Abstract:
The rural household’s livelihood diversificationactivities in gender perspectivewerenot clearlyarticulated by other studies in study area. Therefore, this study is aimed to addressesdeterminates of ruralhouseholds’ livelihood diversification activities fromgenderperspective inGungua district: focusing on identifying gender specific activities and gender based challengesand opportunitiesofrural households. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select148 sample households from this 103 and 45 were male and female sample households,respectively. A quantitative and qualitative type of data was collected from primary andsecondary data sources. Interview schedule, key informant interview, focus group discussions,and observations were used to collect primarydata.Descriptivestatisticswereused to analyzegender specific livelihood diversification activities, and gender-based challenges andopportunities of rural household livelihood diversification. Besides,multinomial logit model wasapplied for the identification of determinants that affect choice of livelihood diversificationstrategies.This study also discovered four types of livelihood strategiessuch as farm only, farmand off farm, off-farm only, off-farm, and non-farm. The57.3%, 25.2%,3.9%, and 13.6% ofmaleheaded households and 28.9%, 17.8%,42.2% and11.1% of female headed householdswereengaged on-farm only, on farm and off farm, off-farm only, and off-farm and non-farm livelihoodstrategies,respectively.Themultinomial logit model results revealed that educational level ofthe household heads, access to credit,and family size had asignificant and positive influenceonmale and femalehousehold’s choice of different livelihoodoptions.The Engagement of bothcategories households in various livelihood diversification strategies was very important upgrading economy of rural households. Therefore, gender sensitive participatory policydevelopment is essential to encourage engagements of rural households,particularly for femaleheaded households in on farm and off farm, off-farm and non-farm livelihood options besidesfarmingactivities
