📄 Abstract
Livelihood diversification has become a vital survival and growth strategy for farming communities worldwide, especially in regions where agricultural productivity is constrained by environmental, socio-economic, and institutional challenges. In developing economies, where agriculture remains central to rural livelihoods, diversification into non-farm and allied activities functions both as a coping mechanism and a pathway to resilience. This study examines the research identifies push and pull factors influencing diversification in the Kuttanad Wetland Farming System Employing “Structural Equation Modelling (SEM)” with “Confirmatory Factor Analysis” (CFA). Push factors, or distress-driven motives, include food insecurity, environmental threats, seasonal unemployment, and a poor asset base. These conditions compel farmers to seek alternative income sources for survival. For example, recurrent floods and salinity intrusion reduce paddy productivity, leaving households vulnerable to shortages and instability. Limited landholdings and inadequate assets further force smallholders to explore supplementary occupations. Conversely, pull factors represent opportunity-driven motives such as higher returns, employment opportunities, and additional household income. These attract farmers towards diversification into wage labour, small-scale enterprises, and allied agricultural practices. The study demonstrates that while push factors create necessity, pull factors provide incentive and aspiration. Findings reveal that food insecurity (regression coefficient 0.835) and higher returns (0.935) are the strongest drivers of diversification among Kuttanad’s wetland farmers. This duality underscores the interplay between vulnerability and opportunity in shaping livelihood strategies. The research also identifies systemic constraints to both paddy farming and diversification, including inadequate institutional support, poor rural infrastructure, limited credit access, and insufficient skill development programs. These gaps hinder the sustainability of paddy cultivation and restrict diversification effectiveness. The SEM-CFA framework provides robust evidence that institutional weaknesses exacerbate dependence on precarious livelihood options, limiting long-term resilience. Policy implications emphasize strengthening institutional mechanisms, improving infrastructure, expanding credit access, and enhancing skill development. Sustainable environmental management is also critical to mitigate ecological threats undermining paddy farming. By situating livelihood diversification within the socio-ecological realities of wetland farming systems, this study contributes to rural development discourse, highlighting diversification as both an economic choice and a survival imperative shaped by structural vulnerabilities and mediated by institutional support. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers designing interventions that balance agricultural sustainability with livelihood security in fragile ecosystems.
🏷️ Keywords
📚 How to Cite:
Dr. Thomas K.C, Dr. K Radhika , FACTORS DRIVING PUSH AND PULL DYNAMICS OF LIVELIHOOD DIVERSIFICATION IN THE KUTTANAD WETLAND FARMING SYSTEM , Volume 14 , Issue 7, July 2026, EPRA International Journal of Agriculture and Rural Economic Research (ARER) , Pages: 3 - 10 ,