Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development Goals in Rural Areas in Nigeria: A Study of Selected Local Government Areas in Enugu State, Nigeria (Published)
This study examined poverty reduction and SDGs in rural areas in Nigeria with reference to selected local government areas in Enugu State. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design and made use of both primary and secondary sources of data. The population of the study was 722,664 people of the three local government areas selected to represent Enugu State, while the sample size was 400 derived via Taro Yamani formula size determination. The cluster sampling technique was applied to select the sample from the population of the study, while the data collected were presented and analyzed using frequency percentage and chi-square (X2) analysis. The study revealed a number of factors contributing to increasing rate of poverty in the rural areas in Nigeria –corruption, debt burden, unemployment, overdependence on oil, lack of political will, ethno-religious conflicts among others. The study also revealed the challenges of implementing SDGs to reduce poverty in rural areas in Nigeria –endemic corruption, lack of effective policies, lack of accountability, insecurity, poor infrastructure among others. The study discovered the SDGs based rural poverty reduction strategic framework in place for rural areas in Nigeria to include job creation, adequate budgetary allocation, integrated rural development program, provision of basic needs, creation of awareness, adoption of the basic needs strategy, full integration of the rural poor, targeting among others. Finally, the study also revealed bottom-up approach, capacity acquisition, provision of infrastructure, inter-agency cooperation, objective targeting among others as measures to efficient implementation of SDGs in rural poverty reduction in Nigeria. Based on these findings, the researchers recommended that the Nigerian government should address the issues of poverty reduction programs via effective implementation of poverty reduction related program/policies among others.
Keywords: Development, Poverty, Poverty Reduction, Rural Area, SDGs
Do Social Safety Net Policies Reduce Poverty In Bangladesh? Understanding Perception of State Philosophy in Swimming across the Tide (Published)
Bangladesh is a populated country and most of the people live below the poverty line. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1980s safety net programmes has been adopted to reduce poverty from Bangladesh. At present 30 social safety net programmes are now operation in Bangladesh. The objective of the study is to find challenges ahead to implement Social Safety Net (SSN) programmes that initiated to reduce poverty at rural areas specially. The article is based on content analysis method and secondary data has been used to conduct the study. The study found that there is various weakness in social safety net policies. There is lack of integration and coordination among different safety net programmes and providers. Political stability is one of the great obstacle to fulfill the ultimate goal of safety net programmes. The extent, nature and mechanism of safety net programs change with the change of government. Besides this, corruption, shortage of budget etc hinder the implementation of safety net programmes. However, high political commitment, increase allocation, better targeting beneficiary, involvement of NGOs, civil society, monitoring and overseeing, reduction of corruption should be ensured.
Keywords: Poverty, Poverty Politics Nexus, Social Safety Net, State Philosophy, Swimming Across the Tide