Tag Archives: Poverty Alleviation

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION AS INSTRUMENT OF POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN UGANDA

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION AS INSTRUMENT OF POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN UGANDA

ABSTRACT

The study sought to establish the effectiveness of fiscal decentralization as an instrument of poverty alleviation in Uganda: a case study of Kampala Capital City Authority. The study objectives were; to find out the extent to which fiscal decentralization has contributed to poverty reduction, to find out the challenges faced by fiscal decentralization in Kampala district, to establish ways in which fiscal decentralization can be enhanced to alleviate poverty in Kampala district. A cross sectional survey was used in the course of the study. Both qualitative and quantitative data was gathered in order to establish the effectiveness of fiscal decentralization as an instrument of poverty alleviation in Uganda: a case study of Kampala Capital City Authority and therefore account for the performance levels. The study comprised of 60 respondents in Kampala Capital City Authority. Simple random approach was used during the study. Purposive sampling was also used to select only respondents for the researcher to attain the purpose of the study. Data was collected using both primary and secondary sources. After collecting data, the researcher organized well-answered questionnaire, data was edited and sorted for the next stage. The data was presented in tabular form, pie charts and bar graphs with frequencies and percentages. The researcher used Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to analyze the relationship between the variables under study. The study findings indicated that the majority of respondents with 42% strongly agree that fiscal decentralization has ably changed the tax mix and the composition of public expenditures, 17% agree, 8% were not sure while 17% strongly disagree and the remaining 17% disagreed. More to that majority of the respondents with 33% strongly agree that there is insufficient capacity at local levels to plan and deliver services using locally generated revenues and transfers from the central government, 25% agree, 8% were not sure and 17% strongly disagree and also 17% disagree. The study recommends that poverty alleviation is not merely a redistributive function. It involves both capacity improving and safety net policies. While policies aimed at accelerating growth and directing the benefits of growth will help to reduce poverty in the long term, direct redistribution such as providing basic education, healthcare and employment policies provide safety nets to the poor in the short term.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the background, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, scope of the study and the theoretical framework.

1.1 Background of the Problem

Over the years considerable progress has been made in designing and implementing policies and in building appropriate structures of incentives and institutions to combat poverty. Yet, almost a billion people in the world continue to be in abject poverty. They cannot afford minimum requirements of food, clothing, shelter, and education and health facilities. Majority of the poor in live in less developed countries of South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Therefore, nature and causes of poverty and interventions to improve the living conditions of poor continue to be a matter of concern and a priority area of research. While our understanding of this problem today is significantly better than what it was thirty years ago, there is no doubt that much more remains to be done to evolve effective policies and institutions and find more effective ways of implementing to combat this multifaceted problem (Ahmad et al. 2006).

Fiscal decentralization enters into poverty alleviation strategy in a number of ways. The proximity of policy makers to the target groups reduces information and transaction costs of identifying the poor and helps in designing potentially successful ‘capacity improving’ and ‘safety net’ policies. In an economy with significant intercommunity (regional/local) variations in preferences, and when there are no significant economies of scale and scope, decentralized provision of public services can enhance efficiency in the provision of these services and result in welfare gains (Oates, 1999).

The past two decades have seen far-reaching decentralization of state functions in many if not most countries of the world. Where has this drive for decentralization come from? It is widely acknowledged that, in central and Eastern Europe in the early 1990s, there was a real demand from the local level for local democratic control and autonomy, as a reaction against the failures of the centralized state over the previous four decades (Coulson, 1995). To some extent, the same can be said of several countries in Latin America (Menocal, 2004), and even some countries of Western Europe (France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, for example). But whether these trends truly reflected a groundswell of public opinion at the local level, rather than the interests of certain local elites who perceived political opportunities for themselves, is open to question. Within Europe, the process of decentralization has also been encouraged by the European Union, which, in addition to its treaty principle of subsidiarity, has actively promoted a “Europe of regions” as a counterweight to the nation states.

In some other parts of the world, decentralization of the state has been a response to actual or potential regional conflicts. Indonesia, which was until the end of the 1990s a highly centralized state, has undertaken a far-reaching decentralization of powers and resources (Aspinall et al., 2003). Yet this has not been driven so much by democratic demands from the local level as by local elite interests and by the fear at the centre of secession by the resource rich regions. Similar pressures, reinforced by ethnic divisions, are evident in Russia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Philippines, among others.

In Uganda especially Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the districts are the highest tier of government. Urban areas are composed of municipalities and towns; both Kampala district and the municipalities are split into divisions, and subsequently, wards and zones. The rural districts are split into sub counties and subsequently into parishes and villages. Most of the executive decisions are taken at the district and municipality level. The lower-level authorities are considered to be the sub-counties, towns and divisions, while parishes and wards are regarded as administrative units supporting their upper structures (Ahmad et al. 2006).

