POVERTY IN NIGERIA: THE ROLE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH, GOVERNANCE AND AGRICULTURE
Keywords:
Nigeria, Poverty, Economic Growth, Unemployment and ARD
Abstract
Nigeria is a nation of riches with trajectories for poverty, wealth in the hands of few and extreme/abject poverty at the doorsteps of many. This study examined the role of economic growth, agriculture and quality of governance in explaining the wide differences in poverty level in Nigeria. The study used a 28-year period (1990 – 2018) time series secondary data. Data were analysed using Impulse Response Function (IRF) and Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL). IRF revealed that there was a negative and positive response of POV to shocks in real GDP in Nigeria. ARDL showed that real GDP, inflation and unemployment are a key variables that can be used to enhanced poverty reduction and significant in both the short and long run. Similarly, education and agriculture value added also have a negative coefficient in the short run analysis which means the variables will lead to poverty reduction in the short run. The study recommended that pro poor policies should be designed for alleviating poverty and this should be cantered on diversifying the Nigerian economy with agriculture so that the benefits of economic growth will trickle down to the agro-based rural population that constitute a larger proportion of the poor people.
References
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Ben-Kaabia, M., Gil, J.M. and Chebbi, H. (2002). The effect of long-run identification on Impulse Response Function (IMF): An application to the relationship between macroeconomics and agriculture in Tunisia. Journal of Agricultural Economics Review, 3(2), 36-48.
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Oyinbo, O. and Rekwot, G.Z. (2014). Agricultural Production and Economic Growth in Nigeria: Implication for Rural Poverty Alleviation, Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, 53(3), 207-223.
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Shittu, A.M. and Odine, A.I (2014). Agricultural Productivity Growth in Sub-Sahara Africa, 1990-2010: The Role of Investment, Governance and Trade. Paper presented at the 17th Annual conference on Global Economic Analysis, Dakar, Senegal, Pp 1-34.
Thirtle, C.; Lin, L. and Piesse, J. (2003). The impact of research-led agricultural productivity growth on poverty reduction in Africa, Asia and latin America. World Development 31, Pp 1959-1975.
Thorbecke, E. (2013). ‘The Inter-relationship Linking Growth, Inequality and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.’ Journal of African Economies 22(1),15–48.
UNDP (2010). Human Development Report Nigeria 2008-2009. Achieving Growth with Equity. United Nations Development Programme.
Von Braun, J.; Fan, S.; Meinzen-Dick, R.; Rosegrant, M.W.; and Pratt N.A. (2008). International Agricultural Research for Food Security, Poverty Reduction, and the
Environment. What to Expect from Scaling Up CGIAR Investments and “Best Bet†Programs. IFPRI, Washington, D.C.
World Bank (1996). Galloping Poverty in Nigeria; Sustainable Development in Africa, World Bank Report Vol. 12 No. 6.
World Bank (2009). World development indicators online 2009. Available from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator.
World Bank (2018). Decline of Global Extreme Poverty Continues but Has Slowed, World Bank Press Release of September 19, 2018. Retrieved from: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2018/09/19/decline-of-global-extreme-poverty-continues-but-has-slowed-world-bank.
World Poverty Clock (2019): World Data Lab’s Poverty Clock. www.worldpovert.io
Aigbokhan, B.E. (1997). Poverty alleviation in Nigeria: Some macroeconomic issues. Proceedings of the 1997 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Economics Society.
Aku, P.S., Ibrahim, M.J. and Bulus, Y.D. (1997). Perspective on Poverty Alleviation Strategies in Nigeria. In Proceedings of the Nigeria Economic Society Annual Conference on Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria 1997. Ibadan: NES Pp 41-54.
Ayala, L. Canto, O. and Rodriguez, J. G. (2017). Poverty and the business cycle: A regional panel data analysis for Spain using alternative measures of unemployment, Journal of Economic Inequality, 15(1), 47–73
Badiene, O. (2008). Sustaining and Accelerating Africa’s Agricultural Growth Recovery in the Context of Changing Global Food Prices. IFPRI Policy Brief 9. IFPRI, Washington, D.C.
