Estimating Multidimensional Poverty among Cassava Producers in Nigeria: Patterns and Socioeconomic Determinants

Abstract

<jats:p>The scourge of poverty, including its correlates, has been witnessing an incremental sequence over the years in Nigeria despite the natural endowment of the country. Efforts by various stakeholders to address this problem have not yielded tangible results. Using cross-sectional data collected in 2015 on 775 cassava farmers spread across four geographical zones, this study estimates multidimensional poverty of cassava producers in Nigeria. This is to determine the factors responsible for poverty increase and contribution(s) of these factors to poverty. The study found that about 74% of the respondents were multidimensionally poor. Assets and public/housing utility were the main contributors to aggregate multidimensional poverty index (MPI), while education and health contributed most to povertyreduction. The results also showed major contributing indicators to MPI to be formal employment, school enrolment, years of schooling, frequency of hospital visits, and household assets’ ownership. The South-eastzone of Nigeria had the highest adjusted headcount of poverty among cassava producers. The estimated coefficient of age, farming experience, years of schooling, household size, and access to informal credit were significant determinants of poverty in the study area. In conclusion, the results suggest that although Nigeria is a federation of more than 30 states that continue to rely on nation-wide policy initiatives of the central government, policies on cassava aiming to lift millions of people out of poverty should instead vary according to the peculiar poverty dimensions of each federation unit. We suggest reform in the agriculture sector that will emphasize facilitation and access to incentives (credits, training, extension, cooperate system, etc.) by younger farmers to engage in modern cassava farming, thereby, enhancing the chances of rural cassava growers to move out of poverty.</jats:p>

Livestock, Crop Commercialisation and Poverty Reduction Among Rural Households in the Singida Region, Tanzania

“…As expected, total cropland had a negative effect on MPI, implying the likelihood of reducing household poverty as total cropland increases. This finding is consistent with results of previous studies that have examined the effect of farm size on poverty that household poverty is likely to decline as the farm size increases (Ogwumike and Akinnibosun, 2013;Gassner et al, 2019;Mdoe et al, 2020;Olarinde et al, 2020;Onuche and Oladipo, 2021). Specifically, the following activities need to be carried out: (i) promote use of manure for fertility improvement, (ii) promote use of animal power not only for land preparation but also for weeding and transportation of harvested crops to homesteads/warehouses/market and, (iii) promote use of crop residues and by-products from crop farms as livestock feed.…”

Dynamics of multidimensional poverty and its determinants among the middle-aged and older adults in China

“…Older people (aged ≥65 years) had a significantly lower probability of escaping from multidimensional poverty than the mid-aged (aged between 45 and 55 years). This is probably because older people cannot resist risks caused by physical decline and loss of labour ability (Alkire and Yingfeng Fang, 2019 ;OECD, 2021;Olarinde et al, 2020). The married were found to be more likely to escape from poverty and to be less likely to return to poverty than those not married.…”

Technical efficiency and socioeconomic effects on poverty dynamics among cassava-based farming households in rural Nigeria

“…Despite the chains of anti-poverty programs by successive Nigerian governments, poverty reduction still remains a serious challenge (Olarinde et al, 2020). About 40.1 percent of total population were classified as poor by national standards, which translates to over 82.9 million Nigerians, suggesting that four 4 out of 10 individuals in Nigeria are poor (NBS, 2020).…”

“…Despite various programmes and policies put in place by government to improve cassava production efficiency, which will in turn alleviate poverty, the full yield potential has not been realized since small holder production by rural farmers rarely exceed 11MT per hectare compared to the 25 to 40MT given by experts (Eze and Nwobi, 2014). Babatunde et al, 2016;Olarinde et al, 2020 analysed poverty among cassava farmers in Nigeria. Other studies had analysed efficiency in cassava farming in Nigeria (Adeyemo et al, 2010;Atagher and Orkorji, 2014;Biru et al, 2018).…”