Despite the obvious importance of understanding the exact impact (and interaction) of fiscal decentralization on poverty alleviation, relatively little is known about the intersection of these two topics. In the traditional public finance literature to date there have been only a few serious attempts to systematically consider the impact of the different dimensions of fiscal decentralization on poverty alleviation. In turn, the traditional literature on poverty has largely ignored the role that local governments and decentralization play in poverty alleviation strategies. In fact, poverty reduction and economic development in developing and transition countries have traditionally been approached exclusively as a central government challenge (Ahmad et al. 2006).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Decentralization and poverty reduction may be correlated, but theoretically, there is no clear cut functional relationship between the two. Until recently development policy debates on decentralization largely focused on governance and efficiency, and hardly on poverty effects. With the aim of supposedly more effective poverty reduction agendas in mind, local and international organizations are increasingly calling for decentralization. Decentralization may affect poverty directly and indirectly: Direct effects of decentralization for poverty reduction relate, for instance, to regional targeting of transfers. Indirectly, e.g. in-efficiency in local public services and related hampered economic growth effects of sub-optimal decentralization adversely impinge on poverty reduction

In Uganda especially Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the districts are the highest tier of government. Urban areas are composed of municipalities and towns; both Kampala district and the municipalities are split into divisions, and subsequently, wards and zones. The rural districts are split into sub counties and subsequently into parishes and villages. Most of the executive decisions are taken at the district and municipality level. The lower-level authorities are considered to be the sub-counties, towns and divisions, while parishes and wards are regarded as administrative units supporting their upper structures (Ahmad et al. 2006).

Over the years considerable progress has been made in designing and implementing policies for example fiscal decentralization and in building appropriate structures of incentives and institutions to combat poverty. Yet, a big number of people within Kampala district continue to be in poverty. They cannot afford minimum requirements of food, clothing, shelter, and education and health facilities. Majority of the poor in live in subs of Kampala district. It is against this background that the researcher investigated the effectiveness of fiscal decentralization as an instrument of poverty alleviation in Uganda, a case study of Kampala Capital City Authority.

1.3 Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study was to generate new knowledge on the effectiveness of fiscal decentralization as an instrument of poverty alleviation in Uganda focusing on Kampala Capital City Authority.

1.4 Objectives of the study

1.4.1 General Objective

To find out the effectiveness of fiscal decentralization as an instrument of poverty alleviation in Kampala Capital City Authority  

1.4.2 Specific objectives

  1. To find out the contributions of fiscal decentralization to poverty alleviation in Kampala district.
  2. To find out the challenges faced by fiscal decentralization in Kampala district.
  3. To establish ways in which fiscal decentralization can be enhanced to alleviate poverty in Kampala district.

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

  1. What is the contribution of fiscal decentralization to poverty alleviation in Kampala district?
  2. What are the challenges faced by fiscal decentralization in Kampala district?
  3. What ways in which fiscal decentralization can be enhanced to alleviate poverty in Kampala district?

1.6 scope of the study

1.6.1 Geographical scope

The study was conducted in Kampala district using Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) as a case study. Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) is the legal entity, established by the Ugandan Parliament, that is responsible for the operations of the capital city of Kampala in Uganda. It replaced the former Kampala City Council (KCC).

1.6.2 Content Scope

The study focused on fiscal decentralization as an independent variable and Poverty alleviation as the dependant variable. The sample size selected for the study also included 5 Accountants, 5 auditors, 4 procurement officers, 1 finance manager, 25 women and 20 men. The total sample size was 60 respondents.

1.6.3 Time scope

The study focused on the time period 2012-2014. This period was long enough to easily measure the impact of fiscal decentralization on poverty alleviation in Kampala district.

1.7 Significance of the Study

District administration

The research finding will be useful to the district administration especially those in the CAO and the Chief Finance officers office to ascertain the impact fiscal decentralization on poverty levels alleviation in the district and improve on their performance.

The research findings may go a long way to enhance the management oversight role of supervision and providing a check list to compare the performance of the fiscal decentralization towards poverty alleviation in the district.

Donor community

The research findings may be of importance to the donor community, who provide funds for some of the Local government programs and projects.

Academicians

The research findings will also benefit the academicians by acting as a source of literature review for further research.

Government

Government as policy maker, this research study will help it to formulate effective fiscal decentralization after realizing the weaknesses within the institution of Kampala Capital City Authority.

1.8 Definition of key terms

Decentralization (or decentralization) is the process of redistributing or dispersing functions, powers, people or things away from a central location or authority.

Poverty is general scarcity, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money.

 

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POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAMMES IN SELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS OF OSUN STATE

POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAMMES IN SELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS OF OSUN STATE

CHAPTER ONE

1.0  INTRODUCTION

Local government exists to fill the gap, which the national government is too remote to fill. This means that local governments complements and extends the national government. It has been recognized as one important instrument for economic development, rural development and for the delivery of social services development at the grassroots level. It is therefore charged with the outrageous problem of poverty and its alleviation.

In Nigeria, local government as the third tier of government nearest to the people has been recognized as an institution capable of transforming the rural area. Consequently, there have been continuous attempts to create new local governments or restructuring the existing ones in the country with the objective of utilizing them as fulcrums for achieving economic development through series of programs which poverty alleviation is basically part of.

There has been increasing upsurge of interest in the literature of development administration and in planning circles on the positive role local government play in poverty alleviation. The emphasis is in terms of using local government as a strategic instrument for fostering, promoting and implementing economic development projects for alleviating poverty.

