Still, the majority of households in low and middle income countries is (at varying extent) engaged in agricultural activities. However, the share of agriculture in employment and incomes has strongly declined compared to the past. Income diversification through off-farm employment improves resilience to shocks and stabilizes incomes and nutrition outcomes. Therefore, functioning of rural labor markets is an important ingredient to improved food and nutrition security.

Publications

• Hassan, F. and L. Kornher.  (2021).  Farm wage and rice price dynamics in Bangladesh. Food Security, (Open Access)
• Sakketa, T. G. and N. Gerber (2020). Rural shadow wages and youth agricultural labor supply in Ethiopia: Evidence from farm panel data. Research in Labor Economics, 48:61-105 [Link]
• Saini, S. A. Gulati, J. von Braun and L. Kornher. (2020). Indian farm wages: Trends, growth drivers and linkages with food prices (ZEF Discussion Paper 301) [PDF]
• Sakketa, T. G. and J. von Braun. (2019). Labor-intensive public works programs in sub-Saharan Africa: Experiences and implications for employment policies. ZEF Working Paper Series, 180: 44. [PDF]