in the CR or EU to date, our survey aims exclusively at the analysis of households with access to land, which allow a more detailed scrutiny of growing a wide range of commodities, the attitudes to it and its perspectives. The results of the field study carried out in 178 rural households in two types of South Moravian regions (suburban and peripheral) from 2017 show the regional differences in food self-provisioning. They also contribute to a better understanding of a phenomenon whose variability within a rural territory is quite known a little. Even though the suburban and peripheral regions have very comparable natural conditions and opportunities of growing crops (a similar type of estate, nearly the same size of the gardens surveyed), we can observe rather remarkable differences, especially in the extent of the areas being farmed and in the scale of breeding domesticated animals (work demanding activities). Compared to that, only negligible differences were found in growing commodities demanding less work (fruit and tomato growing). The identified differences in attitudes to self-provisioning in the observed regions (depending on the varied types of population in the regions) allow for analysing the perspectives of particular self-provisioning activities both in South Moravia and the CR on the whole.

Kenyan households, as in many rural areas in developing countries, suffer frequently from effects of shocks. Yet, they have limited access to effective coping strategies. Vulnerable households end up resorting to ineffective coping strategies such as distressed sales of farmland. Distress land sales limit household productive capacity and increase vulnerability to future shocks, thus entrenching poverty. Using a nationally representative data collected in two waves, we examine the circumstances under which rural households in Kenya sell farmland following shocks. We find that specific shock characteristics, household characteristics and the household social and physical environments are associated with distress sales of farmland. The likelihood of selling farmland was higher for idiosyncratic shocks and those that resulted in higher monetary and material losses. The likelihood of engaging in distress land sales was also higher in households with older heads, with more land holding, where land markets existed and in households that depended on social safety nets. The likelihood of distress sales was however lower in households with more educated heads, more livestock value and access to all-weather roads. These findings are thereafter discussed in the Kenyan context, and policy suggestions are offered for building rural households’ resilience to shocks.

This research generates specific, contextualized identification of existing poverty status and poverty causing factors in Enda-mohoni woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. Agroecology based cluster sampling technique was employed to select 154 household heads. Logit model was used to analyze household poverty status and FGT poverty index estimation model for poverty incidence analysis. The poverty analysis found a 30.9% headcount ratio, 4.4% poverty gap ratio, and 1% poverty severity. Furthermore, the result of the logistic regression revealed that among the explanatory variables used in the model, family size and agroecological location of the household head were found to positively influence HHs' poverty status at (P

Many countries implement plans and programs whose purpose is low-income class protection and increase the purchasing power in order to eradicate poverty. The most common plan is the subsidies payment for consumption of deficits. Governments provide inexpensive goods and services and help to make price stability for necessities by applying policy in consumption sector. This research studies consumption expenditure shares in rural and urban households according to the importance of this issue and accordingly expenditure shares are rated and it is the basis of targeting subsidy policy. This article by use the MICROFIT program (ARDL method, 42 observations used for estimation from 1977 to 2019), tries to survey the short and long-term relationship, the dynamic relationship of short-term trend toward long-term equilibrium, diagnostic and structural break tests for the variables and the household costs function. According to the results of statistic tests, the model presented the best possible status of classic hypotheses and statistics and therefore confirm the relationship and co-integration between the variable of cost function and finally, structural stability is accepted. By comparing the urban household costs, according to the results we can say that the food is ranked among the goods with low rank, therefore, targeting the subsidies is less important than the rest of the cost. Also, the cost share of clothing goods is totally high for households and in urban households’ expenditures, the cost share of these goods is higher than the rest, so these costs play an important role in targeting the subsidies and should be taken into consideration. By comparing the rural household costs, we can say, the contribution of educational, cultural and recreational services costs for rural households is high and thus the share of the allocated expenditures for such goods is higher than the rest. Therefore, these costs play an important role in targeting the subsidies and should be taken into consideration. Finally, targeting subsidy helps government to arrange subsidy rate of different goods correctly. and give the most to low income classes to boost social welfare. Result show that targeting subsidy in rural and urban is different because of different expenditures share in household budget, and the same economics policy for these two household types is not correct.

The aim of this research is to identify factors affecting the propensity of rural households to save, on the example of 100 entities in Central Pomerania, based on pilot studies (direct questionnaire technique) using the logistic regression model. The study assumes that the dependent variable is the occurrence of savings in the household in 2018. The selection of independent variables for the logistic regression model was made on the basis of literature studies. The results of the analysis confirmed that statistically significant parameters for the variables were: average monthly net income per one person in the household, diversification of the income sources and the share of expenses on food and non-alcoholic beverages in total household consumption expenditure. The first two parameters increase the probability of saving by rural households of Central Pomerania. The last of these parameters reduces the chance of deferring consumption through savings.

The article studies the peculiarities of functioning of rural households, the substantiation of strategic scenarios for their development and the development of an effective mechanism for strengthening their role in the formation of agri-food resources of Ukraine. Taking into account the current state of the agricultural sector and real conditions of rural households existence, several alternative ways of their development are defned: individual (independent) development; integration of rural households with agricultural and processing enterprises; cooperation with other rural households and with small businesses. The analysis of the structure of agricultural production in terms of rural households that can be consumer oriented, consumer – production oriented and production oriented allows us to conclude that a long-term development of rural households will lead to a change in their commodity proposal. The results of the design analysis of the average growth rates of all three resource components showed: the average annual growth rate of labour remuneration - 24.3%; average annual growth rate of fnancial assistance - 21.5%; average annual growth rate of rural household income - 14.6%; the average annual growth rate of total revenues (resources) - 18.7%. Having used the statistical package "STATGRAPHICS",we analyzed the tendencies of decrease of incomes share of rural households from own labor and capital; as well as growth of incomes from hired labor. Having used the ARIMA model, we made a forecast until 2025, and found that the share of population incomes from rural households will decrease to 20.2%. However, the decrease in income from own labor and capital should be offset by an increase in income from remuneration of labor received in the real sector of the economy. In addition, the share of gross output of households in the total gross output of agriculture is calculated. The Brown model (exponential smoothing model) with the parameter alpha = 0.3639 was used for the forecast. According to the results of calculations, it can be concluded that in the future the share of gross agricultural output will decrease and may reach 35.7% by 2025. Today it is also obvious that production oriented rural household, in conditions of increase of marketability level and effective mechanisms for the sale of manufactured products, can be the base for the development of entrepreneurship in agricultural production. This can be created through the organization of a system of purchasing manufactured products from the population, or through the organization of a system of consumer cooperation. Based on this, we believe that the development of land mortgage lending is important to meet fnancial resources needs of small agricultural producers in Ukraine, to achieve maximum economic effect from the realization of land potential, and as a result, to reduce risks in agricultural production. The mechanism for solving this problem, to our opinion, is the creation of mortgage funds of entity at the state level or at the level of united territorial communities. Key words: rural household, incomes of rural households, family farms, rural territories, mortgage lending, cooperation.

BackgroundFood insecurity is a pressing social and public health issue that varies in degree and impact on individuals and social groups, requiring immediate attention for policymakers and decision-makers. This study was conducted to identify the prevalence and associated factors of food insecurity of rural households particularly in the Shebel Berenta and Machakel districts of East Gojjam zone.MethodsA cross-sectional study design was conducted, in the fall of March 2017 among 504 households. Households are selected using a systematic sampling technique through multistage cluster sampling technique (two stage cluster sampling). The data were collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire covering a range of topics including 18 core food security modules (CFSM) question series, socioeconomic, demographic and related variables. Multivariable Partial proportional odds model (PPOM) was employed to identify the factors associated with food insecurity in rural households.ResultOf a total of 504 households considered in the study, 54 (10.71%) were highly food secure, 75 (14.88%) were marginally food secure, 157 (31.15%) were low food secure, and 218 (43.25%) were severely food insecure. District (Machakel) (AOR = 3.28 95% CI: 1.73, 6.24), household head education status, illiterate (AOR = 113.4, 95% CI:7.02,1832.02), read and write (AOR = 169.29, 95%CI:11.64, 2461.39), and elementary completed (AOR = 119.75,95%CI:8.43,1700.74), agro-ecological zone, Woina Dega (AOR = 0.0021,95% CI: 0.00009,0.0514), Dega (AOR = 0.0323, 95%CI: 0.002, 0.5209), family size (AOR = 1.18, 95%CI: 1.01, 1.36), landholding (AOR = 0.767, 95% CI: 0.605, 0.972), TLU (AOR = 0.151, 95% CI: 0.0716, 0.3189), access to toilet (no) (AOR = 7.63, 95% CI: 1.459, 39.78), practicing irrigation (yes) (AOR = 0.121, 95% CI: 0.037, 0.38), loan (no) (AOR = 2.83, 95% CI:1.36, 5.89), access to energy, government electric (AOR = 0.468, 95% CI: 0.23, 0.94), solar panels (AOR = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.25, 0.79), soil fertility, moderate (AOR = 0.28, 95% CI: 0.12, 0.87), fertile (AOR = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.032, 0.72) were significant associated food insecurity factors in the study area.ConclusionIn this study, a high prevalence of food insecurity and various associated food insecurity factors have been identified in the study area. Thus, the concerned stockholders should intervene in food insecure households via different irrigation practices and by considering household size, community-based household head education, and landholding in hectare.