Bello, M.A. and Abdul, H. R. (2010). Has Poverty Reduced in Nigeria 20 Years After? European Journal of Social Sciences, 15(1), 7-17.
Ben-Kaabia, M., Gil, J.M. and Chebbi, H. (2002). The effect of long-run identification on Impulse Response Function (IMF): An application to the relationship between macroeconomics and agriculture in Tunisia. Journal of Agricultural Economics Review, 3(2), 36-48.
Blackwood, D. L. and Lynch, R. G. (1994). The Measurement of Inequality and Poverty: A Policymaker’s Guide to the Literature. World Development Report, 22(4), 567 – 578.
Bourguignon, F. (2003). The growth elasticity of poverty reduction: Explaining heterogeneity across countries and time periods, in T. Eichler and S. Turnovsky (Eds), Growth and inequality. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Bradshaw, T.K. (2006). Theories of poverty and anti-poverty programs in community development. Rural Poverty Research Center, RPRC Working Paper No. 06-05.
Bulama, B. (2004). Economic growth, inequality and poverty in Nigeria. Available from http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_27/429000/429916/1/print/429916.pdf.
De Janvry, A. and Sadoulet, E. (2000). ‘Growth, Poverty, and Inequality in Latin America: A Causal Analysis, 1970–1994.’ Review of Income and Wealth, 46(3), 267–87.
Dollar, D. and Kraay, A. (2002). ‘Growth is Good for the Poor. ’Journal of Economic Growth, 7(3) 195–25.
FAO (2013). FAOSTAT Statistical Database of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Rome. Available at htpp://faostat.fao.org/. Accessed at various times.
Fosu, A.K. (2017). Growth, Inequality, and Poverty Reduction in Developing Countries: Recent Global Evidence. Research in Economics, 71(2), 306–336.
Hamilton, J.D. (1994). Time Series Analysis, Princeton University Press, Chapter 11, Pp 318-320.
Irz, X.; Lin, L.; Thirtle, C. and Wiggins, S. (2001). Agricultural Productivity Growth and Poverty Alleviation. Development Policy Review, Vol. 19, Issue 4 pp. 449–466.
Kalwij, A. and Verschoor, A. (2007). Not by growth alone. The role of the distribution of income in regional diversity in poverty reduction. European Economic Review, 51: 805- 829.
Lopez, H. J. (2006). ‘Does Poverty Matter for Growth?’ In Poverty Reduction and Growth: Virtuous and Vicious Circles, Publication of World Bank. Washington, dc; Pp 103–127.
Majid, N. (2004). Reaching Millennium Goals: How well does agricultural productivity growth reduce poverty? Employment Strategy Paper 2004/12, International Labour Organisation (ILO), Geneva.
Muftaudeen, O.O. and Hussainatu A. (2014). Macroeconomic Policy and Agricultural Output in Nigeria; Implications for Food Security. American Journal of Economics, 4(2), 99-113.
NBS (2012). Nigeria Poverty Profile 2010, Publication of National Bureau of Statistics, Abuja, Nigeria, Pp 1-31.
Nindi, A.G. and Odhiambo, N.M. (2015). Poverty and Economic Growth in Swaziland: An Empirical Investigation. Managing Global Transitions, 13(1), 59–7.
Norton, S. W. (2002). Economic Growth and Poverty: In Search of Trickle-Down. Cato Journal, 22(2), 263–275.
Nwafor, M.; Ehor, E.C.; Chukwu, O.J. and Amuka, J.I. (2011). Cost-Effective Agriculture Growth Options for Poverty Reduction in Nigeria: Evidence and Policy Implications. AIAE Research Paper 6. African Institute for Applied Economics, Enugu.
Obadan, M.I. (1997). Analytical framework for poverty reduction: Issues of economic growth versus other strategies. Proceedings of the 1997 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Economic Society, Ibadan.
