The Evolution of Poverty and Welfare in Nigeria, 1985-92

Between 1985 and 1992, the extremely poor became poorer, but the standard of living for all other income groups improved. The benefits of growth were not shared equally by different parts of the country. Canagarajah, Ngwafon, and Thomas present a poverty profile of Nigeria for the years 1985 and 1992 and show how poverty changed between those years. They show the nature of poverty in both years for different deciles of the population, different levels of education, different ages for household heads, and different parts of the country, including urban and rural areas. There is no official poverty line in Nigeria, so they selected one based on two-thirds of average per capita spending in 1985 (=N395 a year per capita in 1985 prices). N198 (one third of mean per capita household spending) is used to indicate extreme poverty. The bottom 17 to 18 percent of income distribution had a lower standard of living in 1992 than in 1985 by any measure, but all other income groups had a higher standard of living. An increase in mean per capita household spending reduced the proportion of the population in poverty from 43 percent to 34 percent. But the benefits of growth were not shared equally by different parts of the country. Growth of household spending was faster in the southern and middle parts of the country and slower in the north. Poverty in Nigeria is overwhelmingly rural and regional, but is also greatly influenced by age, educaton, and the nature of employment. Most of the poor, especially the extremely poor, are uneducated. The 8.9 percent decline in poverty was the net result of a +13.6 percent growth factor and a -4.7 percent income distribution factor. Improving the quality of data collection and analysis and establishing systems for monitoring poverty are important for policymaking. Canagarajah, Ngwafon, and Thomas recommend an integrated living...