This study constructed a quantitative index system evaluating the level of livelihood sustainability of rural households in ethnic tourist villages and identified the main livelihood risks these households encountered. This was achieved by modifying the sustainable livelihood framework proposed by the Department for International Development (DFID) and testing it on three typical ethnic tourist villages in Guangxi, China (Jinkeng, Ping’an Zhuang, and Chengyang Eight). The results showed that the overall livelihood sustainability index was relatively poor. Livelihood assets and transforming structures and processes were the main factors that restricted the sustainability of household livelihoods. Social capital and financial capital values were lowest out of six types of livelihood capital examined. The lack of community participation of households adversely impacted the score of transforming structures and processes. Households encountered various livelihood risks. Generally, the livelihood issues that concerned most households were market, social, and education risks. However, when the farmers were enquired about a single risk that worried them the most, market, financial, and employment risks ranked the highest. Through quantifying the sustainability and risk of rural household livelihoods, guidelines and subsidies could be allocated to promote rural revitalization.

This study aimed to describe the socio demographic and economic characteristics of maize growers’ households in Sussundenga district, Mozambique. Data were collected by applying questionnaire to 140 maize growers and four focus group meetings with these farmers between February and March, 2018. After collection, data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results show that although the majority of the population in the district is female, maize grower’s households are mostly male-headed. There was an inverse relationship between age and school level of the households heads. Compared to men, women are less educated and less involved in activities other than agriculture. Most households have low income per capita. Although many households practice off-farm activities, agriculture remains an important economic activity. Households grow a wide range of crops, with maize being the most important. Market failures limit the willingness of households to produce this crop with market-oriented. In this sense, actions to reduce market failures can be crucial for farmers to make the most of maize production. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo describir las características sociodemográficas y económicas de las familias productoras de maíz en el distrito de Sussundenga, Mozambique. La recolección de datos se realizó mediante la aplicación de un cuestionario a 140 productores de maíz y cuatro reuniones de grupos focales con estos agricultores en febrero y marzo de 2018. Luego de la recolección, los datos se analizaron mediante estadística descriptiva. Los resultados muestran que si bien la mayoría de la población del distrito es femenina, las familias productoras de maíz en su mayoría son encabezadas por hombres. Hubo una relación inversa entre la edad y el nivel educativo de los jefes de hogar. En comparación con los hombres, las mujeres tienen menos escolaridad y están menos involucradas en actividades distintas a la agricultura. La mayoría de las familias tienen un ingreso per cápita bajo. Aunque muchas familias son pluriactivas, la agricultura sigue siendo una actividad económica importante. Las familias cultivan multitud de cultivos, siendo el maíz el más importante. Las fallas del mercado limitan la predisposición de las familias a producir esta cultura orientada al mercado. En este sentido, las acciones dirigidas a reducir las fallas del mercado pueden ser cruciales para que los productores se beneficien más económicamente de la producción de maíz. Este estudo objetivou descrever as características sociodemográficas e econômicas das famílias produtoras de milho do distrito de Sussundenga, Moçambique. A coleta de dados foi por aplicação de questionário a 140 produtores de milho e quatro reuniões em grupo focal com esses agricultores nos meses de fevereiro e março de 2018. Após a coleta, os dados foram analisados por meio de estatística descritiva. Os resultados apontam que apesar de a maioria da população do distrito ser do sexo feminino, as famílias produtoras de milho são majoritariamente chefiadas por homens. Verificou-se relação inversa entre idade e nível escolar dos chefes desses agregados. Se comparadas com os homens, as mulheres apresentam menor escolaridade e estão menos envolvidas em atividades diferentes da agricultura. A maioria das famílias tem baixa renda per capita. Embora muitas famílias sejam pluriativas, a agricultura continua atividade econômica importante. As famílias cultivam uma multiplicidade de culturas, sendo o milho o mais importante. As falhas de mercado limitam a predisposição das famílias em produzir essa cultura com orientação ao mercado. Nesse sentido, ações visando reduzir as falhas de mercado podem ser cruciais para os produtores tirarem mais proveito econômico da produção de milho.

Based on nationwide survey data from China, we used a fractional logit model for analysis and propensity score matching (PSM) to evaluate the impact of family members serving as village cadres on household food waste. We found that, first, one household in rural China wasted an average of 1.62% of total food per day; in particular, the waste of staple foods was the most serious, with 5.14% of rice wasted per day. Differences in economic development, the geographical environment and diet habits caused differences in food waste in various regions of China. Second, empirical analysis showed that family members serving as cadres significantly increased household food waste. Third, the PSM results showed that family members serving as village cadres significantly increased household food waste and the waste of rice products. Households with members serving as cadres wasted 1.98% of total foods and 7.15% of rice products, on average, while other households wasted only 1.22–1.55% of total foods and 3.55–4.74% of rice products, on average.

Ensuring food and nutrition security (FNS) is a formidable challenge under increasing population pressure. Governments around the globe have been striving to achieve this goal, but a major impact is attainable once the masses opt for measures at the household level. We conducted this study to explore household-level practices aimed at ensuring FNS and their association with FNS in rural Pakistan. Using cluster analysis, we divided a sample of 200 randomly selected rural households into high and low FNS groups, the majority of which belonged to the low FNS group. Logistic regression was applied to explore the association between household-level measures with the FNS of rural households. The households in the high FNS group adopted a greater number of measures for ensuring FNS. Households headed jointly by a male and female showed to have a higher likelihood of FNS. Similarly, households adopting diversification strategies on their farms were more likely to have high FNS. Moreover, households with working women exhibited a greater probability of experiencing high FNS. Similarly, households’ adoption of value addition in dairy products decreases the probability of food and nutrition insecurity. This study concludes with an emphasis on women’s empowerment, off-farm income diversification, and on-farm enterprise diversification to address FNS challenges.

Heterogeneous land development opportunities induced by spatial regulation produce different advantages in areas, which undoubtedly differentiates farmers’ employment. The aim of this study was to quantitatively examine its impact. We selected Moshui Lake City Park (urban development planning area), Sino-French Eco-City (industrial development planning area), and Chenhu International Wetland (ecological protection planning area) as its principal research areas. These regions are all located in Wuhan city, Hubei province, China. After obtaining 907 valid responses from rural households, the Tobit model was adopted to identify the impact of land development opportunities on farmers’ nonfarm employment. The results show that, first, industrial development opportunity (IDO) and urban development opportunity (UDO) provide more job security than the reference group, which is ecological development opportunity (EDO), with the estimated coefficients of IDO and UDO being 0.325 and 0.944, respectively. However, a negative correlation was found between UDO and farmers’ employment selection and income. Second, heterogeneity analysis reveals that the promotion effect of land development opportunities on farmers’ employment is more significant for low- and middle-income, low-quantity, and high-quality households. Finally, further analysis shows that IDO can promote employment for all age groups, but UDO inhibits the elderly labor force from getting employed. These findings provide evidence-based insights which can enable the government to formulate land value-added distribution systems that promote balanced development between regions and stakeholders.

Land resources are important for millions of rural households in China. With the land tenure system reform and the trend of nonfarm employment, land transfer affects household income and consumption diversity significantly. Utilizing the data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2018, this study investigated the effects of land transfer on Chinese rural households’ consumption diversity, measured by the Simpson index. In order to mitigate the endogeneity problems caused by reverse causality and selection bias between farmers’ household land transfer decisions and consumption behavior, we employed the propensity score matching (PSM) method and instrumental variable (IV) method. Besides, the Shannon index was also used to measure consumption diversity for the robustness test. The results showed that the rural households who have transferred others’ land in would decrease their consumption diversity, while the households who have transferred their land out would increase their consumption diversity. Heterogeneity analysis showed that land transfer had different degrees of impact on rural households with different income groups and was more significant for low-income households. Specifically, compared with higher-income households, both the promotion effect of land transfer out and the inhibitory effect of land transfer on consumption diversity were more obvious for lower-income households.