Obi, B.O. (2007). Fiscal policy and poverty alleviation: Some policy options for Nigeria. African Economic Research Consortium, AERC Research Paper No.164.
Odhiambo, N. M. (2009). Finance-Growth-Poverty Nexus in South Africa; A Dynamic Causality Linkage. Journal of Socio-Economics 38(2), 320–325.
Ogbeide, E. O. and Onyinyechi A. D. (2015). Poverty and Income Inequality in Nigeria: Any Causality? Asian Economic and Financial Review, 5(3), 439-452.
Okoroafor, M. O. and Nwaeze, C. (2013). Poverty and Economic Growth in Nigeria. A multidisciplinary journal of global macro trends, Macrotheme Review, 2(6), 105-115.
Olowa, O.W.; Awoyemi, T.T.; Shittu, A.M. and Omowunmi, A. (2013). Effects of Remittances on Poverty among Rural Households in Nigeria. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 2 (4), 263-284.
Onanuga, A.T. and Shittu, A.M. (2010): Determinants of interest rates in Nigeria: An error correction model; Journal of Economics and International Finance, 2(12), pp. 261-271.
Oyinbo, O. and Rekwot, G.Z. (2014). Agricultural Production and Economic Growth in Nigeria: Implication for Rural Poverty Alleviation, Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, 53(3), 207-223.
Ravallion, M. and Chen, S. (2003). ‘Measuring Pro – Poor Growth. Economics Letters, 78(1), 93 –99.
SDGs (2019). High-level political forum on sustainable development, convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. Special edition: progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. 2019 session, 26 July 2018–24 July 2019, Agenda items 5 (a) and 6. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg1
Sembene, D. (2015). Poverty, Growth, and Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa: Did the walk match the talk under the PRSP Approach? International Monetary Fund (IMF) Working Paper.
Shittu, A.M. and Odine, A.I (2014). Agricultural Productivity Growth in Sub-Sahara Africa, 1990-2010: The Role of Investment, Governance and Trade. Paper presented at the 17th Annual conference on Global Economic Analysis, Dakar, Senegal, Pp 1-34.
Thirtle, C.; Lin, L. and Piesse, J. (2003). The impact of research-led agricultural productivity growth on poverty reduction in Africa, Asia and latin America. World Development 31, Pp 1959-1975.
Thorbecke, E. (2013). ‘The Inter-relationship Linking Growth, Inequality and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.’ Journal of African Economies 22(1),15–48.
UNDP (2010). Human Development Report Nigeria 2008-2009. Achieving Growth with Equity. United Nations Development Programme.
Von Braun, J.; Fan, S.; Meinzen-Dick, R.; Rosegrant, M.W.; and Pratt N.A. (2008). International Agricultural Research for Food Security, Poverty Reduction, and the
Environment. What to Expect from Scaling Up CGIAR Investments and “Best Bet†Programs. IFPRI, Washington, D.C.
World Bank (1996). Galloping Poverty in Nigeria; Sustainable Development in Africa, World Bank Report Vol. 12 No. 6.
World Bank (2009). World development indicators online 2009. Available from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator.
World Bank (2018). Decline of Global Extreme Poverty Continues but Has Slowed, World Bank Press Release of September 19, 2018. Retrieved from: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2018/09/19/decline-of-global-extreme-poverty-continues-but-has-slowed-world-bank.
World Poverty Clock (2019): World Data Lab’s Poverty Clock. www.worldpovert.io
Published
2020-04-14
How to Cite
OsinowoO. H., TolorunjuE. T., & OyesanwenA. A. (2020). POVERTY IN NIGERIA: THE ROLE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH, GOVERNANCE AND AGRICULTURE. FUDMA JOURNAL OF SCIENCES, 4(1), 272 - 281. Retrieved from https://fjs.fudutsinma.edu.ng/index.php/fjs/article/view/47
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Research Articles
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