Diversification and livelihood sustainability in a semi-arid environment: A case study from southern Ethiopia
研究了埃塞俄比亚南部博拉纳牧民转向非牧业活动的经济原因，发现传统畜牧业劳动边际回报低，年轻、有文化的家庭更倾向于多样化收入组合，强调了人力资本投资对改善牧民风险管理能力的重要性。
Abstract This paper examines the recently growing adoption of non-pastoral livelihood strategies among the Borana pastoralists in southern Ethiopia. A large portion of the current non-pastoral participation is in petty and natural resource-based activities. Pastoral and crop production functions are estimated using the Cobb-Douglas model to analyse the economic rationale behind the growing pastoralist shift to cultivation and other non-pastoral activities. The low marginal return to labour in traditional pastoralism suggests the existence of surplus labour that can gainfully be transferred to non-pastoral activities. An examination of the pastoralist activity choices reveals that the younger households with literacy and more exposure to the exchange system display a more diversified income portfolio preference. The findings underscore the importance of human capital investment and related support services for improving the pastoralist capacity to manage risk through welfare-enhancing diversified income portfolio adoption.