The Role of Public Infrastructure in Poverty Reduction in the Rural Areas of Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the role of infrastructure on poverty reduction in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State Nigeria. The objectives identified the types, distribution and impacts of these facilities on the lives of the people. Data used were obtained from the field through questionnaire, oral interview and personal observation and also from secondary sources including published and unpublished materials. The study identified that few infrastructural facilities were located in the study area, which were however not equitably distributed. Even at this, the study showed that these facilities had impacts on the lives of the people of the study area. Impacts relating to poverty alleviation as observed were in the areas of access to medical care, mortality rate, employment and literacy. These impacts notwithstanding, it was observed that facility provision was confronted with numerous problems in the study area. These include inaccessibility, inadequacy, lack of maintenance of existing infrastructure and the attitude of government to rural facilities location.

Keywords: Infrastructure, Rural poverty, Nigeria