Extent and level of poverty volatility across socio-economic correlates of rural households in Niger state, Nigeria

This study attempts a proper empirical identification of their poverty status and the reasons for their poverty, through a profile of poverty incidence, manifestations and causes of rural poverty in Niger State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was employed in enumerating sixty farming household from four communities via administration of pre-tested questionnaire; viz., Kuta, Gwada, Mutum-daya. Data collected were analysed using both Descriptive, Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) model and Probit regression model.. For poor farmers, results indicated that the incidence of poverty was more among older farmers, and less among younger farmers. Results of the analysis of the FGT model showed that 36.6 percent of the farming households were poor. Based on the indices of the poverty depth, poor farmers required N 39.86 to escape poverty. However, there were some socio-economic factors which exacerbate poverty. Since livelihood status remained below the required levels for large parts of the rural populace during this research, identified poor households should be targeted for safety nets. Furthermore, the study therefore, suggests that poverty alleviation programs must focus on those factors which aggravate poverty, in order to employ several specialized approaches to tackle these multifarious problems.