Abstract

In the quest to overcome poverty, farm households engage in various non-farm activities. This study therefore examined pluriactive households in Kwara State, Nigeria. It also examines the activities that are non-farm; the reasons why rural households diversify into such activities; and the factors that predispose the farmers to diversify. Primary data was used for the study. Descriptive statistics, diversity index and Kruskal-Wallis test were the analytical tools used for the study. The results of the findings show that most of those who engage in non-farm activities are male, with Trading and Civil service being the major non-farm activities the rural households diversify into. Most rural households diversify in order to improve their standard of living. The diversity of activities increases as the number of activities in the study area increases. The results also reveal that the need to increase income and the small farm sizes of the rural households predispose them most to engage in non-farm activities. It is therefore recommended that rural households should engage in activities that would help them achieve the goal of reducing their state of poverty. Government and development agencies should help provide credit facilities to help the rural households intensify their engagement in these activities.