Determinants of livelihood diversification among climate-vulnerable rice farming households: an integrated multi-theoretical approach from central Vietnam

Livelihood Diversification as an Adaptation Strategy to Climate Change and Household Food Security of Livestock Holders in Pakistan

Rural farm households continue to face significant risks from climate change, resulting in many of them diversifying their livelihood sources into other income‐generating activities to increase their incomes and improve food and nutrition security. In this study, we examine the drivers and impact of farm households' participation in livelihood diversification as a climate change adaptation strategy among livestock farmers in rural Pakistan. We employ a multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR) model to account for potential selection bias from both observed and unobserved factors. The empirical results indicate that the average temperature and precipitation contribute significantly to the joint adoption of livestock and non‐farm activities among rural households. In addition, the total number of earning members in the household, total cultivated land, distance to city, and climate change information are significant drivers of participation in livelihood diversification strategies. The results also demonstrate that diversified households with three livelihood sources are more food secure compared to households who did not diversify or are less diversified with two livelihood sources. Our findings suggest that development policies in rural Pakistan should promote livelihood diversification by engaging farm households in other income‐generating activities to improve their food security.

Livelihood Strategies of Porang Farming Households in Bontolempangan Village, Bontolempangan Sub-district, Gowa Regency, Indonesia

Porang cultivation is characterized by delayed economic returns and high exposure to market and climate uncertainties, requiring farming households to adopt adaptive livelihood strategies. Understanding how households manage income volatility and welfare stability in such conditions is critical for rural development policy. This study examines how porang-farming households in Bontolempangang Village construct and organize their livelihood strategies to manage risk, stabilize income, and reduce vulnerability. Using a qualitative case-study approach, the study analyzes household livelihood structures, income sources, and adaptive strategies across on-farm, off-farm, and non-farm sectors. Data were examined through a sustainable livelihoods framework to identify patterns of diversification and risk management. The findings reveal that livelihood patterns are multi-stranded and risk-oriented. Households adopt adaptive strategies grounded in a combination of multiple income sources, including: (i) agricultural livelihood engineering (intensification and extensification), (ii) occupational and institutional diversification, and (iii) spatial strategies such as temporary/circular migration and remittances. Agriculture remains the primary livelihood base, with maize functioning as a short-cycle cash-flow bridge, rice as a subsistence anchor with marketable surplus, and cattle raising as a precautionary liquid asset. These strategies are reinforced by off-farm bamboo crafts and non-farm income (e.g., construction work and village institutional honoraria), which improve cash-flow stability and facilitate consumption smoothing. Porang-farming households construct resilient livelihood systems through strategic diversification and cross-sectoral income buffering. The integration of agricultural and non-agricultural activities serves as an adaptive mechanism to manage delayed returns and mitigate economic vulnerability under uncertain market and environmental conditions.

Exploring the nexus between financial inclusion, livelihood diversification, and farm income in rural Nigeria

Rural households in developing countries increasingly combine farm and non-farm livelihood activities to reduce income risk, improve resilience, and enhance household welfare. Access to financial services is an important driver of livelihood diversification because it improves investment capacity, facilitates risk management, and supports income-generating activities. This study examined the effects of financial inclusion and livelihood diversification on farm income among rural households in Osun State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected from 320 rural households selected through a multistage sampling procedure. An Endogenous Treatment Regression (ETR) model was employed to account for potential selection bias associated with households' participation in livelihood diversification. A Probit model was used to identify factors influencing participation in livelihood diversification, while the outcome equation estimated the effects of livelihood diversification and financial inclusion on farm income. The Probit estimates revealed that gender, education, farm size, land ownership, access to extension services, support from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and financial inclusion significantly influenced participation in livelihood diversification. The outcome equation showed that age, gender, education, household size, land ownership, NGO support, and financial inclusion significantly affected farm income. The treatment effect estimates indicated that livelihood diversification had a positive and significant effect on farm income. The Average Treatment Effect (ATE) further confirmed that households engaged in diversified livelihood activities earned higher incomes than non-diversified households. The findings demonstrate that financial inclusion and livelihood diversification are complementary strategies for improving farm income and strengthening rural resilience. Enhanced access to financial services enables households to invest in productive activities, diversify income sources, and reinvest earnings into agriculture. Therefore, policies aimed at expanding financial inclusion, improving rural credit access, strengthening extension services, enhancing financial literacy, supporting NGO interventions, and promoting rural enterprise development can contribute significantly to sustainable livelihood improvement and poverty reduction among rural households.

