AN ANALYSIS OF LIVELIHOOD SOURCES IN HILLY AREAS OF NORTHERN PAKISTAN

The aim of the present study was to analyze the sources of livelihood in rural areas of Northern Pakistan. Shangla were selected as sample district for the research. Information regarding income from different sources of livelihood was collected form the sample households from 323 respondents by random sampling techniques. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and chi-square test at 50:50 percent. The findings show that main sources of livelihood were agriculture and its related activities and supplemented by off farm activities in the area. Among the farm households income from crops, livestock, forest, and rental land was important, while the non-farm households were dependent on small scale businesses, public/private sector services, to some extent on remittances, and working as daily wage laborers. The average income of the households was R.s: 252578 per annum. The contribution of the farm sector was 40.63%, while the rest of the income (59.37%) was from the off farm activities. Among the farm sources the lion share of income was contributed by growing of crops followed by income from livestock. In the income from off farm sources the people are relying on the public sector followed by small scale businesses. The ratio of agriculture to non agriculture sources was 0.684. The study concludes that off farm livelihood sources are more popular than the farm sources in the area showing that the natural resources available are under utilized. There is a need to properly exploit these resources through launching such development project that can enhance the agricultural productivity. Moreover the area under reference has a natural advantage of free/cheaper grazing facility so encouragement of dairy farming business can enhance the income of rural people and hence overall development of the area.