Nature reserves affect the local environment and communities. I use household data from the Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP) to estimate the impacts of nature reserves on several aspects of rural households: migration, local off-farm work, and off-farm income. This thesis also examines the heterogeneous impacts of nature reserves across administrative levels, lengths of existence time, and types. To reduce selection bias, propensity scores matching (PSM) is carried out to match counties with nature reserves to counties that have a similar possibility of establishing nature reserves, but that do not yet have any. Considering that counties with nature reserves might affect their neighboring counties without nature reserves, I construct two additional samples: one that excludes adjacent counties, and the other that generates new indicators for adjacent counties to check spillover effects directly. I use models with year fixed effects and county fixed effects to estimate the impacts across samples. The estimation results show that national nature reserves (NNRs) generally decrease the possibility of migration, while the impact depends on how long the NNRs have been in place. In the short run, NNRs increase migration. Forest NNRs significantly decrease migration but increase participation in local off-farm work and off-farm income. Nonforest NNRs have positive influences on migration and off-farm income. Although both forest and nonforest NNRs increase off-farm income, the sources might be different. The off-farm income increase in counties with forest NNRs might come from local off-farm work because forest NNRs encourage local off-farm work. The off-farm income increase in counties with nonforest NNRs might come from migration work because nonforest NNRs increase migration. Provincial nature reserves (PNRs) increase the likelihood of migration and the estimates also imply that PNRs only have short-run impacts on the local communities. Forest PNRs increase migration while nonforest ones decrease migration. PNRs generally decrease participation in local off-farm work and off-farm income, except for nonforest PNRs increase both of them. The results indicate that nature reserves of different administrative levels and lengths of existence time negatively affect local off-farm participation and off-farm income. These results imply that nature reserves in China during 2002-2013 had overall negative impacts on the local livelihood. M.S. Nature reserves are a crucial ecological policy in China for protecting endangered species and the environment. There is no doubt that nature reserves are beneficial to the environment. However, the multi-faceted social impacts of the establishment of nature reserves on the local households are unclear. This thesis studies the impacts of nature reserves on migration, participating in local off-farm work, and household off-farm income. I obtained household data from the Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP). The selection of nature reserves' locations is nonrandom: counties with nature reserves and those without are different in geographic characteristics, such as the distances to the nearest provincial capital and prefecture, average slope, and average elevation, which could be correlated with local economic development. Without eliminating those differences, the results will be misleading when comparing counties with nature reserves with those without nature reserves. This thesis considers the heterogeneous impacts of nature reserves across administrative levels, lengths of existence time, and types. Considering that counties with nature reserves might also affect their adjacent counties without nature reserves, I construct two additional samples: one that excludes adjacent counties and the other that generates new indicators for adjacent counties to measure the spillover effects directly. The results show that different designations of nature reserves have various impacts on migration. National nature reserves (NNRs) decrease migration, while provincial nature reserves (PNRs) generally increase migration. In the short run, NNRs increase migration and PNRs also increase migration. In general, nature reserves across different administrative levels and lengths of existence time all decrease local off-farm participation and off-farm income. This result implies that nature reserves in China during 2002-2013 had overall negative impacts on the local livelihood in the aspects of participation in local off-farm work and off-farm income.

Purpose- In recent decades, several activities have been carried out in the form of development projects to develop rural settlements in Iran. One of the most important of these is the implementation of the guide plans. This plan, with its various actions, has caused widespread changes in various dimensions of rural life. The present study investigated the effects of this project on the changes in the lifestyle of the rural community in the central district of Darab county. Design/methodology/approach- The present research is descriptive in terms of describing the characteristics of the society studied and analytical in terms of investigating the relationship between the actions level of guide plans and the lifestyle. In this respect, the required field data are provided using observations, interviews, and questionnaires. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, spatial analysis and SAW model, and Expert Choice, SPSS and ArcGIS software are used. Findings- The results of the research confirmed that there are significant differences between the level of changes in different dimensions of lifestyle, and the greatest changes are in the style of construction. On the other hand, the results of a Pearson correlation showed a positive relationship between the actions level of all executive components of the guide plans with a modernization level of the villagers’ lifestyle. Based on the results of the linear regression test, it was found that approximately 41% of the total changes in modernization can be predicted through the action level of the guide plan. Research limitations / implications- Owing to the different effects of the guide plans on lifestyle changes in different age groups and genders, the attention of researchers to the needs of different villagers is necessary. Practical implications- It is imperative to pay more attention to the efficiency of the environment being built in order to respond appropriately to the lifestyles of the present and future generations and more attention is required on the part of designers and conductors of guide plans to create a suitable platform for the development of communication technology in the villages, which will create a variety of changes in the modernization of the lifestyle of the households residing in them. Originality/value- This research will be important to provide guidance for good feedback, and to make plans for problems. Because it can take positive steps in making future projects as good as possible and such an approach will be effective to recognize prior strategies and design future policies.

This study evaluates the benefits that rural households in India derive from dedicated solar microgrid service systems. A case study was conducted in Lakshmipura-Jharla, Rajasthan, a village in western India with significant potential for producing solar energy. In 2013, a private investor set up a solar microgrid in the village and distributed energy-efficient appliances. Its goal was to give poor households access to modern energy services. The study data were collected through a survey conducted among randomly selected households in the village. The survey found that such an electricity provision service had multidimensional benefits: flexible use of the energy service, more effective time allocation among women, more study time for students, improved indoor air quality, and safer public places. Given the initial unmet demand for modern energy in the village, technological interventions supported by policy has helped to expand consumption possibilities and new demand for services has emerged. The household-level frontier rebound effect is estimated to be more than 100%, reflecting a one-and-a-half times increase in the demand for illumination services among rural households. Frontier rebound effect estimates help quantify the benefits of solar microgrids and energy-efficient appliances for households in rural areas...

Food security remains a challenge to a number of developing countries despite numerous efforts taken by governments and other national and international bodies to improve it. Approximately 27 percent of the global population experienced some level of food insecurity during 2018. Moreover, the prevalence of food insecurity is higher in countries with a larger percentage of the population living in rural areas (FAO, 2019). The agriculture sector, as the main source of employment in rural areas, has not been a sufficient vehicle for ensuring household-level food security. Therefore, many rural households maintain a portfolio of income sources, with nonfarm employment being a major component. However, there is a lack of universal agreement among researchers pertaining to the impact of nonfarm employment on rural household food security. While rural household food security could be improved through better access to food due to increased nonfarm income, food production could be negatively affected due to the increased competition of farm household labour for nonfarm employment. Surprisingly little is known about the impact of nonfarm employment on rural household food security. In this context, this thesis attempts to focus on five major research objectives, considering Bangladesh as a case study. Firstly, this thesis determines the factors that influence an individual’s participation in nonfarm employment. In doing so, the determinants of nonfarm employment are investigated at three levels (see Figure i below): (1) overall nonfarm employment, (2) nonfarm employment disaggregated into low-return and high-return nonfarm employment, and (3) low-return and high-return nonfarm employment both further disaggregated into wage employment, self-employment, and business employment. The estimation results using a binary logit model indicate that, in general, characteristics such as gender, age, the headship of the household, marital status and education influence individuals to participate in nonfarm employment at the overall level. However, by disaggregating nonfarm employment into different categories such as high-return or low-return employment and further disaggregating the low-return and high-return nonfarm employment into wage, self, and business employment, and by applying the multinomial logit model, this study finds a more complex and heterogeneous landscape with respect to the types of determinants that affect each category of nonfarm employment. Secondly, this thesis analyses the potential impact of earnings from rural nonfarm employment on agricultural production. By applying the instrumental variable Tobit model, this thesis finds that when nonfarm income increases, the amount spent on total rural farm production, as well as the expenditure on major purchase rural farm inputs, also both increase. In addition, the results of a stochastic frontier production model analysis indicate a decrease in the technical inefficiency of agricultural production due to an increase in nonfarm income. Overall, the findings suggest that rising rural nonfarm income exerts an income effect and could be a means to increase food production, ultimately leading to food availability as well as food security. Thirdly, this thesis investigates the impact of nonfarm employment on household food security based on calorie consumption per day per adult equivalent. The results show that household calorie consumption per day per adult equivalent can be significantly improved by generating additional income via participation in rural nonfarm employment. Moreover, the analysis reveals that average nonfarm income is significantly higher than average farm income. Fourthly, the investigation into food security looked at the possible impact of nonfarm employment on child nutritional security. Utilising the well-accepted measure of child anthropometric indicators, this study finds that additional earnings from nonfarm income have a significant and positive impact on children’s nutritional security in rural households. Finally, this thesis compares the level of food security between rural and urban populations. By applying logistic estimation, this study finds that rural households are more likely to be food secure than urban households in Bangladesh. In addition, it identifies a significant difference in a limited number of determinants of food security between rural and urban households. The findings of this study suggest that a common national-level policy that excludes rural–urban disparities might be ineffective in improving the overall food security of Bangladesh. In summary, the findings of this thesis indicate that an improvement in rural nonfarm employment opportunities could help to foster growth in rural household food security based on a range of dimensions. Thus, policies should be directed toward providing incentives to rural households and individuals to participate in specific and targeted rural nonfarm employment, as well as increasing their capacity to take advantage of such opportunities without reducing the required labour force for rural farming. To do so, policy initiatives could encapsulate measures that boost female participation in nonfarm employment, improve educational facilities and infrastructure facilities, and ease access to credit facilities in rural areas. The findings of this thesis have important policy implications for the effective targeting and improvement of household food security in relation to nonfarm employment in rural Bangladesh, and in other countries with similar socioeconomic characteristics.

