JBS Vol 16. Num 1_2. 2014 - Significance and Growth Linkages of Household Non-Farm Enterprises in Rural Bangladesh: A Case of Advanced Villages

Since micro-level understanding of the non-farm sector (NFS) seems to be insufficient for promoting sustainable livelihoods in rural Bangladesh, this paper examines the significance and growth linkages of Household Non-Farm Enterprises (HNFEs) in four villages at a typically advanced rural location: Comilla Sadar Upazila. The findings show that in relation to the limited scope of earning income from farming and in-country remittance employment, the households’ higher dependency on out-country remittance employment and local low-return NFE could be a threat for sustainability of local livelihoods. Thus, the increasing contribution of non-farm self-employment and non-farm wage employment by promoting HNFEs is critically important. The HNFEs were also found to be locally linked. The HNFEs that purchased inputs locally and sold outputs in distant markets might have higher profit potential.