AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE PREVALENCE, CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY IN SOKOTO STATE-NIGERIA

Abstract

The report of the 2022 Multidimensional poverty index survey reveals that approximately 133 million people are multidimensional poor in Nigeria, and sokoto state has the highest index and incidence of multidimensional poverty in the country. Against this background, the paper examined the prevalence, cause and consequences of multidimensional poverty in sokoto state. The research made used of primary data and it was collected from 698 respondents in the study area using structured questionnaires in form of interview scheduled; Multi stage sampling technique was adopted in selecting the respondents for the study. Descriptive result was analyzed using a frequency and percentages and inferential method of analysis was conducted using Alkire-Foster Technic. The result indicates that; 86.4% of people are multidimensionally poor, meaning that, they experience at least more than one deprivation. This further indicates that over 86% of the population does not have access to two or more indicators such as education, health care facility, and good drinking water, good sanitation etc., or at least 26% of the weighted indicators. The average percentage of dimensions in which poor people are deprived which show the intensity of poverty is 42.3%. However, the Sokoto state MPI is 0.401 showing that poor people in the state experience over two-quarter of all possible deprivations. It was therefore recommended that, social inclusion in terms of equity in the distribution of resources by the government at all level should be pursued. Similarly, attention should be given to critical sectors of the economy such as education, health and water resources, and government should give priority to security if we to attend food security in the state.