Rural Livelihood Diversification: A Solution for Poverty in the Post-Soviet Rural Baltic States?

Abstract

This article analyses rural livelihood diversification through a longitudinal follow-up survey, that targets former collective farm workers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It argues, that between 1995 and 2010 the former collective farm workers employed three distinct livelihood diversification strategies in order to create their living. A wage-based livelihood diversification strategy, which does not include any agricultural practices, was more common among the better-off households. A farm-based livelihood diversification strategy, which does not rely on salaries, was more often employed by the poor. A mixed strategy, that combines both wage income and farm activities, was used by both better-off (above the poverty line) and poor households (below the poverty line). The paper also finds that livelihood diversification and poverty among the researched households have country specific patterns, which coincide with the general rural development in Baltic states.