Age as a Determinant of Livelihood Strategies and Poverty in Maroua

The main question we asked in this work was: what is the state of the livelihood of the people of Maroua considering their high poverty rate (74%) and an economic dependency ratio of 1.19? The main objective was to examine how age influences livelihood in Maroua in terms of income difference, subsistence resources, quality of life: feeding habits, health-seeking behavior, number of persons per house, possession of mobile and immobile goods. We used the stratified sampling method, in which we administered 720 questionnaires to men and women ensuring that the percentage of females equal that of males as much as possible for easy comparison. We obtained the following results: those who are between 36–46 and 47–57 significantly produce millet, Niébé, groundnuts, and other subsistence resources such as corn which significantly help them to survive. This is because those who are between 36–46 are significantly civil servants and farmers. Older persons only significantly produce millet and groundnut. This explains why those who are between 36–46 and 47–57 have a higher income than those who are older than them. Consequently, those who are between 36-46 years,47-57 years vary their meals more than four times per week because as compared to the other age groups they earn higher income per month and they produce or have nearly all the subsistence resources in Maroua. More so, the age group 47-48 stock more foods than the other age-groups.