Rural Income Generation and Diversification - A Case Study ... - Doria

6. Results
The results of the data analyses are presented in this chapter. First, the focus will be on the
results and findings based on the whole dataset (n=197) collected in February-May 2003 28
with the aim to establish an overall picture of rural income generation and diversification
patterns among the interviewed households in Eastern Province. This includes also econometric
analyses aiming at defining the household characteristics and other determinants of
income diversification patterns. Then, the focus will be shifted to analysing the changes in
income generation and diversification among the 67 households present in both the 1985/86
and 2003 surveys.
6.1 Household income generation and diversification based on the 2003
survey
6.1.1 An overview
One household from the Petauke district and one from Mambwe were omitted in the statistical
work because they turned out to be extreme outliers in the EPIDS dataset in terms of total
income. 29 The EPIDS analyses were thus based on a sample of 197 households, of which 49
were from Mambwe, 50 from Lundazi, 48 from Chipata, and 50 from the Petauke district.
Of the 197 households, 67 were determined on the basis of the 1985/86 survey, and the remaining
130 were selected through random sampling specifically for the 2003 survey in order
to generate more material for the analyses. There were some differences between the two
groups. The former group had older household heads and thus a more mature family structure
with more adults and a lower dependency ratio 30 , while the latter had smaller amounts of
cultivated land, higher proportions of non-farm income and fewer valuable assets. This suggests
that the households taking part in the 1985/86 survey and still active in 2003 differed in
some characteristics from those that had stopped farming and were replaced by new households
in the survey through the sampling process. The differences between the active households
and those that stopped farming are discussed in Chapter 6.2.1.
28 The 2003 survey collected data on farm income originating from the sale of produce from the 2001/2002
agricultural year (starting in May 2002, ending in April 2003) and non-farm income generated during the same
period of time.
29 The total income of these households was the mean plus seven standard deviations. There were obviously
coding errors in the data but it was impossible to return afterwards and check the information provided by the
respondents.
30 Dependency ratio=number of children/number of adults
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