ABSTRACT
The significance of the rural non-farm sector in contributing to local income and employment has been recognized for long, as much as its direct and indirect effects on modernizing agriculture per se. However, with the over-emphasis upon the promotion of urban industrialization as the strategy of progress, not only has the rural economy suffered, but tremendous pressure has also been exerted on the working and living conditions of workers in urban areas, especially the migrant ones and/or those in the unorganized sector. Despite claims of a relatively high growth of the economy, at least since the late 1990s, the rural non-farm sector has continued to remain in a dismal state, bereft of adequate policy attention and, more importantly, investment in a wide range of infrastructure, both physical and economic.
