Urban trajectories in rural livelihood strategies : household employment patterns in Kenya's Coast Province

This chapter deals with household employment patterns in Kenya's Coast Province, an economically backward area in the Kenyan economy. Current research reveals that economic diversification rather than specialization is crucial to the pursuit of household livelihood. Furthermore the pattern of diversification is conditioned by household economic stratification. For analytical purposes three household income categories are distinguished and four broad categories of off-farm activities. An examination of the correlation between household income and off-farm activities shows that off-farm employment is a far less important source of income in low-income households. The remainder of the chapter examines the relation between off-farm employment and gender, age groups, and education. The data used in this chapter are drawn from a 1985-1986 study of 300 rural households in Kwale and Kilifi Districts in the Coast Province. Bibliogr., notes, ref