An Examination of Poverty Among Households in Minna Capital of Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the poverty among households living in Minna. A structured questionnaire was used in collecting data from one hundred and sixty (160) scientifically selected respondents. The analytical tools was the P-alpha measure of poverty (poverty head count index, Po; poverty gap index, P1; and poverty squared gap index, P2). The Po revealed that 48.6% of the respondents were below the poverty line while the P1 and P2 with values of 0.34 and 0.27 respectively, revealed that the issue of poverty in Minna demands urgent attention. Equally, the incidence of poverty was high (99.91%) among the illiterate household heads whereas poverty incidence, depth and severity were very high among older farmers of above fifty eight (58) years of age. The study concluded that there is soaring poverty incidence in the study neighbourhood and therefore recommends that more endeavour and funds ought to be dedicated towards practical poverty reduction programmes at both the State and Local Government Levels in Niger State.

Key Words: Poverty Gap, Poverty Headcount, Poverty Line, Household Expenditure.