Understanding the role of rural non-farm enterprises in Africa’s economic transformation: Evidence from Tanzania

Tanzania’s recent growth boom has been accompanied by a threefold increase in the share of the rural labour force working in nonfarm employment. Although households with nonfarm enterprises are less likely to be poor, a substantial fraction of these households fall below the poverty line. Heterogene...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Diao, Xinshen, Magalhaes, Eduardo, McMillan, Margaret S.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Routledge 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146033
Description
Summary:Tanzania’s recent growth boom has been accompanied by a threefold increase in the share of the rural labour force working in nonfarm employment. Although households with nonfarm enterprises are less likely to be poor, a substantial fraction of these households fall below the poverty line. Heterogeneity in the labour productivity of rural nonfarm businesses calls for a two-pronged strategy for rural transformation. Relatively unproductive enterprises may be part of a poverty reduction strategy but should not be expected to contribute to employment and labour productivity growth. Failure to account for this heterogeneity is likely to lead to disappointing outcomes.