While agriculture remains a key source of livelihoods in rural Africa, employment in other economic sectors is gaining in importance. However, details of the labor conditions are under-researched. Here, we examine labor conditions in different sectors of the rural economy using survey data from...

Many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are experiencing a nutrition transition from traditional diets to high-energy, processed foods, increasing non-communicable disease risks. Digitalization of food systems plays a significant role in shaping this transition. This paper investigates the...

Following Sen's (1973) characterization of the Gini coefficient as a ratio between a measure of aggregate income-based stress ("depression" in Sen's terminology) and aggregate income, we transform the Gini coefficient into a social welfare function rather than having the Gini coefficient feature...

Competition for land is a key challenge for decarbonized energy transitions. Open-space solar energy farms are gaining in importance but have large land requirements and displace agricultural production. Agrivoltaics offers a compromise, integrating solar panels into existing farming operations....

Climate change is associated with an increasing frequency of extreme weather events, which can severely reduce people's welfare, especially in the Global South. Here, we analyse the impacts of rainfall shocks - including lacking and excessive rains - on economic and social outcomes, using...

Most households in rural Africa are involved in smallholder farming, but off-farm employment is an important additional income source for many. Previous research has analyzed links between off-farm employment and wellbeing, but mostly at the household level, not considering that household...

Many people in rural Africa still rely on smallholder agriculture as their main source of livelihood. Yet pursuing other economic activities beyond farming to diversify incomes becomes increasingly important. In this paper, we focus on the role of people's income aspirations in the process of...

Whilst migration to urban areas is often understood through higher wage opportunities, it is not well understood why many rural poor often prefer rural destinations, particularly during temporary migration. This preference also calls for an investigation of the household-level income effects of...

We analyze the relationship between household electricity access and off-farm employment of women and men in rural Africa, using primary survey data from Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zambia. Estimating regression models, we find that access to electricity is positively associated with women's...

Temporary migration is a widely observed phenomenon among poor rural households, mostly related to agricultural seasonality. However, household preferences for temporary migration in comparison to longer-term migration, and the differential effects of these migrations on household livelihoods...