and much further along in the process of structural change than previously thought. However, caution is warranted when jumping to such a conclusion, as agriculture may still be the primary means of livelihood for many of the individuals that are classified as employed in a non-agricultural sector under the 19<sup>th</sup> ICLS standards. Though not shown in this paper, this should be reflected by a large number of employed individuals simultaneously engaged in own-use production work in agriculture, which highlights the importance of considering employment and own-use production work together under the revised standards. Even in urban areas, the measured share of agricultural employment in total urban employment declines significantly, albeit from a much lower level. Hence, even though the 19<sup>th</sup> ICLS standards may not lead to a substantial decline in urban employment, due to the prevalence of secondary activities in urban areas, they may still alter the sectoral distribution of urban employment.

**Table 5: Employment statistics, Nigeria and Malawi**

|||**Nige**|**ria**|||**Mala**|**wi**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Urb**|**an**|**Ru**|**ral**|**Urb**|**an**|**Ru**|**ral**|
||**Male**|**Female**|**Male**|**Female**|**Male**|**Female**|**Male**|**Female**|
|**_Employment-populatio_**|**_n ratio_**||||||||
|Previous standards|0.569|0.528|0.617|0.528|0.667|0.442|0.687|0.608|
||(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|
|19<sup>th</sup>ICLS standards|0.542|0.508|0.440|0.411|0.642|0.401|0.563|0.417|
||(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|
|N|2,193|2,365|5,160|5,504|2,835|3,061|11,195|12,807|
|**_Share of employment i_**|**_n agricultur_**|**_e_**|||||||
|Previous standards|0.115|0.075|0.597|0.420|0.291|0.345|0.819|0.900|
||(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.02)|(0.01)|(0.00)|
|N|<br>1,246|<br>1,250|<br>3,172|<br>2,951|<br>1,852|<br>1,427|<br>7,854|<br>7,881|
|19<sup>th</sup>ICLS standards|0.046|0.023|0.325|0.191|0.261|0.275|0.766|0.837|
||(0.01)|(0.00)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.01)|(0.02)|(0.01)|(0.01)|
|N|1,184|1,184|2,186|2,182|1,773|1,283|6,301|5,212|

_Notes:_ Based on the Nigeria GHS Panel Wave 3 and Malawi IHS-4. In the Malawi IHS-4 data, the majority of people doing wage work are in casual or ganyu labor, and do not report their sector of work. These workers were assigned to the agricultural sector. According to previous standards, 17 percent of urban workers and 23 percent of rural workers primarily engaged in casual or ganyu labor. Following the 19<sup>th</sup> ICLS standards, this increases to 19 percent of urban workers and 37 percent of rural workers.

# **6. Conclusion**

This paper explores the implications of the 19<sup>th</sup> ICLS standards on measures of employment in SubSaharan Africa obtained from multi-topic household surveys. It shows that there is a large geographic variation in the share of farmers classified as employed under the revised standards, reflecting differences in agricultural production systems. In parts of Malawi and Nigeria, only one in five farmers report producing for sale at the beginning of the agricultural season, while in parts of Ghana approximately four out of five 21