New Strategies for a Livelihood: the End of Peasantry in Northwest Pakistan

Economic rural structures undergo changes continuallyand understanding these changes in a given area wouldenhance the chances for a better-formulateddevelopment policy intervention. This studycontributes, from the perspective of Pakistan and therural Northwestern region in particular, to thedebate on the effectiveness of promoting non-farmemployment in an underdeveloped region. Readers willfind useful information that questions the standardassumptions about livelihood in the developing world. The volume adopts a holistic approach tounderstanding rural livelihood and the contributionscan be grouped around four major themes: livelihoodstrategies and diversification; poverty; occupationalchoices; and changes in occupational patterns. Thisbook presents a new approach to the study of ruraleconomy by utilizing several statistical andeconometrical techniques ranging from multinomiallogit to diversity indices (Shannon, Simpson, andDissimilarity). With its important insights intodifferent facets of rural livelihood, this book is acornerstone resource for researchers, practitioners, and students interested in development issues.