Trend and determinants of multidimensional poverty in rural Nigeria

Government continues to initiate programmes to address the challenge of  poverty in Nigeria.This paper investigates  the poverty levels over time using the multidimensional approach and estimates its determinants; using the National Living Standard Survey data of 2004 and 2010. The Alkire-Foster methodology and the Logit model were employed for analysis. The result showed that 70% of rural households are headed by males, are still in their economically active years and practice agriculture. Also, more than one third have no education. The adjusted headcount ratio, headcount ratio and the intensity of poverty increased in 2010 relative to 2004. The absolute and percentage change in poverty reveals that change is higher for the headcount ratio than the intensity of poverty. The health, asset and education dimensions contributed most to poverty. Agriculture has the highest adjusted poverty incidence. Being in a female headed household, increased household size, working in the agriculture sector and residing in the northern zones increase the probability of being poor. Education, working in non-agricultural sector and services, residing in South West and South East zones reduce the probability of being poor. Effort should be targeted at reducing the number of poor households; and the health, asset and education dimensions require special attention; as well as those engaged in agriculture and resident in the northern regions of the country. Key words: Multidimensional poverty, Alkire-Foster, logit, rural Nigeria.