1.1   GENERAL BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Absolute poverty has to do with living below whatever is defined as poverty line based on per capita income or consumption of individuals or households in a country. Successive governments have pursued different policy initiatives with a view to mitigating the problem. In spite of large scale investment committed to poverty alleviation programmes, >50% of Nigerians still live in relative poverty with over a third of the population languishing in extreme poverty.

The local government system is set up, at least in part, to help curtail the prevalence of poverty. The paper is aimed at an evaluation of to what extent this objective is being pursued and addressed by Nigerian local governments using some selected Local Governments in Osun State as case studies. People in Nigeria like others in other sub – Saharan Africa and South Asia remain the poorest in the world. In 1992 between 45 and 50% of the approximately 525 million people in sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria inclusive) were estimated to be living below poverty line. As once opined “The depth of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is typically higher than anywhere in the world” (World Bank, 1995a: 12-13). The picture is not different in Nigeria. The situation in Nigeria calls for more than mere formulation and execution of programmes and projects for poverty alleviations.

In a bid to overcome poverty, Governments initiated different policies and programmes since 1968 till date to alleviate it. These programmes include: Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI), Better Life Programme (BLP), Directorate of Employment (NDE); People’ Bank of Nigeria (PBN); Community Bank (CB); Family Support Programme (FSP); Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP); Poverty Eradication Programme (PEP); National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP); and National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS), Osun State Youth Empowerment Scheme (O YES) whose aim were to ameliorate the suffering of the people by providing them employment opportunities and access to credit facilities to enable them establish their own businesses. All these programmes are done in the respective Local Governments though control by the National Government and some by State Government.

The study identified a whole gamut of factors militating against local governments contributing as they should to the issue of poverty alleviation; also examine the severity, spread and depth of poverty in the local governments. Therefore calls for deliberate conscious and well-focused efforts to poverty alleviation.

1.2  OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The creation of local government by the federal or state government is to bring government closer to the people and also foster the development of the local citizenry. To this, he must look for every means possible to alleviate poverty within his domain. The broad objective of the research is to;

  1. To take a look at the possible solutions to Poverty in the selected Nigerian Local Governments.
  2. To also know the people’s opinion on poverty alleviation and the ways with which the Local and State Government can partake in the various poverty alleviation programmes.
  3. To establish and access the impact of the previous poverty alleviation programmes in the selected Local Government Areas.

1.3   STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

From statistics, the country has between 61-80% of its total population living below 1 Dollars per day although more severe in the North than in the South. Also, the State of Osun is known to be one of the poorest in the country which habitate the selected Local Government areas under study.

1.4  SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study is significant as it attempt to consider the various ways of with which different government use to alleviate poverty in their jurisdiction and most especially the selected local governments. Aside this, the study will also enable us to identify the problems militating against the various poverty alleviation programmes, particularly in the selected Local Government Areas of Osun State.

1.5  LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The researcher faced some limitations in undertaking this study, notably in the areas of data collection, the distance of the research areas to each other, etc. Some of these problems are as follows;

The researcher was constraint by time as time frame for the submission of this research was short for an expansive research.

The unwillingness of most of the selected Local Government area staff to supply the needed data was another major problem.

Furthermore, financial resources are another major constraint during the course of the research.

Another very important problem faced during the course of this research is transport which really affected the researcher’s mobility due to the distance between the selected Local Governments

1.6   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following constitute research questions for this study which include the following:–

  1. What are the efforts made by the selected Local and State Government to reduce poverty in their areas?
  2. What are the impacts of poverty and its alleviation in Nigeria?
  3. Which from comparison is the best way to alleviate poverty in the selected Local Government areas?
  4. What is the performance of the government towards alleviating poverty

1.7     DESCRIPTION OF THE SELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

EDE SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Ede South is a Local Government Area in Osun State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Ede. It has an area of 219 km² (85 sq mi) and a population of 76,035 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 232. ISO 3166 code is NG.OS.ES. The time zone is WAT (UTC+1). The Local Government coordinates is 7°42′N4°27′E / 7.700°N 4.450°E. It has a population density of 344.7 inh./km²

[Source: National Population Commission of Nigeria (web).](2006)

Ede is a town in Osun State, Nigeria. The population of Ede is 304,738 (1987 estimate). The people are ethnic Yoruba. Among the higher institutions located in Ede are the Federal Polytechnic, Adeleke University and the Redeemer’s University of Nigeria. Nearby towns include Iragberi and Osogbo.

Historically, Ede was an important town in Yorubaland. Egungun festival is still widely celebrated, like many other traditional festivals but Ileya (eid-el-kabir) and Christmas are the main festivals. Throughout Nigeria, Id-el Kabir is celebrated most in Ede. Many people celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Day as well. Ede is one of the older towns of the Yoruba people. It is traditionally said to have been founded about 1500 by Timi Agbale, a hunter and warlord sent by Alafin (King) Kori of old Oyo (Katunga), then the capital of the old Oyo Empire. He was to establish a settlement to protect the Oyo caravan route to Benin, a purpose similar to that of other Nigerian towns. Its traditional ruler is known as the Timi Agbale, popularly referred to as Timi Agbale Olofa-Ina. According to myth, he is the man whose arrows bring out fire. The most prominent Timi in recent history is Oba John Adetoyese Laoye. The late monarch is reputed for making the “talking drum” popular. This has made Ede a reference point in the art of drumming, specifically the talking drum. With his group of skilled drummers and poets, the late monarch entertained the Queen of England when she first visited Nigeria and thereafter in her palace in England. He died in 1975.