Background The health effects of heavy solid fuel use in winter in rural China are of concern. The effects of air pollution resulting from domestic solid fuel combustion in rural households on rural homemakers’ biomarkers were revealed in this study. Methods In total, 75 female homemakers from rural areas of Guanzhong Basin, the Fenwei Plain, People’s Republic of China, were randomly selected and divided into three groups (biomass users, coal users, and nonusers of solid fuel user [control group]). The differences in biological indicators, including 8-hydrox-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), interlukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in urine samples as well as blood pressure (BP, including systolic BP [SBP] and diastolic BP [DBP]) and heart rate (HR) among the groups in winter and summer were investigated using statistical analysis. Results IL-6, 8-OHdG, HR, SBP, and DBP were significantly higher in winter than in summer (P 2.5 pollution in this area and adverse effects on inflammatory biomarkers in these rural homemakers and induced DNA damage related to oxidative stress.

The main purpose of this research was to establish measures to prevent demographic structural changes, which would positively influence the process of modernization-sustainable development of the rural household and the Romanian rural area. The starting point of the research was the creation of a typology of rural area modernization and socio-economic development from the point of view of the rural household modernization potential. To quantify the links between the investigated phenomena and the demographic indicators, the Pearson correlation was used, which highlighted the type of connection (direct, indirect or without influence). Based on this information, the research was completed by developing three scenarios - the optimistic, realistic and pessimistic scenarios - of consolidating the rural household by improving demographic structures. The demographic indicators taken into consideration registered a significant decline in the analysed period, except for the group of counties with net prospects for modernization- development, which emphasizes the need for demographic policies to prevent existing structural problems.

The study examined the effects of households' livelihood diversification strategies on food insecurity in rural Northeastern Nigeria. In order to realise the objectives of the study, primary data were obtained from 444 farmers with the aid of structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Tobit regression model, Cost of Calorie Function and ANOVA were used to analyse the data. The findings showed that farmers adopted five livelihood strategies of which Cropping, Poultry and Livestock Keeping (CPL) was predominant, accounting for 37.39% of respondents. However, 7.43% of the households practising Cropping, Fishing, Livestock keeping and Off-farm (CFLO) had the highest surplus and least shortfall indices of 0.75 and 0.20 respectively; implying that food secure households in this category exceeded daily RDA of 2250kcal of energy/adult equivalent/day by 75%; but food insecure households fell short of same by 20%. Head count ratio indicated that 58% and 42% of individuals in this category are food secure and food insecure respectively. Thus, a significant relationship between households' food insecurity and livelihood diversification strategies is established.

The transportation service subsidy is intended to ease the burden of students from low-income families by helping with their need for mobility. The local government provides a transportation service expenditure budget annually to pay for the transportation services they require. Theoretically, the subsidy benefits the poor, although a study on the evaluation of the transportation service subsidy program is still needed to ascertain whether the program beneficiaries benefit from the program. This study used a survey method, and it deepened by the in-depth interviews conducted with 98 respondents. It used to obtain supporting information to pair with the survey results. The critical findings from this study are that the subsidy program has increased the rate of savings in terms of transportation service spending, and it has also reduced the burden of food expenditure among the poor. Better access to education services among the program recipient students reduced traffic congestion, and the enthusiasm for learning within low-income family students are also benefits. Another benefit is that the public transport drivers involved in the program get sustainable income certainty. The income of the recipient community groups has increased moderately compared to the non-recipient groups. However, saving on transportation spending does not contribute significantly to the burden of food expenditure for low-income families. The reason for this is that the free transportation subsidies received by the poor are minimal in terms of the frequency of coupon use. This study concludes that free transport subsidies in the short term can alleviate the burden on the poor, and in the long run, they can improve the welfare of the poor.

Food waste is a burden on society in terms of the money wasted. There is limited information on the determinants of food waste and the amount lost to food waste by households as most previous studies were on post-harvest losses. Hence, determinants of food waste among households in Kogi West Senatorial District, Kogi State Nigeria were investigated. A three-stage sampling technique was used to select the respondents, while a structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using Tobit regression and an equality test. The study revealed that food waste was higher in male headed households. The average monthly food waste proportion among urban households was significantly higher than that of rural households. The estimated amounts lost to food waste per month were ₦2103 and ₦5530 for the rural and urban households, respectively. These represented 7.2% and 13.1% of the total expenditure on food per month for rural and urban households, respectively. Among rural households, leftovers of food and lack of proper storage were the main reasons for food waste, while leftovers of food and preparation of food more than needed were the reasons for food waste among urban households. The sex of respondents, work experience, and monthly income influenced the proportion of food waste among rural households, while the dependency ratio, monthly income, and monthly food expenditure were the determinants of proportion of food waste among the urban households. Non-Governmental Organization efforts through sensitization campaigns focused on the need to reduce food waste, especially among urban households, would help to reduce the financial burden of food waste on households.

[EN] Public infrastructures: roads, agricultural extension services, electricity, ICT, protected water sources, irrigation, formal education centers, and formal health centers are essential for human-being in diversifying their livelihood strategies. The general objective of this study is to examine the possible effect of rural public infrastructures on the rural households’ livelihood strategies. The empirical assessments elsewhere in Ethiopia and the circumstances on the rural livelihood in association with public infrastructures have conferred the paucity of sociological research. This study used the pragmatist research philosophy that advocates ontological and epistemological mixes in an effort to minimize the gaps noted on the empirical knowledge. Accordingly, the research strategy employs the triangulation of quantitative and qualitative approaches. As mirror to the methodological triangulation, the analysis has followed a mixed design that combines descriptive and inferential techniques with the themes emerging through qualitative explorations. Cross-tabulation descriptive statistics and binary and multinomial logistic regression were employed. Consequently, the findings of the research revealed that public infrastructures have a significant influence on livelihood diversification strategies. Specifically, there were significant associations whereby households who have access to assume infrastructures did more likely engage in mixed livelihood diversification strategies than households who don’t have access to respective rural public infrastructures. The findings from qualitative data also emphasize indispensability of given public infrastructures for diversification of livelihood strategies. Thus, by including cultural elements of local people, responsible bodies should increase the required resources for the purpose of upgrading and managing public infrastructures particularly on all-weather roads., Above all, we would like to express our gratitude to Jimma University for its material support in general. We also thank the University for covering the financial expenses to carry out the fieldwork particularly. We are grateful for the time and information shared by the public institutions during the fieldwork. We owe special respect to Kersa Woreda offices of transportation, education, health, ICT, energy and water, and development and irrigation. We thank them for opening their doors and enabling me to access relevant data, archives and documents. Our special gratitude is also due to the respondents of household survey, key informants and interviewees. Finally, we are also grateful for all our friends who have suggested and commented for the successful accomplishment of this study.

This study evaluated determinants of food insecurity in the rural farm households of the Teleyayen sub-watershed in Ethiopia. The study used a multistage sampling procedure to select 215 sample households involving a combination of purposive and random sampling. Data were collected using structured survey questionnaire, focus group discussion (FGD), and key informant interviews. Independent sample t test, chi-square, percentage, mean, and standard deviation were employed to analyze the data. It was found that 20.9 and 79.1% of the sample households are food secure and food insecure, respectively. The majority of the food insecure households were younger household heads, who own less than 1 ha of farmlands. On average, male-headed households were more food secure than female-headed households. The result of the binary logistic regression revealed that shortage of farmland, poverty, recurrent drought and climate change, shortage of rainfall, and land degradation are determining factors for such food insecurity. However, the gender of household head, policy support, land redistribution, farmland topography, soil fertility, and erosion do not show any significant influence.

