Introduction
1.1 Background of the study
Poverty is a global phenomenon that affects continents, nations and peoples differently. It affects people at different depths and at different levels, at different times and at different stages of their lives. No nation is absolutely without poverty. The main difference is the intensity and prevalence of this disease. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America currently have the highest levels of poverty and, consequently, the lowest socio-economic development.
They also experience the highest levels of social insecurity, violence, riots and a generally unacceptable standard of living. The Central Bank of Nigeria (1999: 1) considers poverty as “a state in which an individual is unable to adequately meet his basic food and clothing needs. The World Bank (2000: 1) used an inductive approach to uncover various dimensions of poverty such as well-being, psychology, basic infrastructure, disease, and wealth. One of these definitions is “the absence of goods necessary for material well-being, especially foodstuffs, but also housing, land and other goods.
In other words, poverty is the lack of multiple resources leading to hunger and physical deprivation. “Another definition is” the lack of voice, power and independence they exploit. Their poverty makes them vulnerable to rudeness, humiliation and inhuman treatment by private and public actors in the state with whom they seek help. “Nigeria, one of the 25 poorest countries in the world, started its own citizenship in 1960 with a poverty rate of just under 15% of its population and is now trying to reduce it by 70% of its population. Current population of 120 million Among those living in poverty, 73% are concentrated in rural areas where illiteracy is widespread, drinking water and health facilities are scarce, and road and electrical infrastructure is unavailable or poorly managed.
Nor is it because the desire of the poor to free themselves from their deplorable and frustrating state of near-despair has not been sufficiently addressed. No Nigerian government, be it military or civilian, has introduced or abandoned any form of poverty reduction or reduction program aimed at reducing the level of poverty, providing hope and poor, and to one. Work to create a kind of prosperity. Strategies, guidelines and plans have been formulated. Programs and projects have been formulated and implemented over the years. In 1960, at independence, efforts to eradicate poverty in Nigeria focused on education, while Operation Feed the Nation (OFN), the Green Revolution, the War on Indiscrimination (WAI) Bank of Nigeria (PBN), Community Banks, Restoration Roads and Rural Infrastructure Directorate (DFFRI), Nigerian Agricultural Land Use Development Agency (NALDA), Support Program Family Farming (FEAP), a program to improve the lives of rural women, a Family Support Program (FSP) and a National Poverty Reduction Program (NAPEP) adopted during the reporting period will be examined.
1.2 Problem statement
In Nigeria, we know that all governments follow some form of the poverty reduction strategy. However, the extent to which these programs affected the poor in the target group remained unanswered. Recent studies of poverty and its reduction agencies, as well as programs, show that there is a significant gap between the goal of reducing or eliminating poverty and achieving the goal.
It seems that the efforts of the various governments are ineffective and that, consequently, little effort has been made to reap the benefits. For anti-poverty agencies, their results do not seem to justify their huge financial allocations. The perception of the poor in terms of formal poverty reduction institutions is largely one of inefficiency and irrelevance in their lives, as state poverty reduction measures do little to their struggle for survival and rarely help them out of poverty.
1.3 Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study is to examine the pitfalls of poverty alleviation programmes in the curbing the incidence of poverty in rural areas.
Specifically, the objectives are:
- To measure the effectiveness of poverty alleviation programmes in the curbing the incidence of poverty in rural areas;
- To assess their capability for reducing poverty;
- To identify reasons for their failure or success; and
- To suggest and recommend appropriate poverty reduction strategies for Nigeria.
1.4 Significance of the study
The study should be a concerted effort to identify, articulate and highlight the existence, causes and impact of poverty in Nigeria. It’s about streamlining poverty reduction strategies to make them more effective. The study should also benefit a number of groups, including those involved in poverty reduction, such as policy makers, planners, managers, coordinators and observers from poverty and poor agencies, ultimately benefiting from the efforts and even the general public.
1.5 Study hypothesis
The study hypothesis is:
Hypothesis 1
- HO: poverty alleviation programmes are not effective in curbing the incidence of poverty in rural areas
- H1: poverty alleviation programmes are effective in curbing the incidence of poverty in rural areas
Hypothesis 2
- HO: institutional capacity is not a significant factor affecting the effectiveness of poverty alleviation programmes
- H1: institutional capacity is a significant factor affecting the effectiveness of poverty alleviation programmes.
1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study
The study scope is limited to investigating the examine the pitfalls of poverty alleviation programmes in the curbing the incidence of poverty in rural areas in Lagos state. Limitation faced by the research was limited time and financial constraint
1.7 Definition of Basic terminologies
Absolute Poverty:
Refers to insufficient or total lack of necessities and facilities like food, housing, medical care, education, social and environmental services, consumer goods, recreational opportunities, neighbourhood amenities and transport facilities, etc.
GDP:
Means Gross Domestic Product. This is the Naira value of all the goods and services produced within a country but excluding net income from abroad. Globalisation: is a process of creating a global market place in which, increasingly, all nations are forced to participate based on the following key elements: the interconnection of sovereign nations through trade and capital flows, harmonization of the economic rules that govern relationships between these nations; creating structures to support and facilitate dependence and interconnection.
GNP:
Means Gross National Product. It is the market value of all the goods and services produced in Nigeria over a specific period of time usually a year at factor cost.
1.8 Organisation of study
The study is grouped into five chapters. This chapter being the first gives an introduction to the study. Chapter two gives a review of the related literature. Chapter three presents the research methodology; chapter four presents the data analysis as well as interpretation and discussion of the results. Chapter five gives a summary of findings and recommendations.
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