Ede is well known as a hospitable land. Locally made food includes “Eko and Ila”. Also sons and daughters of Ede can be found all over the world and works of lives. There are several compounds in Ede towns including Ile Agate,Agboja, Imole, Ile Idigba, Ile Obadina, Ile Alusekere, Ile Yemope, Ile Mogaji, Ile Oluyinka etc.

(Source from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

IFE EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Ife East is a Local Government Area in Osun State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the Town of Oke Ogbo. It has an area of 172 km² (66 sq mi) and a population of 188,087 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 220. ISO 3166 code is NG.OS.IE. The time zone is WAT (UTC+1). The Local Government coordinates is 7°27′N4°36′E / 7.450°N 4.600°E.

[Source: National Population Commission of Nigeria (web).](2006)

OSOGBO LOCAL GOVERNMENT (OSOGBO SOUTH)

  Osogbo is a city in Nigeria, the capital city of Osun State South-western Nigeria and a Local Government. It has an area of 47 km² (18sq mi) and a population of 155,507 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 230. ISO 3166 code is NG.OS.OS. The time zone is WAT (UTC+1). The Local Government coordinates is 7°46′N4°34′E / 7.767°N 4.567°E.

[Source: National Population Commission of Nigeria (web).](2006)

Osogbo is some 88 kilometres by road to Ibadan. It is also 100 kilometres by road to South or Ilorin and 115 kilometres to Northwest of Akure. The Town with an annual rainfall of about 0.6 metres lies mainly in the deciduous forest area which spreads towards the grassland belt of Ikirun, north of Osogbo. Osogbo is situated on a raised land which is well over 500 meters (800 feet) above the sea level and is drained by Osun River and its distributaries.

Osogbo lies on the railway line from Lagos to Kano which into existence in 1907. It is known for the Osogbo School of Art and the Oja Oba market building said to be former Oba’s palace, within yards of the Osogbo Grand Mosque.

Osogbo people are famed for their commercial activities in handmade, traditional woven cloth “AsoOke” and Batiks, same with cloth-dyeing, embroidery, pottery, goldsmithing. In addition, Osogbo people are renowned, world-wide, for their unique creations and Art works of different cadres; Painting, Carving, Bead-works, Sacred artworks and even Performing Arts etc.

Osogbo is the trade centre or a farming region. Yams, Cassava, Tobacco, and Cotton are grown. It is also home to several hotels and a football stadium with a capacity of 10000 and a second professional league team (Prime FC).

Most of the population are members of the Yoruba ethnic group. In 1988, about 27% of the population were engaged in farming as their primary occupation, 8% were traders and about 30% clerks and a section.

 

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THE ROLE OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY IN POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN NIGERIA

THE ROLE OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY IN POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

A cooperative is an enterprise in which individuals voluntarily organize to provide themselves and others with goods and services via democratic control and for mutually shared benefit. Members generally contribute to, and control via a democratic process, the cooperative’s capital. Moreover, cooperatives often provide education and training to their members. Over the years the cooperative form has extended to credit unions, wholesale and/or retail consumer groups, residential organizations, producer enterprises, and marketing associations. Certain broadly defined economic advantages accompany each specific cooperative type. For example, members of a consumer cooperative are entitled to receive a patronage dividend. Distributed from net earnings, the amount of current dividends received per member is determined by the amount members spent on the cooperative’s products since the last period’s payout. Moreover, members working within the cooperative can qualify for substantial in-store merchandize discounts. For members of a residential cooperative, property-owning members function as stockholders and receive benefits from the cooperative nature of incurring maintenance and interest costs.

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0    THE BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Much of the modern-day research and historical literature on cooperatives centers on the category of producer cooperatives, even though consumer cooperatives have been in existence since the 1840s. For the most part, this one-sided treatment is historically related to the rise of the capitalist factory system. To many workers experiencing the harsh routines of the factory systems’ exacting discipline for the first time, producer cooperatives held out the promise of a more humanistic alternative form of economic organization.

The “modern cooperative era” began in 1844, when the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society was established in Rochdale, England. Its members documented the principles by which they would operate their food cooperative, implementing the central tenets around which cooperatives are structured today. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, cooperatives sprung up sporadically in America, particularly in times of economic hardship. In 1922, Congress passes the Capper-Volstead Act, allowing farmers to collectively market products without being held in violation of the nation’s anti-trust laws. In the Depression years, Congress established various agencies to provide loans and assistance to cooperatives, including the Farm Credit Administration (1929), the National Credit Union Administration (1934), and the Rural Electrification Administration (1936). The National Cooperative Bank was established in 1978 under the National Consumer Cooperative Bank Act.

 From the report of the workshop held on 10th – 11th November 2008 during the 8 the ICA Africa regional assembly at the international conference centre, Abuja. Mr Tom Tar – The Executive Secretary of Cooperative Federation of Nigeria, In his introduction of the movement in Nigeria, said the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria (CFN) was formed in 1945 and got registered in 1967.

