Household Enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa : Why They Matter for Growth, Jobs, and Livelihoods

Fox, Louise ; Sohnesen, Thomas Pave

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: AGE GROUP;    AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY;    AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-6184
RP-ID  :  WPS6184

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Despite 40 percent of households relyingon household enterprises (non-farm enterprises operated by asingle individual or with the help of family members) as anincome source, household enterprises are usually ignored inlow-income Sub-Saharan-African development strategies. Yetanalysis of eight countries shows that although the fastgrowing economies generated new private non-farm wage jobsat high rates, household enterprises generated most new jobsoutside agriculture. Owing to the small size of the non-farmwage job sector, this trend is expected to continue for theforeseeable future. This analysis of enterprises and theirowners shows that although it is a heterogeneous sectorwithin countries, there are many similarities acrosscountries, indicating that cross-country learning ispossible. For labor force participants who want to use theirskills and energy to create a non-farm income source forthemselves and their families, household enterprises offer agood opportunity even if they remain small. The paper findsthat given household human capital and location, householdenterprise earnings have the same marginal effect onconsumption as private wage and salary employment. Theauthors argue that household enterprises should be seen aspart of an integrated job and development strategy.