March 3rd, 2015
Non-farm entrepreneurship in rural Africa: patterns and determinants
Published by Dare, March 1st, 2014
This paper (PDF) published by Dare provides an empirical description of the patterns and determinants of non-farm entrepreneurship in rural Africa, using the World Bank’s unique LSMSISA dataset on six countries: Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. The research finds that non-farm entrepreneurship predominantly creates informal jobs and mostly for family members; that these jobs tend to be transient and influenced by seasonality in agriculture; and that there is substantial heterogeneity across countries in the determinants of rural non-farm entrepreneurship. The researchers conclude that Africa’s non-farm economy continues to fulfil mainly a risk-diversifying role and has therefore a limited impact on poverty and growth.