Assets, Activities and Rural Poverty Alleviation

Abstract

This paper examines the links between household assets and the economic activities of rural households in order to identify the role of certain assets on creating a pathway out of poverty. Nationally representative data from 14 countries that form part of the Rural Income Generating Activities (RIGA) data base are used in the analysis. The results indicate that improved land access is linked to agricultural production and thus will lead households to take, on average, this path out of poverty. H igher levels of education and greater access to infrastructure appear to be most closely linked to nonagricultural wage employment.