He traced the background of cooperatives in Nigeria to the traditional savings and loans system. He added that following agitation by the Agege Cocoa planters Union in 1907, the study for establishment of formal cooperation was commissioned in 1934. This was followed by the enactment of cooperative legislation in 1935. The early move was in agriculture and latter shifted to marketing following the shift in the Nigerian economy from agriculture to crude oil. He gave the scope of cooperative activities in Nigeria as covering: On population, he said there are about 5million family members covering 20 million house holds. Total number of registered cooperative societies is about 50,000.

He enumerated the following social and economic impacts of cooperatives in

Nigeria as:-

– Employment creation

– Credit to empower members to own their own business

– Contribution to GDP though statistics not available but impact is known

– Advocacy and lobbying for better legislation

He gave the future development of cooperatives as:

– Committed integration of women

– Strengthening cooperatives from within and reduced dependence on

government because “assistance seekers are always vulnerable”

– Better services to members to enable them increase their income

– Improved business entrepreneurial skills

– Stronger cooperative identity by members, committee and managers.

1.1     STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

In considering the statement of the research problem, these question readily come to mind:……Why cooperative model:

– This involved insurance to the poor people who are neglected by

conventional insurance companies

– Cooperative model satisfies needs of the poor

– Product is developed with market needs in mind covers all needs of

members- lands, agric, commercial, cooperatives.

– Community minded

– Member involvement

– Cooperatives are trust worthy organizations in environment where

corruption is high

– Member education claims first promptly because the best customer is

educated customer.

1.2    OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this research work is to determine the cons and pros of cooperative movement in Nigeria, according to Mr. Oki of

Lagos State Cooperative Federation (LASCOFED).Cooperative movement is developing a strong cooperatives for social and economic progress the members.

He unveil that cooperatives has moved from more contribution and

lending of money to members to creating returns through engagement in

business activities.

He stated that since COOPERATIVES is seen AS a SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, the primary objective is that :…

– Cooperatives put people at the centre of their business and not capital.

– in cooperative movement, the welfare of members is emphasized

– Cooperatives engage in business activities that touch members eg

schools building, credit.

– cooperative Create jobs and empowerment for members

1.3    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study is significant because it will produce data on cooperative movement in Nigeria that will be useful to:

  1. federal ministry of labour and productivity
  2. national union of local government employees
  3. state civil service commission
  4. federal civil service commission .
  5. managers and top executives in organized private sector
  6. united nation commission on employment
  7. federal ministry of finance
  8. Central bank of Nigeria
  9. students carrying out a research work in this same issue.

1.4   HYPOTHESES

It is a conjectural statement of the relationships between two or more variables. It is testable, tentative problem explanation of the relationship between two or more variables that create a state of affairs or phenomenon.

E.C. Osuola (1986 page 48) said hypothesis should always be in declarative sentence form, and they should relate to them generally or specially variable to variables.

HYPOTHESIS THUS:

  1. Explain observed events in a systematic manner
  2. Predict the outcome of events and relationships
  3. Systematically summarized existing knowledge.

In essence, there exist NULL HYPOTHESIS set up only to nullify the research hypothesis and the ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS for the purpose of the study. For the efficiency of the study, the hypothesis is as follows:

          Null Hypothesis (Ho)

  1. Cooperative does not  play  leading role in poverty reduction 2.`Cooperative does not grant  Credit to empower members to own their own business

Alternative Hypothesis     

  1. Cooperative plays a leading role in poverty reduction
  2. Cooperative do grant credit to empower members to own their own business

1.5   LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

A research work of this nature cannot come to an end without limitation. The researcher encountered numerous problems which affected the smooth running of the work. These problems includes, difficulty in procuring materials for the project, time factor and financial constraints.

Material Procurement

There was a lot constraints as to getting information and materials for the job. The researcher made series of consultations and visit to most renowned institutions to acquire the needed information. Most materials used were very difficult to come by, as there is no library within the town.

Time Constraints

Combining academic work with job is no doubt a thought provoking issue, as it has to do with time. Actually, a lot of time was wasted as the researcher visited the organizations and individuals together with government agencies to obtain valuable information for the project.

Financial Constraints

The researcher would have obtained more information than what is obtainable here but due to lack of money to visit some of the firms and government agencies located a bit farther from the researcher place of resident. 

1.6   THE STRUCTURE OF THE WORK

This research work is to be organized in five chapters as follows:

  • Introduction
  • Review of related literature
  • Research method
  • Data presentation and analysis
  • Summary, conclusion and recommendation

 

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GOOD GOVERNANCE AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION: A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN BENUE STATE 2017

GOOD GOVERNANCE AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION: A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN BENUE STATE 2017

ABSTRACT

For the purpose of clarity and operational reasons, this study was undertaken to investigate good governance and poverty alleviation programme in Benue State with a focus to six selected local government. Three specific objectives were formulated and three research questions were set to guide the study. The major limitation of the study was that the research was formally intended to study the whole local governments in Benue State because of the cost of covering the whole local governments alone six local governments were selected for the study. The study reviewed its literature in a thematic format covering the basic concept of the study and the entire variable that relates to the study objective. The study adopted structural functionalism as a theoretical framework and survey design as it research methodology. The population of the study was ……… and the sample size is approximately 400. The used questionnaire as a method of data collections and simple percentage and tables as a method of data analysis, after the investigation the study found out that, Benue state is endowed with immense agricultural potential with comparatively weak infrastructural base and near assent private sector and incompetence, inefficiency, professional misconduct, indolence, negligence, mismanagement, misappropriation of funds, embezzlement of funds, fraud, favoritism, abuse of office for personal gains, nepotism, corruption and general indiscipline have crippled any economic development and poverty alleviation programme in Benue State. The study further recommends prudent political leadership to galvanize the poverty alleviation programme in other to achieve the set objective of the programme in Benue State.

