Livelihoods Diversification and Gender in Malawi

Scholarly literature portrays rural livelihoods diversification as a continuously occurring phenomenon that results from the increased importance of off-farm wage labor in the household livelihood portfolio or through the development of new forms of on-farm commodities. The fact that women and men particularly in Africa have significantly different roles in the making of livelihoods decisions suggests the need to further understand the differential determinants of livelihoods diversification for the two groups. This study analyses determinants of livelihoods diversification using data from a cross-sectional survey of about 400 households from Malawi. We find that more than 60% of the households combine a number livelihood strategies including agriculture while only 37% of them rely purely on agriculture.