dc.contributor.author Kamwi, J.M.
dc.contributor.author Graz, F.P.
dc.contributor.author Manda, S.O.M.
dc.contributor.author Mosimane, A.W.
dc.contributor.author Katsch, C.
dc.description.abstract This paper examined livelihood activities and skill sets available within rural households in the Zambezi Region of Namibia. Specifically, the study addressed three key questions: (i) what livelihood activities do rural people pursue? (ii) what demographic factors are associated with these activities? and (iii) what measures can be taken to diversify and sustain income from these livelihood activities? In order to address these questions, semistructured interviews covering 424 households were used to collect the data. The questionnaire consisted of questions corresponding to the sustainable livelihood framework including (1) human assets (2) financial assets and major sources of income (3) physical and natural assets and (4) social assets. A series of logistic regressions were fitted from which the estimated odds ratios (y) were derived to ascertain the effect of the predictors on the livelihood activities and skills. Odds ratios were used to measure the magnitude of strength of association or non-independence between binary data values. The results showed that the use of various livelihood activities and skills in different combinations is of significant importance to rural livelihoods. Five percent of the respondents obtained income from only one source, with 95 % of the respondents engaged in a combination of farming and non-farming activities. Most of the respondents had various reasons for diversifying into other activities vis-a-vis agricultural income, limited skills, large family size, availability of opportunities, seasonal nature of agricultural produce, favourable demand for goods and services or a combination of these. In addition, the results showed that gender, age, designation and education significantly (p<0.05) influenced the choice of household’s skills. The study concludes that a combination of rural household activities and skills influenced by a variety of factors have led to improved livelihoods in the study area. For policy purposes, this suggests that state interventions in rural livelihood skill development can play a significant role in promoting more sustainable rural livelihoods. en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorship The University of Pretoria and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry in Namibia. We are also grateful for the financial support from the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL) task 033. en_ZA
dc.description.uri http://ajfand.net en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation Kamwi, J.M., Chirwa, P.W.C., Graz, F.P. et al. 2018, 'Livelihood activities and skills in rural areas of the Zambezi Region, Namibia : implications for policy and poverty reduction', African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 13074-13094. en_ZA
dc.identifier.other 10.18697/ajfand.81.16640
dc.publisher African Scholary Science Communications Trust en_ZA
dc.rights © Copyright 2014 - African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development en_ZA
dc.subject Activities en_ZA
dc.subject Skills en_ZA
dc.subject Households en_ZA
dc.subject Regression en_ZA
dc.subject Zambezi en_ZA
dc.title Livelihood activities and skills in rural areas of the Zambezi Region, Namibia : implications for policy and poverty reduction en_ZA
Name: Kamwi_Livelihood_ ...