Chronic And Transitory Poverty in Nigeria

The broad objective of this study was to examine the dynamic nature of poverty in Nigeria using the Nigerian General Household Survey (NGHS) data covering the period 2010-2020. The study used an ex post facto approach to assess the dynamic nature of poverty from 2010-2020.The analysis in the study was limited to the panel data aspect of the NGHS and a spell approach was employed to decompose poverty into chronic and transitory, while a multinomial logit model was formulated to assess the determinant of chronic and transitory poverty in Nigeria over time. The analysis showed that 36.8% of the total households in Nigeria suffered from chronic poverty, while 28.4% suffered from transitory poverty. Chronic poverty was found to be prevalent in the Northern region of Nigeria compared to the southern region. The analysis also shows that household size, urban residence, access to electricity, access to potable water, and access to credit are the major factors influencing chronic poverty in Nigeria, while household size, area of residence, access to electricity, educational qualification of household head, and access to potable water were identified as factors influencing transitory poverty. The study, therefore, concluded that to formulate and implement poverty reduction policies that will adequately address poverty in the country, it is important to consider the dynamic nature of poverty to know the extent of chronic and transitory poverty in the country. The study therefore recommended that the government should formulate and implement policies on geographical zones to address poverty according to poverty dynamics. Also, the government should adopt policies on birth control to reduce household size.