Search

Purpose Microbusinesses are better able to assist many disadvantaged groups in finding employment and breaking the cycle of poverty because they require less initial capital and employ a large number of poor people in developing economies. Women run and own the majority of micro-businesses in urban Ethiopia. This study aims to investigate women’s microbusiness participation decisions and the effect on poverty in the Wolaita zone southern Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional study was carried out using a mixed-methods research approach. A total of 384 women who owned micro-businesses were chosen using a systematic random sampling technique, while 36 women were purposefully chosen for qualitative data analysis. Data were gathered through survey questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The collected data were analyzed by using a propensity score matching technique as well as contextual analysis. Findings The study discovered that women’s participation in registered micro-businesses had a higher and more beneficial impact on their food, non-food and overall consumer spending than women’s participation in unregistered microbusinesses, which helped to reduce poverty. Besides, overall women’s participation in micro-business increased their decision-making power and enabled them to provide resources for their families food and non-food consumption, with registered micro-business participants reaping the greatest benefits. Originality/value This research focused on the effects of women’s micro-entrepreneurship on poverty in low-income communities. Rather than providing food, clothing and/or other aid to women in disadvantaged communities, the authors asserted that assisting women and their micro-businesses allows them to be self-sufficient in terms of food and clothing as a long-term solution to poverty reduction. As a result, policymakers can use our findings to gain a better understanding of how women’s micro-entrepreneurship affects poverty reduction, allowing them to develop more effective anti-poverty initiatives. This study’s findings are novel and add to the body of knowledge in Ethiopia and the sub-Saharan African region. more...

Climate change affects rural communities that depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Farmer focus groups and a survey of 400 farm households were used to examine the livelihood strategies used by households in the context of a changing climate and to identify the factors that affect adoption of livelihood strategies in the lowlands of Wolaita, southern Ethiopia. The findings showed that just over half of the farm households depended solely on agricultural activities (crop and animal production) as their primary source of household income. The findings suggest that during a two-decade period, the frequency and severity of extreme weather events increased, which affected the livelihood strategies of farm households. Farmers reported that climate variability affected farming activities by decreasing yields as result of irregular and delayed rainfall as well as impaired animal productivity due to shortage of grass, inadequate water, and illnesses. This study showed that gender, age, level of education, household size, landholdings, livestock ownership, extension advisory contact, total annual income, and access to food aid were significantly affected the adoption of livelihood strategies in the area. The findings suggest that national public policy should support climate-smart agricultural practices, as well as non-farm livelihood diversification strategies, as part of Ethiopia’s national job creation strategy. more...

Purpose Micro-businesses contribute to economic development by improving individual welfare. Women are the primary drivers and owners of such businesses in urban Ethiopia. The purpose of this study is to investigate the poverty status and determinants among women-owned micro-businesses. Design/methodology/approach The basic study units were women who owned micro-businesses. A sample of 384 women-owned micro-business was chosen using a stratified and systematic random sampling technique. Thirty-six participants were purposely chosen for in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data. The poverty head count, poverty gap and poverty severity indices were computed to estimate poverty status. The major determinants of women’s poverty were investigated using a logistic regression model. Findings The overall poverty incidence, gap and severity were estimated to be 24.27%, 3.85%, and 1.11% respectively, among the women who owned micro-businesses. Eight of the 14 poverty determinants, including age, dependents, savings, remittance and the number of days and hours women work in their businesses, were found to have a significant effect on women’s poverty. The results suggest that local governments, technical and vocational training institutions should work together to reduce the impact of poverty-aggravating factors on women and increase the contribution of women-owned micro-businesses to poverty reduction. Originality/value This study addressed the poverty status of women who run micro-businesses, which is a crucial issue in Ethiopia’s urban context. It adds new knowledge to the issue of gendered economic participation, poverty reduction and poverty determinants in the Ethiopian context. more...

The study was undertaken with the objective of assessing determinants of women participation choice and intensity of participation in Micro and Small Enterprises in Hadiya zone, Ethiopia. Within the zone three town administrative were selected based the largest number of economic activities. The investigation was grounded on cross-sectional review information from 385 women Micro and Small Enterprise's undertakings participant and non-participant that were assigned using semi-structured interview schedule, key informants interview, focus group discussion, and personal observation. Secondary data was acquired from empirical reports, government policy documents, national statistical reports, journal articles and reports of different organizations. Heckman's two-stage selection model was applied to recognize factors influencing women's participation decision and intensity of participation in MSEs. The first level of probit model estimation results reveal that educational status, business experience, access to credit, access to training, achievement motivation, receiving remittance, information seeking behaviour and initial capital were emphatically and fundamentally impact the likelihood of women participation decision in MSE while age was negatively related and does significantly determine the participation choice of the women. The after effects of the second stage Heckman model demonstrated that the intensity of participation in Micro and Small Enterprises was significantly and positively influenced by educational status, access to market, access to transportation, and achievement motivation. Hence, this study recommends that government and concerned bodies are anticipated to enhance the educational level, skill, and knowledge development training, provide aids and subsidized to income, credit facilities, and the remittance-receiving channels. It is also suggested that women should formulate their own goals and they should participate in business by their own choice nevertheless of other alternatives accomplish well and actions need to be accepted to offer incentives for women who have faced a lack of available initial capital in the study area. more...

