Vol. 14 No. 1 (2026)
Space and Culture, India

Research

Patterns and Determinants of Rural Non-Farm Economy: Evidence from an Indian State

Published 2026-06-20

  • Ritwika Patgiri

Ritwika Patgiri
Doctoral Researcher, Faculty of Economics, South Asian University, India

Abstract

There has been growing evidence of the importance of the rural non-farm economy (RNFE) across the developing world, with rural households engaging in a range of economic activities apart from agriculture, including animal husbandry, casual agricultural and non-agricultural work, non-farm self-employment, and migration. This paper examines the emergence and determinants of rural non-farm employment in the Indian state of Assam. Using unit-level data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2022–23, it employs binary and multinomial logistic regression models to analyse the determinants of rural non-farm employment in Assam as well as the determinants of participation in specific types of rural non-farm employment (regular, casual, or self-employed). The findings show that self-employment constitutes nearly half of total rural non-farm employment in Assam, making it the most significant form of livelihood outside agriculture. Non-farm self-employment is dominated by own-account workers engaged in low-return, petty production and informal services. Regression results indicate that younger, better-educated, and historically socially advantaged groups are more likely to transition to non-farm employment, while women and Muslim workers remain disproportionately concentrated in agriculture and non-farm self-employment. The study highlights the need for policies that improve the quality of rural non-farm jobs through skill development, support for labour-intensive sectors, and better access to credit and markets to ensure sustainable rural livelihoods.

Keywords

Rural Transformation, Rural Non-Farm Economy, Rural Non-Farm Self-Employment, Structural Transformation, Assam, India

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Author Biography

Ritwika Patgiri

Ritwika Patgiri is a doctoral researcher in the Faculty of Economics, at South Asian University (SAU), New Delhi. Her PhD is on Rural Transformation and the Non-Farm Sector in Assam. Patgiri was the coordinator of the Western Himalayan Vikalp Sangam, and looked over the coordination of the various Western Himalayan organizations, documentation of work, drafting policy briefs, and compiled the report Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary People: Pandemic Resilience in the Western Himalayas. She has been the recipient of the Zubaan-Sasakawa Peace Foundation Grants for Young Researchers from the Northeast for 2020-2021, the National Gender Fellowship 2024-25 sponsored by IT for Change and the European Union, and the Asian Economic Dialogue Research Fellowship 2024-25 by the Pune International Centre. Her research interests include rural transformation, migration, poverty, inequality, women’s work, and feminist economics.  

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