Impact of Poverty Alleviation Programmes on Indigenous Women's Economic Empowerment in Nigeria: Evidence From Port Harcourt Metropolis

Abstract

This study was designed to assess the impact of participation of Port Harcourt indigenous women in poverty eradication programmes in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study used a questionnaire to elicit responses from 385 indigenous women who were randomly selected through a multi-stage technique from the study area. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were used to analyse the data collected. Results showed that majority (58.3 per cent) of the women were members of a cooperative society, 63.5 per cent were members of a community based organization (CBO), while 60.9 per cent were member of “Esusu” (rotatory credit schemes). The result further showed that 66.3 per cent of the women had engaged in jobs aimed at poverty alleviation. Only 6.0 per cent identified that they were not member of any poverty alleviation programmes (PAP) by government. It was found that after joining the PAP, 75.5 per cent of them experienced an increase in income of 36.6 per cent. The hypothesis test indicated that statistically significant differences existed in the income of the women from various sources of the economic undertakings after joining poverty alleviation programmes. It was therefore recommended that more programmes designed at alleviating poverty in Rivers State should target indigenous women. In addition to this, the study also recommended the establishment of entrepreneurship capacity-building programmes to enable the women to bring out their optimal input while participating in the poverty eradication programmes.