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Perception Of Poverty By Women And Men And Their Coping Strategies
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However,
poverty, which has become pronounced and widespread in Nigeria, was not
so until after the end of the oil boom era which started with the
collapse of oil prices in the international market in the early 1980s.
The emergence of oil in the Nigerian economy in the 1970s made the
agricultural sector, which hitherto was the mainstay of the economy, to
be neglected. This was attributed to the shift in the terms of trade
together with the heavy spending in unviable investments, designed to
raise the economy’s productive capacity and human capital.
Consequently,
farm resources (most especially labor) migrated to the urban areas to
supply the much-needed labor in construction works at a wage higher than
what was obtainable on the farms. Hence, agricultural production fell
considerably making Nigeria (an almost food self-sufficient nation) to
become a net importer of food. Oil also turned Nigeria to a mono-export
product economy. In addition, when oil prices fell (leading to a fall in
revenue and per capital income), the government increased borrowing
abroad to sustain its pre-oil shock expenditure pattern instead of
cutting them. As a result, foreign debt accumulated which led to the
short fall in social sector expenditure and consequently, a fall in
social services, making the welfare system to fall apart.
Though the
military government of 1983 introduced across the board budgetary cuts
and administrative restrictions on import and foreign exchange
transactions, the welfare status of the people only increased
marginally. This is because of their failure to address the economy’s
structural weakness of low productivity in the agricultural sector,
uncompetitive manufacturing sector, significant trade distortions, and
cumbersome regulatory framework. In 1986, a further collapse in oil
prices to US$14 per barrel made the government adopt the Structural
Adjustment Program (SAP) supported by the World Bank and International
Monetary Fund. This program was coupled with exchange rate and trade
policy reforms aimed at revitalizing the non oil economy especially
agriculture with stabilization policies designed to restore price
stability and balance of payment equilibrium. This policy change brought
mixed feelings. The farmers and agro-allied industries gained from the
rise in the prices of food and cash crops and so were other industries
competing with imported goods. However, other industries depending on
Imported raw materials suffered (World Bank). Furthermore, it was
claimed by World Bank that the adjustment brought about a decrease in
poverty with 1.3 million people moving out of poverty and mean per
capita household expenditure rose by 34 percent between1985 and
1992.Since 1992, the country witnessed the expansion of fiscal deficit,
mismanagement of public resources and half-hearted implementation of
structural reforms leading to economic crises. But the new government in
1994, instead of tackling the causes of the mounting economic crises,
attempted to suppress its symptoms by centralizing all foreign exchange
transactions, maintaining an increasingly over-valued official exchange
rate, setting up of committee to nation foreign exchange to the private
sector, and placing a ceiling on interest rates significantly below the
prevailing inflation levels made poverty to be on the rise again.
The
consequent drastic fall in human welfare conditions made the federal
government in 1994to launch a poverty assessment in partnership with the
World Bank, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Overseas
Development Administration (ODA) now Department for International
Development (DFID). The results of the poverty assessment led to the
development of a strategy for poverty relief by setting up a Poverty
Alleviation Program Development Committee (PAPDC). A draft national
strategy called Community Action Program for Poverty Alleviation (CAPPA)
was formulated. By 1997, the Family Economic Advancement Program (FEAP)
was started with Decree No. 11 of August to reduce poverty in Nigeria.
The FEAP was established to stimulate economic activities by providing
loans directly to Nigerians as the capital required to set and run
cottage industries. The design and manufacturing of appropriate plants,
machinery, and equipment of the industries are to be sourced locally.
Since1997, the federal government has allocated a sizeable chunk of
resources to this program. In1997 and 1998, a sum of N7.6 billion3 loan
able fund was allocated to the program. By 1997, the program’s loan able
fund was boosted by N1.1 billion, bringing the total loan-able find at
its disposal to N8.7 billion.
The country since the inception of democratic government in 1994 has not left out the effort to
reduce poverty. An adhoc poverty reduction program, Poverty Alleviation Program, (PAP) was
implemented
in 2000 basically to provide jobs for the poor unemployed for a time
period. However, this was replaced by the National Poverty Eradication
Program (NAPEP) in 2001 to coordinate and monitor all poverty
eradication efforts at federal, state, and local government levels. It
also assists the federal government to formulate poverty reduction
policies nationwide, and intervenes in specific poverty reduction areas
to provide social protection through economic empowerment as may be
needed. However, despite all these, poverty has continued to be on the
increase in Nigeria.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]Gender and perception of poverty in Surulere Local Government Area of Lagos State is the focus of this study. The main objectives of the study were to examine the way men and women perceive poverty and to understand the gender-based differences in the perception of poverty and to explore the effects of poverty coping strategies with/without taking into account the gender-based differences in perceptions of poverty and to assess the impact of intra household inequalities on household welfare and ... Continue reading---
