Patterns of Livelihood Diversification in Sri Lanka
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Date
2020
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Globally a higher attention is given to the Livelihood diversification as an important
strategy by which households may work to achieve sustainable livelihoods through
mitigating the income risk. Since there are structural changes with the unique
characteristics of the livelihoods in the Sri Lankan context, much attention is needed on
analysing the nature of livelihood diversification. The objective of this study is to
examine the patterns of livelihood diversification in Sri Lanka. Data were derived from
the 2016 Household Income Expenditure Survey and were analysed from descriptive
statistics, Probit regression, and OLS Regression. According to the results, only 15% of
households from the total population have been diversified their livelihoods. Concerning
the livelihood strategy, 53% of households from total households are adopting urbansalaried livelihoods and they have the least tendency towards Livelihood diversification.
In terms of employment choice, only 6% of households with government employees have
diversified their livelihoods. Households located in the urban sector and estate sector are
less likely to being diversified. According to the OLS regression carried out specifically
for the agricultural households which are having a high vulnerability to the income, risks
implies that the livelihood diversification has a significant and positive impact on
enhancing agricultural household welfare in terms of per capita expenditure and aggregate
asset index. Probit regression results depict that the major determinants of Livelihood
diversification decisions in Sri Lanka are human capital-related factors and regional
differences. Programs for removing the regional disparities, promoting human capital
development from quality education and skills acquisition, entrepreneurial development,
and promoting concepts like “Flexible working hours” should be facilitated to successful
livelihood diversification which will ultimately lead to enhancing the household wellbeing.
Keywords: Livelihood diversification, Sri Lanka
Description
Keywords
Agriculture, Crop Production