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background to the Study

 In recent decades, poverty has evolved as the single most daunting challenge confronting humanity. In Africa, the scourge of poverty is not only deeply-rooted and widespread, but somewhat paradoxical. This is so because, despite the upward trend in the average real growth rate over the past five years, endemic poverty has persisted. Perhaps, nowhere else in the African continent is the scourge more prevalent than in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where about 56.6 percent of its 936.1 million populations live below the national poverty line (World Bank, 2013). Contemporary trends reveal that, the depth of poverty – that is, how far incomes fall below the poverty line – is greater in SSA than anywhere else in the world.

The issue of poverty has, in the last two decades, become an intractable problem among the governments of developing nations of Latin America, Asia and Africa that constitute about two third of world population (World Bank, 2006). The mass media, both local and international have sensitised the international community to this plight. It is against this backdrop that the United Nations in September 2000 constituted a global compact group to address the issue of biting poverty ravaging the world. The outcome of the committee’s efforts is the emergence of 15 years Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which is binding on all the governments of developing nations. Although it appears the whole continent of Africa is vulnerable but this paper focuses on Nigeria

In Nigeria, the problems of poverty is multi-faceted, among which are lack of access to good health facilities, high infant mortality, lack of essential infrastructure, unemployment and under-employment as well as endemic and entrenched corruption. Thus, with about 69 percent of the poor living below the poverty line, that is, about 112 million Nigerians in 2010 (NBS, 2010), it becomes quite worrisome. More worrisome is the fact that, poverty situation in the state has shown a rising tendency in the past couple of decades, accounting for the nation’s low development indicators and its ranking among the poorest nations in the world (OXFAM, 2003). Majority of Nigeria’s population live in poverty with insufficient income to cover minimum standard of food, water, fuel, shelter, medical care and schooling (World Bank, 1996).

Given the nation’s endowment with natural resources, its poverty profile presents a sober picture of a nation in decline. On the other hand, contemporary development thinking since the 1990s has placed a high premium on democratic governance as a catalyst for poverty reduction and sustainable development. The World Bank (1992) viewed governance “as the means in which power is exercised in the management of a state’s economic and social resources for development”. The World Bank further averred that for development to succeed in any state there must be sound development management, a well-run market economy, together with an effective liberal democratic political regime (Cardoso, 2001). Thus, good governance has come to be associated with liberal democracy as a necessary element for sustainable development (UNRISD, 2000). Indeed, governance is a broad concept covering political, economic and social dimensions.

Operating in three major domains – the state, civil society and private sector, governance reflects all the ways in which societies distribute power, and manage public resources and problems (Gettu, 2001). Therefore, good governance is central to national development (Corkery, Land and Bossuyt, 1995). It is in light of the above that the present attempts to investigate the impact of good governance and poverty alleviation in Nigeria with a focus on selected local governments in Benue state from 2015 to 2016.

1.2     Statement of the Problem

The issue of poverty presents a case of paradox in Nigeria. Although the state is abundantly rich in land, human and natural resources, yet more than 75 percent of her 160 million people including women, youths and children residing in the rural communities still live below poverty line (Oshewolo, 2010). Nigeria is the world’s largest community of black race, the most populous nation in Africa and the 7th in the world. An oil rich state, with her 2.5million barrel per day, Nigeria ranks as Africa’s largest oil producing nation and the 6th position in the world.

Apart from oil, Nigeria also has a large deposit of gas which is adjudged to be greater than oil. Since her oil discovery in the early 1970s till 2005, Nigeria has earned over N3.2trillion from oil exploration (World Bank, 2008). This figure rose between 2009 and 2010 when she realised US$196billion within four years (National Bureau of Statistics, 2010). Besides oil and gas, Nigeria has 37 other solid mineral deposits (yet to be explored) in commercial quantity (FOS, 2009). Despite her enormous natural endowment and massive wealth, Nigeria is still surprisingly, included among the 50 states of the world where poverty level is still unreasonably high (CBN Brief, 2002).

According to the statistics released by the World Bank and the IMF, Nigeria ranked 152nd  among states with the lowest Human Development Index (HDI), 54th among 77 other developing nations where poverty level remains high and upward swinging (UNDP, 1998, p.26; Sanni, 2003, p.10). The National Bureau of Statistics (2012) also observes that the number of people living in poverty in Nigeria has risen from 54.7% in 2004 to 60.9% in 2010 translating to 112 million poverty-infested Nigerians despite the 7.6% growth claim by the government.