Bangladesh has about 87,316 villages that reflect Bangladesh past and present. According to the World Bank collection of development indicators from officially recognized sources, the rural population in Bangladesh was 64.96 percent in 2016. In every respect, then, the future of Bangladesh is very much linked with village development. Therefore, this study examined Bangladesh rural households socioeconomic status and social classes to identify factors influencing family members income, with a major focus on the area's general land use pattern. The study area was selected purposively—one village of Dugasi mouza in the Phulpur district, an area typical of rural Bangladesh. Within the village, respondents were selected randomly for a field survey of 131 households. Data were collected in two phases in the winters of 2013 and 2016. Results showed that respondents age, family size, housing condition, and landholding significantly influenced family income. Hopefully, this survey will serve as a conceptual framework for Dugasi mouza's future planning.

The subject of research is a phenomenon of prosumption, i.e., the intertwining of consumption and production processes, until the differences between them are blurred. When consumers produce goods and services for their use, they become prosumers. The article aimed to assess consumer behavior in terms of various forms of prosumer activity on the market of household-related services. The types of prosumer activity of rural households and their size were determined during the analyses. The article uses primary sources from a survey conducted among residents of rural areas of the Masovian Voivodeship in Poland in 2017. Statistical, descriptive, and comparative methods were used. The research shows that consumers are very active in the field of prosumption, rationally running their households. The study used principal component analysis (PCA) and selected descriptive statistics. The research results showed that the services performed can be grouped into three categories, i.e., the index of basic living self-sufficiency of households, the index of renovation and repair self-sufficiency, and the index of professional self-sufficiency of farms. Consumers usually prepare meals at home and clean, iron, and wash clothes, thus reducing the costs of running a household. It is also popular to carry out repairs oneself or to carry out repairs of equipment at home.

The current study was carried out to evaluate the quantity and quality of rural domestic waste generation and to identify the factors affecting it in rural areas of Khodabandeh county in Zanjan Province, Iran. Waste samplings consisted of 318 rural households in 11 villages. In order to evaluate the quality and quantity of the rural domestic waste, waste production was classified into 12 groups and 2 main groups of organic waste and solid waste. Moreover, kriging interpolation technique in ARC-GIS software was used to evaluate the spatial distribution of the generated domestic waste and ultimately multiple regression analysis was used to evaluate the factors affecting the generation of domestic waste. The results of this study showed that the average waste generated by each person was 0.588 kilograms per day. with the share of organic waste generated by each person being 0.409 kilograms per day and the share of solid waste generated by each person being 0.179 kilograms per day. The results from spatial distribution of waste generation showed a certain pattern in three groups and a higher rate of waste generation in the northern and northwestern parts, especially in the subdistrict. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that the households’ income, assets, age, and personal attitude are respectively the most important variables affecting waste generation. The housholds’ attitude and indigenous knowledge on efficient use of materials are also the key factors which can help reducing waste generation.

The present paper aims to assess to what extent the rural development policies have had any impact on the Romanian rural household. For this purpose, it was decided to develop a theoretical model for assessing the degree of modernization and socio-economic development of rural areas from the perspective of increasing the rural household welfare. This was achieved taking into consideration the following dimensions of the rural space: natural-anthropic, demographic, social and economic; for each dimension a set of indicators were selected considered relevant for the investigated issue. These indicators lay at the basis of a composite indicator meant to make a diagnosis of the modernization and development degree of the rural area at a given moment, in order to provide proper solutions/directions for rural development policies. To capture the impact of rural development policies on the rural area and on the rural household implicitly, the paper will analyse the correlations between the rural development measures implemented in the programming period 2007-2013 and the composite index of rural modernization and socio-economic development.

The often-cited means to reduce poverty in rural areas is to push the sustainable intensification of the agricultural sector or to favor a livelihood diversification strategy. However, rural households that invest their resources in multiple domains can achieve contrasting livelihood returns and benefits. The present paper explores the contribution of livestock activities, especially dairy, in the various livelihood strategies of rural households, based on an evaluation of revenue repartition, poverty level, and nutrient input in the diverse households, using a simulation tool at the farm household level. Our research was carried out in a case study on the viability of rural households in the governorate of Beni Suef (Middle Egypt). The results show that the diversification of activities towards cropping activities and off-farm jobs in the household contributed more to poverty reduction than dairy activities. Householders with small herds and land access benefited weakly from milk price increases and more generally, from a specialization of dairy activities due to structural constraints. This calls for identifying new rural policies for small-scale (less than 2.5ha) units that represent more than 90 percent of family farms in Egypt. Notably, new job opportunities and diversification should be developed along the agro-food value chain process.

Natural hazards not only cause direct losses of household income and assets but also affect the choice and outcome of livelihood strategies. Based on the questionnaire survey from 2007 on Mw 6.1 Ning&rsquo, er earthquake-hit areas in Southwest China, we analyzed the relationship between livelihood assets (or capitals) and livelihood strategies of local rural households and identified the main factors influencing the choice of livelihood strategy. The results indicate that statistically significant differences exist in livelihood assets among livelihood strategies. The choice of livelihood strategies is affected significantly by the status of livelihood assets. High financial capitals enable households to engage in higher-returns or capital-intensive livelihood activities. Improving vocational education and skills training for rural residents, especially for the youth, is also important in developing new livelihood strategies beyond their traditional lifestyle. Higher social capitals provide households the opportunity to select a higher return and income livelihood strategy. In addition, as part of efforts to enhance physical capitals, housing construction planning and technical guidance are of critical importance to improve the anti-seismic performance of rural buildings and decrease their livelihood risk in earthquake-prone areas. It is important for farmers to improve and diversify their livelihood strategies according to regional geographical environment and the comparative advantages of their own livelihood assets.

Based on survey data collected from five counties across southern Shaanxi, China, the present study employs a multinomial logistic model to explore the main factors related to the type of poverty of rural households, particularly focusing on the role of relocation time, reason for relocation, and type of relocation. The results showed that three types of poverty, &ldquo, voluntary poverty&rdquo, &ldquo, transient poverty&rdquo, and &ldquo, chronic poverty&rdquo, are distinguished by combining income and consumption criteria. Moreover, relocation and settlement programs contribute to a certain degree to these three kinds of poverty, and the effects vary according to the relocation characteristics. Specifically, those relocated long-term were more likely to be trapped in &ldquo, whereas those relocated short-term were less likely to fall into &ldquo, The poverty alleviation and disaster-related resettlers were less likely to be trapped in &ldquo, whereas centralized resettlers were less likely to be trapped in &ldquo, Additionally, demographic characteristics, capital endowment variables, and geographical features are all important factors affecting rural households&rsquo, type of poverty. This study can serve as a reference for further resettlement practice in China and other developing countries.

