Poverty and its Determinants among Rice Farming Households in Nigeria

Abstract

AbstractStrategies aimed at poverty reduction need to identify factors that are strongly associated with poverty and that are amenable to modification by policy. This study presented empirical findings on the poverty status and its correlates among the rice farming households in three selected states of Nigeria. The study utilized primary data collected in 2009 using multistage random sampling techniques. A total sample of 600 rice farmers was collected. The Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) class of poverty measures was used to determine the incidence, depth and severity of poverty among rice framing households. A logistic regression estimation technique was adopted to analyse the determinants of poverty using a computed poverty line based on 2/3 of the mean per capita expenditure. Hence ₦6434.00 was adopted as the poverty line. Any farmer whose per capita expenditure falls below this is regarded as poor and non-poor, otherwise. Results show that 50% of the respondents were below the poverty line on the head count basis. The corresponding poverty depth and severity was 18% and 9% respectively. The results of the logistic model estimates revealed that among many, the gender of head of household, household size, secondary occupation, number of years of residence in the village, and the farmer being a native of the study area were the major determinants of poverty, while the head of the household’s level of education was a poverty-reducing factor.