This article jointly analyses the determinants of participation in non-farm activities and of migration in Northern Ghana, combining household data with community-level information and data on the evolution of the yields of cash and staple crops. Our results confirm the role of education as a key asset to pursue opportunities in the off-farm sector and the role of farm size in reducing the probability to participate in non-farm activities. Poor households do not have enough resources to undertake non-farm activities and they opt for migration as a diversification strategy. Community-level assets are found to play a crucial role for understanding off-farm diversification.