Περιλαμβάνει βιβλιογραφία (σ. 520-546). Αριθμός δεδηλωμένων πηγών στη βιβλιογραφία: 498 Διατριβή (Διδακτορική) -- Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου, Φιλοσοφική Σχολή, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, 2019. Η βιβλιοθήκη διαθέτει αντίτυπο της διατριβής σε έντυπη μορφή. Αντικείμενο της διατριβής είναι η μελέτη και η καταγραφή των χαρακτηριστικών των αγροτροφικών πολιτισμικών τοπίων στη γεωγραφική περιφέρεια των Κοκκινοχωριών, με έμφαση στις τέσσερις κοινότητες που συνιστούν το νοτιοανατολικό τμήμα της Κύπρου, δηλαδή το Παραλίμνι, τη Δερύνεια, τη Σωτήρα και την Αγία Νάπα, κατά τα χρόνια της Αγγλοκρατίας στην Κύπρο. Μελετώνται επίσης οι προσαρμογές των παραγωγικών και καταναλωτικών συστημάτων των τοπικών κοινωνιών στις δυνατότητες και στις αδυναμίες των φυσικών χαρακτηριστικών της περιοχής και τα διαθέσιμα μέσα τεχνολογίας, που είχαν ως στόχο την επίτευξη αρμονικών σχέσεων φύσης και ανθρώπων στον τομέα της παραγωγής τροφών. Η έρευνα πραγματώθηκε με την αξιοποίηση τόσο πρωτογενών, όσο και δευτερογενών πηγών. Βασική πηγή πληροφοριών αποτέλεσαν μια σειρά από διερευνητικές συνεντεύξεις με κατοίκους της υπό μελέτη περιοχής, οι οποίοι διατηρούσαν μνήμες από τα χρόνια της Αγγλοκρατίας. Αξιοποιήθηκαν επίσης άλλες πρωτογενείς πηγές, όπως έγγραφα του Κρατικού Αρχείου, Αρχεία Κοινοτήτων και Δήμων, καθώς και προσωπικά ημερολόγια/σημειωματάρια εργασίας. Οι πρωτογενείς πληροφορίες διασταυρώθηκαν μεταξύ τους αλλά και με δευτερογενές υλικό, το οποίο αντλήθηκε από μονογραφίες αφιερωμένες σε συγκεκριμένες κοινότητες, άρθρα σε περιοδικά (επιστημονικά και εκλαϊκευμένα), εφημερίδες στο Αρχείο του Γραφείου Τύπου και Πληροφοριών και άλλες πηγές. Αρχικά γίνεται μια σύντομη αναφορά στους παράγοντες οι οποίοι συνέβαλαν στη διαμόρφωση των αγροτροφικών συστημάτων των Κοκκινοχωριών στα χρόνια της Αγγλοκρατίας. Ως τέτοιοι αναφέρονται η γεωγραφική θέση των Κοκκινοχωριών και οι ιδιαιτερότητες του φυσικού περιβάλλοντος της περιοχής, οι κοινωνικές δομές και η φυσιογνωμία της τοπικής κοινωνίας, η αγγλική διοίκηση και η πολιτική της, καθώς και σημαντικά ιστορικά γεγονότα. Η μελέτη των αγροτροφικών τοπίων περιλαμβάνει τις δραστηριότητες στο πλαίσιο του νοικοκυριού και τις αγροτικές εκμεταλλεύσεις. Ο αγροτικός χαρακτήρας των νοικοκυριών αποτυπώθηκε και στη διαμόρφωση των κατοικιών, οι οποίες ήταν προσαρμοσμένες στις ανάγκες και τις απαιτήσεις της αγροτικής ζωής. Ήταν κτισμένες σε ένα επίπεδο και μέσα σε μεγάλες αυλές. Σε κάθε τμήμα της αυλής υπήρχε οριοθετημένος χώρος για συγκεκριμένες χρήσεις, π.χ. «βραχτή» (κήπος), «λάκκος» (πηγάδι), κλπ. Υπήρχαν επίσης ειδικά διαμορφωμένα δωμάτια για την εξυπηρέτηση διαφόρων αναγκών της οικογένειας, π.χ. «μαειρκόν» (κουζίνα), σταύλος, «ασιερωνάριν» (αχυρώνας), κλπ. Το εύφορο έδαφος των Κοκκινοχωριών και το υπόγειο υδροφόρο στρώμα της περιοχής καθόρισαν το είδος των καλλιεργειών. Το υπόγειο υδροφόρο στρώμα οδήγησε στην εκσκαφή πηγαδιών («λάκκων») και στην αξιοποίηση της διαθέσιμης τεχνολογίας για την ύδρευση και την άρδευση. Όσον αφορά την άρδευση, ενώ αρχικά χρησιμοποιούσαν το «αλακάτι» (μαγγανοπήγαδο), γρήγορα αντικατέστησαν τα «αλακάτια» με ανεμόμυλους, αμέσως μετά την εισαγωγή τους στο νησί, δημιουργώντας την «κοιλάδα των ανεμόμυλων» στην υπό μελέτη περιοχή. Όσον αφορά τις αγροτικές εκμεταλλεύσεις των γαιών, αυτές διακρίνονταν στις γεωργικές, στις κτηνοτροφικές και στη συλλογή τροφών από τη φύση. Κύρια απασχόληση των κατοίκων της περιοχής ήταν η γεωργία. Ασχολούνταν κυρίως με τις αροτραίες καλλιέργειες και σε περιορισμένο βαθμό με τις δενδρώδεις καλλιέργειες. Η μεγαλύτερη ποσότητα των καρπών διοχετευόταν στην τοπική αγορά, ενώ κάποια είδη αποστέλλονταν και στις αγορές του εξωτερικού. Δευτερευόντως, οι κάτοικοι των Κοκκινοχωριών ασχολούνταν με την κτηνοτροφία και την τροφοσυλλογή. Όσον αφορά την κτηνοτροφία, διατηρούσαν κοπάδια αιγοπροβάτων. Είχαν επίσης οικόσιτα πουλερικά και άλλα ζώα. Όσον αφορά την τροφοσυλλογή, ασχολήθηκαν κυρίως με το κυνήγι των μικρών μεταναστευτικών πτηνών, τη συλλογή άγριων χόρτων και την αλιεία. Εν κατακλείδι, τα αγροτροφικά τοπία των Κοκκινοχωριών διαφέρουν σημαντικά από το βασικό μεσογειακό πρότυπο, το οποίο βασίζεται στο σίτο, τον οίνο και το έλαιον, μολονότι παρουσιάζουν και σημαντικές ομοιότητες, κυρίως ως προς την περιορισμένη κτηνοτροφία και τη μεγάλη σημασία του σιταριού στην καθημερινή διατροφή. The dissertation targets to study and record the characteristics of the agrifood cultural landscapes of the geographical region of Kokkinochoria during the times of the English Occupation of Cyprus (1878-1960). It focuses on the villages of Paralimni, Dheryneia, Sotira and Ayia Napa, i. e. the north-east edge of Cyprus. Moreover, the dissertation investigates the adaptations of the productive and consuming systems of the local societies to the natural characteristics of the region and the use of technology, so as to achieve a good cooperation between nature and humans in the procedures of food production. It was used both primary and secondary sources of data for the completion of the research. The main source was a series of interviews of old dwellers of the “Kokkinochoria area”. Other primary sources were the Documents of the State Archives, archives of Community Councils and Municipalities, the Cyprus Blue Books and private record books. The secondary information derived from books, papers (in science and popularized journals), old newspapers of the archives of Press and Information Office and other sources. Firstly, there is a brief reference to the factors that conformated the agrifood systems in “Kokkinochoria area” during the English Occupation of Cyprus times. In brief, these are the location of Cyprus and “Kokkinochoria area” specifically, the peculiarities of the natural environment of Kokkinochoria, the social structures and the characteristics of the local societies, the English governance and politics and important historical facts. The study of the agrifood landscapes comprises of the functions in the households and the land-use patterns and the running of them. The arrangement of the parts of the local houses served the necessities and demandings of the rural life of “Kokkinochoria area”. Generally, the houses were built in one-level and surrounded by big yards. Every part of the yard had a concrete use. For example, “vrahti” used as a garden, the “lakkos” was the well, etc. There were also special rooms that met several necessitities. For instance, the “mairkon” (kitchen), the “stavlos” (byre), the “asieronarin” (haymow), etc. The land-uses depended on the fertile soil and the abundance of underground water. In order to deploy the underground water, the inhabitants of “Kokkinochoria area” used to dig wells. The farmers of Kokkinochoria area used several technologies for the irrigation of the lands. The most common were, in the early years, the “alakati” (noria) and later, the “mylos” or “anemomylos” (wind-pump). Wind-pumps characterized the “Kokkinochoria area”, a part of which, called “the valley of windmills”. As about the rural exploitations of the lands, they were discriminated according to their use, i.e. agricultural, animal husbandry and natural (areas where food was collected directly by the nature). The inhabitants of the “Kokkinochoria area” mostly dealt with agriculture. The common cultivations were arable and less pomegranate and citrus trees. The fruits were offered for sale in the local markets and also, they were exported. Animal husbandry and collection of food from the nature were second jobs. As about the animal husbandry, the main activity was the attendance of sheep and goat flocks. They had also domestic poultry and other animals. As about the food gathering, the inhabitants of “Kokkinochoria area” occupied in the chase of small migratory birds by lime-twigs, the collection of wild plants and fishing. In conclusion, the agrifood landscapes of “Kokkinochoria area” have some commons with the general Mediterranean characteristics, like the limited animal husbandry and the vital importance of wheat. Though, there were some important differences on the types of the cultivations from the common Mediterranean triplet: “wheat, wine and olive-oil”.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the rural household’s head and household characteristics on credit accessibility. This study also seeks to investigate how credit constraint affects rural household welfare in the Mezam division of the North-West region of Cameroon. Using data from a household survey questionnaire, we found that 36.88% of the households were credit-constrained, while 63.13% were unconstrained. A probit regression model was used to examine the determinants of households’ credit access, while an endogenous switching regression model was used to analyze the impact of credit constraint on household welfare. The results from the probit regression model indicate the importance of the farmer’s or trader’s organization membership, occupation, and savings to the household’s likelihood of being credit-constrained. On the other hand, a prediction from the endogenous switching regression model confirms that households with access to credit have a better standard of welfare than a constrained household. From the results, it is necessary for the government to subsidize microfinance institutions, so that they can take on the risk of offering credit to rural households.

