Description

Abstract: One of the most commonly used measures of well being in economics is income. In our study area, special care must be taken in measuring income as much of household income is derived from the home consumption of home produced goods. This brief presents some preliminary findings on income generation patterns in the study sites when we attempt to measure total income that includes both cash income and the value of home produced and consumed goods. We find that poverty is more widespread and deep in our Ethiopian sites than our Kenyan sites. We also find that livestock remain central to income generation, and home produced and consumed milk in particular plays a prominent role in ensuring survival. Food aid is found to be an important source of income, but our evidence suggests fears of widespread food aid dependence are not warranted. Income from cropping plays a minor role, and income that comes from salary or wage labor is present in Kenya but almost totally absent in the Ethiopian sites.