期刊名称：International Journal of Development and Sustainability
印刷版ISSN：2186-8662
出版年度：2018
卷号：7
期号：2
页码：792-807
出版社：International Society for Development and Sustainability (ISDS)
摘要：Agriculture is a significant source of livelihood for most rural communities in South Africa. Sadly, poverty and food insecurity, in these areas, remains a challenge suggesting that agriculture alone may not be sufficient to address poverty and food security issues. To understand other livelihoods sources pursued by rural communities, this paper investigated rural income portfolios, compositions, diversity and determinants of income portfolio selection choice using cross sectional survey data from Nyandeni Local Municipality in South Africa. Results revealed a rural community highly dependent on external social grants with minor reliance on local income generating activities with very poor local income portfolio diversity. Locally, crop and livestock production, money lending, spaza shops, taxi business and hawking emerged as the main income portfolios. Regression estimates on income portfolio selection choices reinforce the importance of education, employment status, active family members, child support grant and gender as significant household socio-economic attributes. We therefore argue that, to promote rural food security, and possibly address rural development: policy, research and investment should focus on promoting local communities` access to other non-conventional income activities – thus diversifying their income portfolios and creating strategic local village enterprises (spaza hops, money lending, hawking) capable of addressing missing rural markets. Thus far, current and future thinking should start viewing village enterprises as strategic rural development hubs capable of creating rural employment, income, financial markets, input markets and product markets in areas where the commercial private sector has failed to penetrate.
关键词：Rural Income Portfolios; Making Markets Work for The Poor; Using Markets to Drive Rural Development