The aim of the study was to determine the structure of tap water consumption in rural households. The structure was analyzed based on direct measurements of water consumption carried out in the years 2011-2014 in 70 households in Rybna (Czernichów commune, Małopolska region). Thanks to two metering points (water supply connection and water supply point outside a residential building), it was possible to determine water consumption for the household and other purposes. The collected data indicated significant discrepancies between actual water consumption and that recommended in various guidelines. An analysis of water consumption structure showed that these discrepancies were also found for the amount of domestic sewage discharged from the rural households. This fact has significant practical implications, as the calculated metrics of unit water consumption are used during design and technical renovation of individual elements of water supply systems and for billing the inhabitants for water consumption in the households without a water meter (lump sum). The study also demonstrated inadequacy of the rule assuming that sewage amount is equal to the amount of water consumed in rural households, which is commonly used in design of sewerage networks and for calculating charges for sewage discharge.

This study is performed to compare healthcare expenditure patterns of different income deciles of Iranian rural households during 2009 to 2014. The econometric method is ordinary least square (OLS). Data is devised from National household survey data. It consists of healthcare expenditure, family income, the literacy level of parents, number of children and the average age of parents. This paper tries to quantify the degree of effectiveness of each variable on healthcare expenditure among different income deciles. It is also needed to examine if there is a statistically significant difference between effects of variables on healthcare expenditure during different income deciles. The findings verify that there is a significant difference in healthcare expenditure patterns between different income deciles. They show that in the first six deciles a similar pattern is observed. In these deciles, the level of education of parents doesn’t demonstrate a significant effect on the healthcare expenditure and a percent increase in the family income increases the healthcare expenditure less than 1%. Moreover, except for education level, other variables have a positive effect on the healthcare expenditure. Almost the same scheme is present on the remaining income deciles. Here, while literacy level of mother has a negative effect on healthcare expenditure, other variables including family income, average age of parents and number of children reveals a positive effect. These results could be interpreted as preventive effect of literacy level. Thus, in rural families, the contribution of mother to the management of healthcare expenditure is more effectual than father. On the other hand, ninth and tenth deciles indicate that a percent increase in family income, result in more than 1% increase in healthcare expenditure. Therefore, healthcare authorities are highly suggested to thrive to lift the awareness level of family. The same instruction could be to categorize base on the average age of parents. This could be performed via government agencies or insurance authorities.

This study examined the effects of climate change on food expenditure in rural household of Iran. Food expenditure is investigated as a function of average income of rural households, retail food price index and food expenditure for rural households, agricultural sown area and climate change. Here, the Stata11 software is used and data are from 26 provinces of the country for 10 years. Precipitation, temperature and relative humidity are considered as indicators for climate variables. The results indicated a positive and significant effect of average income of rural households, retail food prices, food expenditure of rural households with a lag and precipitation on the food expenditure of rural households. Agricultural sown area and relative humidity had no effect on the food expenditure of rural households and temperature had a significant and negative effect on the food expenditure of rural households. In the end, due to the impact that each of these variables explicitly have on food expenditure of rural households and implicitly on food security of rural households, suggestions for maintaining and improving food security of rural households is presented.

Household has been widely considered as the top contributor to food waste generation in industrialized countries. However, the characteristics and driving factors of household food waste generation in developing countries, particularly in rural areas, remain less understood. In the present work, we reported a case study for rural households in China, where food consumption structure has been undergoing rapid transformation, to explore the scales and drivers of rural household food waste generation. A direct-weighing method was used in a field survey for 207 rural households in 21 villages of 3 prefecture-level cities in Shandong province, northern China. We determined the average rural household food waste generation as 8.74 g/cap/meal (more than 90% was plant-based food waste in which nearly half was vegetable waste), a number much lower than that in high-income countries and the Chinese urban restaurants. We also found that such a number varies considerably by household (0–126.21 g/cap/meal), and almost half of surveyed households generated almost no food waste. Among the surveyed prefectural areas, food waste in Jinan was significantly higher than that in Dezhou and Weifang (P

In the context of general household energy transition, identifying different household energy consumption patterns is of great significance for the formulation of refined energy conservation and emission reduction policies. For historical reasons, the households of ethnic minorities in China tend to face more severe energy poverty problems. In this study, we proposed the concept and research method of characteristic energy, a new method to depict household energy use pattern. Combined with the diversity analysis, the energy use pattern of Tujia and Miao rural households in Chongqing, China, were studied. Households in research area were clustered into four groups with different characteristic energy sources: firewood, electricity, coal and gasoline, representing four types of household energy use pattern. The main impact factors of rural household energy use pattern are electrical appliances and amount of pig raising, indicating that household production and lifestyle play a decisive role in household energy use patterns. In addition, the research depicts the energy consumption characteristics of rural households with different incomes, ethnic groups and in different regions. The study puts forward corresponding energy saving countermeasures for different energy use pattern, helps to identify the heterogeneity of rural household energy use and promote the formulation of refined regional energy conservation and emission reduction policies.

Biomass is a major source of renewable energy in the EU and Poland, stimulating the growth of the wood pellet sector. Wood pellet demand is stimulated by a complex interaction of market forces and policies including EU climate, energy, and environmental regulations, Poland’s program to improve air quality, and subsidies for the replacement of inefficient stoves used by households. This article focuses on the growth of the wood pellet industry, imports and exports in Poland, and wood pellet quality and use by households. The main issues faced by the EU wood pellet sector between 2013 and 2016 are further considered in the context of opinions of Polish wood pellet manufacturers. Industry opinions were collected in response to an open-ended question that probed for the main issues faced by wood pellet producers during the survey implemented by the authors in 2019. Respondents identified difficulties in obtaining raw material for pellet production and poor pellet quality as major problems. Although the majority did not feel concerned about competition from imported wood pellets, a small number of respondents viewed such competition as a problem reflecting the reversal of decreasing imports in 2017. Overall, the domestic wood pellet industry can be expected to grow because of increasing pressure to expand the use of renewable energy and will be driven by the household sector switching to more efficient, wood burning stoves. Additionally, the expanding area of private Polish forests may become a source of much-needed raw material for wood pellet manufacturing., DOI: 10.22630/PRS.2019.19.4.52

The Romanian rural household is the socio-economic unit for which the agricultural activity continues to be the main source of income or at least of supplementing incomes in the form of self-consumption; thus, most rural households overlap the agricultural household farms/peasant farms/small-sized farms. The actuality of this topic results from the ever increasing importance of small farms in the European Union, the literature highlighting their role in the production of environmental public goods, food security, preservation of traditions and local crafts, being the main driving engine of the rural area, with important role in the demographic, economic and social vitality of the Romanian countryside. The paper intends to establish a typology of the rural households in territorial profile according to the agricultural/non-agricultural employment level, to provide a first information on the degree of rural household dependency on the farming activity. The main working hypothesis is the following: the communities with numerous rural population and lower average age have a higher share of non-agricultural occupations. The methodology used is based on Pearson correlation method that can be positive (in the case of direct correlations) or negative (in the case of inverse correlation) between the avnalyzed variables.

Today, nonfarm activities become an essential part of the livelihood strategies of rural households, especially in developing countries. The reason why rural households move to the non-farm sector is crucial for planning integrated rural development. In rural areas of Iran, due to factors such as drought and water scarcity, many households have moved to non-farm sectors or migrated to urban areas. The present paper aims at investigating the structure of rural employment and determinants of participation in non-farm activities in Neyshabur rural areas, Iran. We collected data by 380 completed questionnaires from rural households between September 2017 to February 2018 and the two-level multinomial logit model was adopted to investigate the determinants of employment. The structure of rural household's employment shows that 40.5% of the households are employed in farm activities only, 32.6% participated in non-farm activities only, and 26.8% in both sectors. The results of the twolevel multinomial logit model show that 24% of the total variance of employment is attributed to geographical factors and household residential places. Also, the number of employed people in the household and distance from urban centers have positive and significant effects on the probability of participation in non-farm activities compared to the farm activities. Policy suggestion for this study is the strengthening and expanding existing industrial parks. Besides, due to higher education and the lower age of the non-farm workers, vocational training to the rural youth for starting innovative businesses can also be an effective policy.

