Rural-urban Linkage Of Adwa Town And Its Surrounding Rural Areas Its Nature And Effects On Rural Livelihood Diversification

This study attempts to assess the nature of RULs and its effects on rural livelihoodrndiversification of Adwa town and its surrounding. In the first stage, four Tabias werernchosen purposively to represent different characteristics (irrigation practices, experiencernstone extraction, have industries and natural resource conservation). Random samplingrnwas mainly used to select the research subjects. Household sample survey, FGD and fieldrnobservation were the principal methods used to solicit the primary data. Quantitatively,rnstatistical tools such as Chi-square, ANOVA and regression were employed. SLF wasrnadopted to holistically examine the overall well-being of rural households in relation tornthe RULs.rnThe findings of the study show that the production linkages were very weak except for thernbackward production linkage which was reflected mainly in the use of inputs. Thernforward production linkage was almost missing in the study area since none of thernhouseholds sold their agricultural produce to agro-processing plants. However, a strongrnconsumption linkage was observed as farmers tend to purchase goods and services fromrnthe town. The insufficient crop production had made the existing marketing linkage to bernexpressed only in the form of exchange of livestock, vegetables, honey and forestrnproducts. A considerable number of the rural households took loan and saved money inrnthe town-based financial institution. This financial linkage was further strengthenedrnthrough the remittances sent from the town. A household’s access to irrigation, livestockrnand beehive ownership, access to mobile phone, number of farm plots, age and distancernfrom the town were found to be the most important determinants of the orientation asrnwell as the magnitude of the marketing linkage. Similarly household head’s gender,rnfamily size, livestock ownership and number of farm plots were found to be the mostrnimportant determinants of non-marketing linkage. The study found out that for most ofrnthe rural households, diversification is a necessity than a choice. Many of the householdsrnobtain more than 40% of their income from non-farm sources. Similarly, the poorrn(33.2%) were more beneficiaries from livelihood diversifications than their rich (22.6%)rncounterparts. About 62% of the poor have experienced a strong non-marketing linkage,rnwhich was by far higher than the rich (16.4%). Considerable numbers of householdsrnwere able to improve their social and human capital as a result of the existing RUL.rnTherefore, the RUL was playing a crucial role in the livelihoods of the poor. The studyrnfound no visible difference between the poor and rich in the asset possession as the twornhave similar asset pentagon.rnFinally, the research recommended that urban oriented farming practices such asrnirrigation practices and honey production need to be strengthened. There is a need tornfurther strengthen the existing financial linkages and non-farm skills to enhancernlivelihood diversification. Furthermore there is a need to forge forward productionrnlinkage as it provides opportunity as agro-processing industries exist in the town. Access to transport would strengthen the RUL.rnKey Words: Rural-urban linkage, Livelihood diversification, Adwa.

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