65 Agriculture in Africa • http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1134-0 Households in Rural Africa Still Rely on Agriculture Benjamin Davis, Stefania Di Giuseppe, and Alberto Zezza Overview Common wisdom: Despite overall economic growth and its potential for household income growth, the role of nonagricultural income sources remains limited in rural Africa, with more rural households specializing in own-account agriculture compared with other regions. Findings: • About 90 percent of rural households in the nine African countries studied are engaged in agriculture. This compares with an average of 85 percent in 13 non-African countries. • Rural African households derive two-thirds of their income from on-farm agriculture. Although this share is higher than the average in the other developing countries (33 percent), it is consistent with the gross domestic product of countries in Africa. • Engagement in agricultural wage labor is limited in the region, typically con- tributing less than 5 percent of rural income. In the other countries, the corre- sponding rates are about twice as large. • Income from nonfarm wage employment is 8 percent of total income on average in the African countries, compared with 21 percent elsewhere. • For their level of development, rural households in Africa appear no less engaged in nonagriculture, with greater focus on nonfarm household enterprises than on nonagricultural wage employment. • Higher-income households participate more in nonfarm activities, receive a greater share of income from them, and are more likely to specialize in nonagricultural wage activities. • Proximity to cities and agricultural potential interact to influence decisions to specialize in nonagricultural activities, with patterns that differ across countries, and according to whether distance from large cities or small towns is considered. CHAPTER 8