Gender, livelihood diversification and food security: Insights from rural communities in Zambia
研究了赞比亚农村女性户主家庭中，农业内生计多样化如何改善其粮食安全，并发现其效果优于非农多样化，同时带来妇女赋权等额外收益。
Rural livelihood diversification can improve food security at the household level. However, a large majority of the research has focused on male-headed households, thus overlooking experiences of female-headed households that constitute a significant portion of households in low-income and middle-income countries. This paper explores how on-farm livelihood diversification affects female-headed households' food security experiences. Using interviews and focus group discussions, the paper finds that on-farm diversification improves female-headed households’ food security. The paper also finds that on-farm diversification was more effective in improving the food security experiences of female-headed households compared with off-farm diversification. Further, the additional income from diversification creates additional benefits, including empowering women and allowing them to further diversify their livelihoods. • Female-headed households are neglected in rural livelihood diversification research. • On-farm diversification can improve female-headed households' food security. • On-farm diversification can improve women's empowerment. • On-farm activities support off-farm diversification in female-headed households.