As demand for land increased over time, urban centers have been physically expanding their boundaries to surrounding rural and peri-urban areas by including additional land where people did base their lives in agriculture. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the impacts of urban expansion on welfare of expropriated peri-urban communities of Hossana town, Hadiya Zone, Southern Ethiopia by using propensity score matching method. Household survey research design with semi-structured interview schedule for a sample of 369 households (clustered in to 148 expropriated and 221 non-expropriated) was conducted. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from primary and secondary sources. In addition to household interview schedule; focus group discussion, key informant interview, transect walk, case story and personal observation were used as data collection tools. After propensity score matching, the per capita income of non-expropriated households is significantly greater than expropriated households. Therefore, urban expansion has significant impact on welfare of expropriated peri-urban local communities. Hence, it was suggested that rehabilitation programs should be developed to support the expropriated households to enable them appropriately use their cash compensation and remaining asset and prepare them for the new environment. more...

This study aimed to analyze the impact of women's micro and small enterprises' (MSEs) participation on poverty in Hadiya zone, Southern Ethiopia. The research was grounded on cross-sectional survey data from 385 women who were 215 MSEs participants and 170 non-participants that were designated through multistage sampling techniques. Both primary and secondary data have utilized to address the goal of the examination. The descriptive statistics, in combination with econometric method were used for analyzing primary quantitative data. A propensity score matching was utilized to analyze the impact of women MSEs participation small on poverty. The consequences of the propensity score matching investigation indicated that women participation in MSEs have expanded household expenditure by 7891.464Birr for participant and non-participant households. The sensitivity analysis result showed that the impact results estimated were unstable to unobserved selection bias. It was presumed that women' participation in MSEs had positive and significant impact on households food, non-food and total expenditure per adult per year. Inline exertions of government and other partners should support women to shift from non-informal economic sector to the formal sector to attain their basic needs as a result to reduce poverty. more...

Poverty is one of the central issues and the most far-reaching social matters on the planet. It has no geological limit. Along these lines, this examination has done to distinguish the determinants of the rural household poverty in Sodo Zuria Woreda of Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia. To accomplish this goal, 152 rural family units were chosen using a systematic random sampling technique following the corresponding method’s likelihood. The primary and secondary data optional information just as quantitative and qualitative subjective details have been used. In this investigation, the Cost of Basic Needs approach has applied to determine the extent of the poverty line and Foster-Greer and Thorbecke Poverty Index has used to decide the degree of rural poverty. The aftereffect of the basic needs approach’s cost shows that the investigation zone’s poverty line was about 5348.073 Birr every year per adult equivalent consumption. Utilizing this poverty line as a benchmark, the investigation demonstrated that 39.47 per cent of the family units were poor. The headcount index, poverty gap and squared poverty gap indexes among poor people families are 0.3947, 0.1035 and 0.0427. The Binary Logit Regression model’s discoveries show eight significant variables at under 1%, 5% and 10% likelihood level among 15 factors. As needs are, the family size was a positive relationship with the rural family’s poverty and measurably significant. In the interim, sex, age, educational level, land size, total livestock unit, use of technology and participation of saving have a tangible negative relationship with the rural household poverty and factually huge up to under 10% likelihood level. There is a need to reinforce the link between rural development and poverty reduction programs that consider old aged and female-headed families in mediations, limit populace size through integrated family planning and education obligations introduce appropriate livestock packages, and create awareness of the farmers for using new agricultural technologies. more...

Rural households in many different contexts have been found to diversify their income sources allowing them to spread their risks and to ease consumption. Generating diversified incomes for a majority of the rural poor is an essential component of a successful rural development strategy. This study examined participation in livelihood diversification choice and its effect on household income in Boloso Sore District of Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia. Multistage sampling technique was employed and 270 households were selected for the study. Data analyses were carried out by using descriptive statistics and econometric model. Multinomial logit model was used to identify factors influencing households’ participation in livelihood diversification choices while effects on the household income were analysed by using two-limit Tobit model. The result showed that agricultural activities were the most important source of income for rural households in contributing 72% of total household income with the remaining 28% originating from nonagricultural activities. Multinomial logit model output revealed that age of household head, market distance, members in cooperatives determined participation in livelihood choices significantly and negatively while educational level, economically active members at home, sex, training, owning mobile phone had positively determined participation in livelihood choices. Besides, two-limit Tobit result revealed that age, family size and farm size determined level of income diversification significantly and negatively while educational level, economically active members at home, sex, frequency of extension visit and credit access had positively determined level of income diversification. The findings imply that these factors need to be considered by policy makers in the planning of agricultural and non-agricultural initiatives in the study area. Keywords: Household income, Multinomial logit model, Participation decision, two-limits Tobit model, Wolaita, Ethiopia. more...

The study was conducted to identify determinants of rural farm household food security status in Boloso Sore district of Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia. A three-stage sampling technique was utilized to obtain a sample size of 90 rural farm households. Cross sectional data were collected through structured questionnaire, focus group discussion and personal observation. Data were analyzed using head count index, food insecurity gap index, food surplus gap index and binary logit model. The result showed that only 34.5% of rural farm households were found food secure while 65.5% were food insecure. The food insecurity gap and food surplus index showed that food secured households exceeded the food security line by 34.6% while 27.8% of food insecure households fall below the poverty line. The severity of the food insecurity gap among the food insecure households was found to be 11.7%. The binary logit model result revealed that the major factors determining Original Research Article Tekle and Berhanu; AJAEES, 5(2): 57-68, 2015; Article no.AJAEES.2015.039 58 food security of rural farm households were family size in adult equivalent, total cultivated land size, annual income of household, oxen ownership of households, access to extension and credit and age of the household head. Age of household head, family size and access to extension services had a negative effect on household food security status while household income, credit access, oxen ownership and cultivable land size had a positive effect on household food security. Limiting the increasing population pressure, promoting income-generating activities, enhancing microfinancing efficiency, creating employment opportunities, information dissemination, among others can contribute to food security status of households in the study areas. more...