The pastoral sector in A/hI' region has supported the community/or many years in the past.rnHowever, it has been/acing a challenge /01' the past jive decades after commercial irrigatedrnfarming was considered as a development intervention in the area. Due to the intervention,rnthe Afar pastoralism underwent major trans/ormation mainly because 0/ the changes in landrnuse. These changes undermined the functioning 0/ the pastoral system. The overall processrncontributed to impol'erishment, resource scarcity, vulnerability to drought and deepeningrnecological crisis. The deteriorating living conditions have forced the pastoral communitiesrnto diversi/jl their actil'ities by engaging in non-pastoral pursuits to supplement their income.rnAmong these subsidiary income-generating activities, wage labor in the irrigated/arms isrnone(Ql'lnaloption. The pili pose a/this study was to assess the overall/eatures of/emil wagernemployment in general and its determinants in particular. To meet this objective, arnhousehold survey was undertaken during March 2004. The survey covered six Kebeles 0/rnAmibara district of Afar region. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to selectrnsample households. Descriptive and econometric methods were used to analyze the datelrnThe descriptive analysis used included independent t-test, Chi-square test, fiequencies,rnmeans and percentages. The econometric analysis applied logistic regression model. Thernsurvey result provided a glimpse o/the importance of the sector/or employment and its rolernin the survival 0/ the household. But given the insignificant number of A/elI'S in stable andrnbetter paying jobs, it is difficult to conclude that wage employment has resulted in a greaterrnimprovement in household l"ell-being in this regard, socio-economic f elctors and localrncharacteristics l"ere/aund to in/luence wage labor participatiol1. The logit lIIodel indicatedrnage, wealth and distance determined significantly and negatil'ely. ll'hereas education andrnattitude determined significantly and positively the probability 0/ engaging in wagernemployment. Considering the impartance 0/ alterative employment opportunities in thernfiilure, promoting education and training as well as giving support to the pasroral andrntramport sector were recommended as strategies /01' success in promoring wagernemp!oymenl.