Agriculture in the Face of Changing Markets, Institutions and Policies: Challenges and Strategies

Developing rural non-farm employment opportunities is widely recognized as being important for economic growth and rural employment, and as a sustainable livelihood strategy for rural populations. However, this issue, as yet, has not been analyzed properly in the Ukrainian context. This paper combines two complementary data sets on rural households and their members from the State Statistic Committee of Ukraine 2004 household survey to present a profile of rural non-farm employment in Ukraine. Also, we empirically investigate the factors enhancing or impeding access to non-farm rural employment and income diversification for Ukraine’s rural population, as well as its (nonagricultural sector) importance for the agricultural sector’s growth. The evidence suggests that, despite substantial heterogeneity of the nonagricultural sector, gender, education, access to infrastructure and land are important factors influencing access to rural non-farm employment, as well as rural non-farm incomes