The Punch newspaper of Wednesday, July16, 2008 reported that over 24 milion Nigerian youths are jobless while about 1.6 million out of over 16 million employed youths were under-employed (National Manpower Board, 2008; National Bureau of Statistics, 2008). Besides, the Economist (2006, p.7) in its survey also offered a fresh perspective to Nigeria’s poverty profile. It states, “more than 4 out of 10 Nigerians live on less than N1, 320 per capital per month”. This is approximately US$8.2 per month or 27cent per day which, according to UNDP barely provides for a quarter of nutritional requirements of a healthy living. The report further added that “life expectancy is pegged at 50.1years while infant mortality rate is 112 per 1000 births; adult literacy 59.5% and access to clean water is 50%” respectively.

In Nigeria as in other developing nations, there is a geographic dimension to poverty issue as can be seen by its level of pervasiveness in the rural settings than in the urban centres. According to Aigbokhan (2000) and FOS (2004), about 63.8% of Nigeria’s population translating to about 80million people including women, youths and children are resident in the villages and are poor.” Oshewolo  (2010)  also observed that in 2004, the urban population with access to water was 67% whereas it was 31% in the rural communities.

The development situations in the rural areas are even made worse as basic infrastructural facilities are non- available or are in state of disrepair. There are no good roads, no standard school, no adequately equipped hospital; which depicts absence of government. This situation has induced mass rural-urban migration which leads to mass un-employment with its attendant social ills such as armed robbery, hired assassination, drug abuse, raping, prostitution, teenage abortion, ritual murder; advance-fee-fraud and the most recent development, kidnapping and terrorism. All these have contributed largely to making Nigeria unsafe for both the rich and the poor.

Poverty, like an elephant, is more easily recognised than defined (Aboyade, 1975). Notwithstanding its multidimensional nature that lent it to various controversial definitions, poverty has been defined by the World Bank  (2004) as that level of income below which a certain percentage of the population is to live.

The UNDP (2009) provided an all-embracing definition of poverty as “denial of choices and opportunity, a violation of human dignity, lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in the society, not having enough to feed, to cloth a family, not having access to school and health facilities, lack of land to farm or employment to earn a living, not having access to credit facility, insecurity, discrimination and exclusion of individuals, households and communities; susceptibility to violence, living on marginal or fragile environments without access to clean water or good sanitation”.

Previous studies focused on how the various poverty alleviation programmes of government, have impacted on the general populace by looking at poverty alleviation measures put in place by successive governments and how these programmes have impacted positively or negatively, on the people. However this study focuses on poverty alleviation programmes from the perspective of rural people, who constitute over 70% of Nigeria’s population and prescribe realistic poverty alleviation programmes that would lift the people out of the abyss of poverty scourge. The various poverty alleviation measures have been critically examined as models of development and identified with the target population, (rural and urban dwellers), in terms of what package of poverty alleviation programme, would benefit the rural masses and the poor ones in the urban areas.  The research investigates new orientation in the partnership between policy makers and the masses, whom poverty alleviation programmes are targeted, with a view to making the conception of such policies to be masses or consumer based, in order to ensure that policy package designed by the masses and included in the government’s package are aimed at solving their poverty induced problems. Based on the foregoing, this study provokes the following research questions:

1.3       Research questions

The following research questions were formulated:

  1. How did good governance impact on poverty alleviation in Benue state between 2015 and 2017?
  2. To what extent did good governance contribute toward agricultural development and poverty alleviation in Benue state between 2015 and 2017?
  3. How did good governance bring about improved foreign direct investement in agriculture towards poverty alleviation in Benue state between 2015 and 2017?

1.4       Objectives of the Study

The specific objectives of the study are as follows:

  1. To ascertain the impact of good governance on poverty alleviation in Benue state between 2015 and 2017.
  2. To Evaluate the extent good governance contributed towards agricultural development and poverty alleviation in Benue state between 2015 and 2017.
  3. To Determine how good governance influenced foreign direct investment in agriculture towards Poverty alleviation in Benue state between 2015 and 2017.

1.5       Significance of the Study

The significance of this research will manifest in both theoretical and practical levels, since it will be useful to our society where poverty alleviation and good governance has become a necessity due to the state of the nation after the battered condition the military era left it in. At the theoretical level, the study will provide scholars and commentators with the idea and knowledge about good governance in Benue state. Also, contributions from this study will not only consolidate the existing body of knowledge in our discipline but will also serve as a veritable reference material to students, academics, researchers and others who have interest in this issue under study. This research study will equally serve as a good reading material for all those who seek knowledge, especially those who desire to enrich their knowledge on the issues related with this research study.

In its practical aspect, the value of this study will, in the first place, provide Nigerian leaders with the fundamental reliability and understanding of the good governance in Benue state, thereby keeping them abreast on the possible measures suitable for the promotion of state at large. Secondly, this study will also be more beneficial to the younger generation, because it will serve as a basis for building structures that will promote the aspirations, especially those who are aspiring for leadership positions. Thirdly, this research study will also be beneficial to policy makers in general, for adequate integration of more women and the younger generation into the decision making process.

1.6    Hypotheses

  1. Good governance has insignificant impact on poverty alleviation in Benue state between 2015 and 2017 because of inadequate investment in agricultural technology.
  2. Good governance did not contribute significantly towards agricultural development and poverty alleviation in Benue state between 2015 and 2017 because of inadequate engagement of youths.
  3. Good governance did not significantly influence foreign direct investment in agriculture towards poverty alleviation in Benue state between 2015 and 2017 because of inadequate policy.