Poverty alleviation resettlement (PAR) is China&rsquo, s largest-ever resettlement program and one of China&rsquo, s flagship poverty alleviation initiatives. Resorting to this state-led conversation and development program, the central and provincial governments aim to lift the poor out of the poverty trap and into sustainable livelihoods, by delivering improvements in housing conditions, infrastructure services, public amenities, and living standards. Taking Ankang as an example, this study examines the PAR from the perspective of vulnerability through a household survey conducted in Ankang prefecture of Shaanxi province, China. A total of six townships in Ankang are covered, with 657 valid questionnaires collected. This study shows that there is a difference in exposure, sensitivity, and the adaptive capacity of rural households with different relocation characteristics, hence generating different livelihood vulnerabilities. The PAR generally achieves the target of livelihood vulnerability reduction. Specifically, the project-induced relocation has a significant positive effect on vulnerability, but there is a significant negative correlation between livelihood vulnerability and relocation region, relocation time, and relocation subsidy. Challenges and problems remain to be addressed for the next phases of the PAR, including diminishing the financial burden on those relocated and providing free public transportation services, carrying out community-building programs and updating the household registration institution, balancing the redistribution and sharing of farmland, furnishing assistance measures for employment searches and training in specific skills, and creating an impartial project to safeguard the non-movers from the significant negative impacts on their physical and spiritual dimensions.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the power relations of labour and gender in the servant institution during the agrarian revolution in Sweden. The positions of servant, master and mistress are analyzed theoretically as a gendered, contracted position with both economic and moral dimensions attached to them. The analysis is applied together with a theory on bases of power, which are those areas where pretentions to power come in to force through material conditions; in this study being masculinity and access to land. The sources used are the Servant Acts, didactic and debate literature, and court cases. Though the formal condition for a servant system to evolve is inequality – in the agrarian setting primarily between landed and landless people – previous research has tended to view the servant system primarily as a solution to the changing need for labour over time in the agrarian household. Through the Servant Acts, the Crown delegated control over landless people to farmers and could thereby ensure that farmers had access to labour, but the Crown also demanded farmers to use inflexible year-long contracts for servants. I show that by using the well-established year-long contract as a frame, masters and male servants were able to create flexibility. At the same time, the subservient position of a servant became less acceptable for men, since the possibility to become a landed head of household at the end of the period of service was eroded during the agrarian revolution. I find that the servant position underwent a discursive feminization, and those aspects point to a situation where the servant position became feminized and wage labour became a new power base for men. The analysis of servants’ wages shows that there were considerable opportunities to use the court to demand unpaid wages, for both male and female servants, although only a quarter of the cases concerned females. However, the legal right to be taken care of in the event of sickness does not seem to have been complied with. Taken together, this leads to the conclusion that servants were already regarded less as family members and more as part of modern labour relations during the agrarian revolution. Finally, the concept of agency is analyzed, showing a subtle gender difference in that the labour of female servants was taken more for granted than that of male servants.

The paper presents an analysis of daily water consumption for household purposes carried out within one year in a selected rural household. The study was undertaken because so far the guidelines for designing rural water supply systems have not been updated for a very long time and needed verification. It involved a comprehensive system for measuring water consumption equipped with automatic readers and data recorders. The research clearly showed that actual water consumption was much lower than that provided in the current guidelines, and confirmed significant variability in water consumption for household purposes depending on the day of the week. Moreover, variability of water consumption within a year, determined by daily variation coefficient, was found to be much higher than that provided in the guidelines.

Employing data from the China rural–urban mobility survey conducted in 2010, this study investigates the influence of family demographic characteristics on the income, life satisfaction, and potential for rural–urban mobility at the rural household level of two provinces of China: Shaanxi and Henan. A larger labor force in a rural household was found to reduce a family’s ability or inclination to move to a city. The findings reveal that family size negatively affects the average income per family member and reduces the marginal income of the labor force and that minor children can improve the life satisfaction of family members. We conclude that a larger family size does not translate to more benefits for a rural household. Family size preference is found to be a reflection of parents’ concerns about elderly care and is deemed to be unfavorable for urbanization in P. R. China.

RESUMO O presente artigo apresenta a construção do índice de salubridade ambiental domiciliar focado no meio rural (ISA/DR) como instrumento para diagnóstico e avaliação das condições de saúde-ambiente em meio rural, assim como sua aplicação em comunidades ribeirinhas da Amazônia. A construção do ISA/DR foi realizada com base em três referenciais: a teoria do índice de salubridade ambiental urbana para áreas de ocupações espontâneas; os aspectos teóricos e conceituais da relação saneamento e saúde; e as informações resultantes de diagnósticos de saneamento e pesquisas socioeconômicas realizadas em comunidades ribeirinhas. Para quantificar os diferentes níveis de salubridade ambiental domiciliar rural, foi efetuada a aplicação do ISA/DR aos domicílios de oito comunidades localizadas em duas unidades de conservação de uso sustentável no estado do Amazonas, Brasil. Apesar das comunidades apresentarem características sociais, econômicas, culturais e ambientais relativamente semelhantes, o ISA/DR, como instrumento de representação de fenômenos da realidade vivenciada (salubridade ambiental domiciliar), teve sensibilidade suficiente para captar a variação da situação de salubridade dos domicílios entre as comunidades estudadas. Dessa forma, recomenda-se o ISA/DR como instrumento que permite apontar cenários que direcionariam as prioridades de investimentos e ações de políticas públicas voltadas à reversão da realidade de saúde e salubridade ambiental de domicílios do meio rural brasileiro. ABSTRACT This paper aims to present the construction of a household environmental health index focused on rural areas (ISA/DR) as a tool for diagnosis and assessment of the rural health-environment conditions, as well as its application for Amazon rural communities. The ISA/DR construction was conducted based on three benchmarks: the theory of environmental health index for spontaneous urban areas occupations; the theoretical and conceptual aspects of the relation between water supply, sanitation and health; and the information from sanitation and socioeconomic surveys in Amazon rural communities. To quantify the different levels of environmental health situation of rural household, we applied the ISA/DR to households in eight communities located in two protected areas for sustainable use in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Although the communities present relatively homogeneous social, economic, cultural and environmental characteristics, the use of ISA/DR as a tool for representing the phenomena of the experienced reality (household environmental health) was sensitive enough to capture the variation in the environmental health status among households of the studied communities. Therefore, we conclude that ISA/DR could be used as a tool that could direct investment priorities and public policies actions that aim at reversing the reality of environmental health of Brazilian rural households.

Article Deforestation and forest degradation, after burning of fossil fuels, is considered as the second leading cause of anthropogenic greenhouse emissions (accounting for over 17% of global carbon dioxide emissions) and has become an important issue concerning climate change mitigation. The provision of wood energy is generally thought to be a major contributor to forest loss. In Indonesia, more than half of the rainforest there, the third - largest swath in the world, has been felled in just a few years. Further more, permission has been granted to convert the majority of what remains into palm or acacia plantations. The logging and burning of forests to clear land for cultivation has made Indonesia one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. Therefore, the o bjective of this study was to assess the current level and influencing factors of the use of fuelwood among the rural population as well as the consequent environmental impacts in the target area in North Sumatra. The questionnaire survey using randomly se lected households (n = 196) was administered in Tapanuli Utara regency from July to August 2014; followed by several field visits from August to September 2016. Obtained data were analysed with descriptive statistics and cross tabulation. The results indic ate that fuelwood is a significant source of energy in the target area. For 31% of respondents it is the major energy source and for 64% it is a supplementary source. The high rate of use of wood as fuel corresponds to the poor financial situation of respo ndents and the easy accessibility of wood, but only from the surrounding area (own garden or adjacent land). Wood resources are often very distant (on average over 1,000 metres) as a consequence of high deforestation. This study reveals that there is a non - sustainable trend of forest conversion resulting in high land degradation in Tapanuli Utara regency.

espanolEn este articulo se analizan los cambios en el mercado laboral rural en Mexico, mediante la identificacion de las fuentes principales de empleo e ingreso de los hogares rurales para el periodo 2002-2007. El analisis cuantitativo se basa en datos panel de la Encuesta nacional a hogares rurales de Mexico; los resultados confirman que la industria, el comercio y los servicios son la mayor fuente de ingreso del sector rural. Estos hallazgos constatan las proyecciones senaladas por la literatura respecto a la perdida de relevancia del sector agropecuario como generador de ingreso, que detonen el desarrollo de las comunidades rurales mexicanas. La falta de agrupacion de los hogares por estrato de ingreso fue una limitacion para examinar con mayor detalle el peso de las actividades no agropecuarias para cada grupo de ellos. EnglishThis article analyzes changes in Mexico’s rural labor market by identifying the main sources of employment and income of rural households for the 2002-2007 period. Quantitative analysis is based on panel data from the Mexico National Rural Household Survey; the results confirm that industry, trade and services are the most important source of income for the rural sector. These findings confirm projections made in literature concerning the loss of relevance of agricultural sector as an income generator, encouraging development of Mexican rural communities. Households were no grouped by income level, which was a constraint for examining in more detail the weight of non-agricultural activities for each group.