Alignments and Trade-Offs in Multidimensional Household Diversification: A Pseudo-Panel Analysis of Standard Practices and Public Programs in Rural Ethiopia

How livelihood capital shapes poverty return risk? Evidence from rural monitoring households in Western Hunan, China

Against the background of post-poverty alleviation governance, livelihood capital acts as the core endogenous resource determining rural monitored households’ capacity to avert poverty relapse risks. Existing literature fails to fully differentiate three official categories of at-risk rural households, and lacks systematic evidence on heterogeneous mechanisms of multi-dimensional livelihood capital affecting poverty relapse prevention. This study fills such research gaps and provides empirical basis for classified targeted anti-poverty governance. Taking 19,326 monitored households across eight contiguous poverty-alleviation counties in Western Hunan as samples, including 5,896 poverty-relieved unstable households, 8,321 marginal vulnerable households, and 5,109 households with sudden severe hardships, this paper establishes a five-dimensional livelihood capital evaluation system covering natural, physical, human, social and financial capital. The entropy-weighted TOPSIS model is adopted to quantify livelihood capital endowment gaps, and four groups of binary Logistic regression models (full sample plus three sub-samples) are constructed to identify differentiated influencing factors of poverty relapse risk elimination. The results show that 81.77% of all sampled households have eliminated relapse risks; marginal vulnerable households reach the highest risk elimination rate of 97.03%, while households with sudden severe hardships record the lowest rate at 69.90%. Households free of poverty-returning risks possess higher comprehensive livelihood capital scores, with financial capital as their dominant advantage. Livelihood capital exerts obvious heterogeneous effects across groups: financial capital dominates risk elimination in the full sample; human capital serves as the core driver for poverty-relieved unstable households; financial capital determines risk resistance for households with sudden severe hardships; social capital generates significantly positive effects on marginal vulnerable groups. Theoretically, this paper subdivides monitored households into three official types and enriches the empirical evidence of livelihood capital’s poverty reduction effects, expanding the application boundary of the sustainable livelihood framework in mountainous anti-poverty research. Practically, it provides a data-driven risk identification tool for regional dynamic poverty monitoring. Local governments should formulate differentiated assistance policies matching livelihood capital disadvantages of different household groups. Activating multi-dimensional livelihood capital endowments can effectively strengthen rural households’ risk resistance, consolidate long-term poverty alleviation achievements, and fundamentally curb repeated poverty among rural monitored households.

Credit Access and Constraints to Livelihood Diversification among Rural Farmers in Kano State, Nigeria

Credit access is a critical enabler of livelihood diversification among rural households, particularly in resource-constrained and climate-vulnerable regions like northern Nigeria. This study examined the extent of credit access, major constraints, and their influence on livelihood diversification among 450 smallholder farmers in Kano State, Nigeria. Data were collected through a multistage sampling procedure and analyzed using descriptive statistics, binary logit regression, and the Simpson Diversification Index. Results revealed that respondents were predominantly male (81.1%), married, and middle-aged, with small landholdings and low monthly incomes. Farming remained the dominant livelihood activity, supplemented by livestock, poultry, and petty trading. Formal credit access was limited (31.8%), with most households relying on informal sources such as friends and relatives. The primary constraints to diversification were limited access to credit, high startup costs, and high input prices. Binary logit and other regression analyses confirmed that financial exclusion significantly hinders diversification efforts. The study concludes that financial exclusion remains the main structural barrier to livelihood diversification. It recommends expanded rural credit delivery, reduced borrowing costs, strengthened cooperative financing, and enterprise support programs to enhance household resilience and welfare in Kano State.