1.7      GAP IN LITERATURE

In a bid to understand the impact of good governance and poverty alleviation in Benue state a review of the pertinent literature by scholars who have written on the subject matter is necessary to investigate how Benue state have been able to contribute towards poverty alleviation through agricultural empowerment between 2015 and 2016.

Poverty is a global phenomenon which affects continents, nations, and people differently. It afflicts people in various depth and levels at different times and phases of existence. There is no nation that is absolutely free from poverty. Nigeria is the most populous African country and the country reflects most of activities in Africa. Nigeria reflects most parts of Africa in that it inherited arbitrary state boundaries from its colonial age and was under military authoritarianism for most part of its existence as a nation, said of Nigeria that “it earned around US$500 billion in oil revenues since the 1970s, yet remains mired in poverty”(Alumona, 2009:2)  Barely, some years after independence, hope and expectations were high on the new emerging state that has been under the stranglehold of colonialism for many decades given its huge resource endowment-human and material resources  In buttressing the above analysis, Innocent et all Omotola (2014) asserts that poverty as a global phenomenon but admits that the intensity and scale vary from one society to another. It asserts that there is widespread poverty in Nigeria despite its great endowments. The paper notes that successive regimes in Nigeria have been introducing different programmes to alleviate poverty. It established a link between poverty alleviation programmes (strategies) and governance and blamed the failure of such programmes on absence of good governance.

Consequently, it was discovered that there are various opinions to the explanation of poverty in Nigeria. While some see poverty as the lack of basic amenities, others see poverty as poor investment in human capital on the whole; there was a convergence among different authors that Nigerians are poor. The survey study shows that the awareness level of NAPEP and her programmes are quite okay, but the implementation level remains very minimal in Ogbadibo LGA. (Agbara; 2016)

Basically, The concept of ‘good governance’ conveys the qualitative dimension of governance that indicates effective, efficient, participative, or democratic form of government which is responsible for transparent and accountable management of human, natural, economic and financial resources for equitable and sustainable development. Addition of the adjective ‘good’ to governance has given a sense of enhancement and almost become an obsession in the recent debates on international development and public administration in developing countries. (Lutfor, 2016).

From all these extent, literature has failed to articulate the impact of good governance and poverty alleviation in Nigeria with a focus of selected local governments in Benue state from 2015 to 2016.

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AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF KADUNA SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

 

1.0 Background of the Study

In Nigeria today, poverty has become a major problem facing the country. The question has been asked, how can this problem of poverty, which is effecting our economy be alleviated. Several government bodies have been set up to find solution to that. However, it is important to find out what poverty is all about and the meaning of cooperative by different scholars, and merge the two together for us to have a clearer of the purpose of this study.

According to Oxford dictionary, poverty is a state of being poor. It is inability of a household to generate adequate income for the maintenance of the house members. That is to say, it can be defined from the point of view of income, and that is the general intake by which poverty can be evaluated. A Poor person means a person who is unable to find a job, obtain adequate income, unable to own property, and maintain a good healthy condition. This is the sign of poverty we are talking about.

On the other hand, cooperative is a phenomenon that denotes any form of working together voluntarily by persons or individuals to achieve common goals. To narrow it down cooperative refers to the activities of an association of persons with similar social, cultural and economic needs who willingly come together to satisfy these need in solidarity. In other words cooperative was born as a result of reaction against capitalism, competition and injustices that associated with them. Cooperatives is a purely service oriented to their members rather than profit oriented.

The cooperative members integrated their resources, for the satisfaction of their members identified need. Beside, a tree cannot make a forest; people from different places can come together and pool their resources together to satisfy their expectation.

However, based on these, cooperative is the best way of tackling the perennial economic problem of a developing country like Nigeria where a greater percentage of people live below poverty level. This is probably what informs the Federal Government in 1979 to formulate a policy guideline, that at least 25% of Nigerians should become cooperators.

The Danish people saw in cooperative as easier way of improving their national economy, especially after the war with Germany and their humiliating defeat which contributed to national poverty. They went into promotion of the economic interest of their people (Okechukwu 2001). Swedish people embraced cooperation because of the need to improve the economic interest of their people. Everybody was made to participate in one form of chosen economic activity or the others.

In Africa, particularly in Nigeria this has made the Federal Government to have several poverty alleviation schemes such as National Agricultural Food Production Programme (NAFPP), River Basin Development Authority (RBDA), Agricultural Development Programme (ADP), Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS), National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPED), National Economic Empowerment Strategy (NEEDS) Family Support Programme. (FSP), Better life for Rural Women, family Economic Advancement Programme, and others. Some state government, were not left out in trying to find out how poverty could be alleviated. Cooperatives as socio-economic institutions through their activities are could be a potent tool for poverty alleviation particularly in fighting poverty and unemployment. This could be in the area of agriculture, provision of infrastructural facilities and education.

Therefore in Kaduna State, particularly in Kaduna South Local Government Area, the research activity is conducted so as to know the level or the impact of cooperative in reducing poverty.

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