Poverty reduction efforts in Nigeria 1996 – 2004: a micro level analysis of the relative importance of income growth and redistribution.

A common narrative on Africa’s development process is that specific country policies of income growth and redistribution are necessary for poverty reduction. For growth theoreticians, economic growth must be pursued while for political economists, redistribution is necessary to cushion the detrimental effect of reform policies. These views appear to converge in the many policies and programmes implemented over the years by the Nigerian government. In light of this, we accounted for the effect of these variables using two recent national household survey data sets collected by the National Bureau of statistics in 1996 and 2004 upon which we applied three commonly used poverty indices(FGT) and the Shapely decomposition analytical framework. For robustness, we carried out complementary analysis using the stochastic dominance test and growth incidence curve. Results showed that for the whole country, rural and urban areas respectively, income growth component accounted for -16%, -10% and -10%, while the redistribution component represented -5%, -7% and -4%, suggesting on the average a poverty reducing role. However, a more disaggregated pattern of changes in per capita income reveal that the poor did not benefit much.Income growth, distributional shift, poverty, household, pro-poor growth

A One Step Method for the Solution of General Second Order Ordinary Differential Equations

In this paper, an implicit one step method for the numerical solution of second order initial value problems of ordinary differential equations has been developed by collocation and interpolation technique. The introduction of an o step point guaranteed the zero stability and consistency of the method. The implicit method developed was implemented as a block which gave simultaneous solutions, as well as their rst derivatives, at both o step and the step point. A comparison of our method to the predictor-corrector method after solving some sample problems reveals that our method performs better

Modified Block Method for the Direct Solution of Second Order Ordinary Differential Equations

The direct solution of general second order ordinary differential equations is considered in this paper. The method is based on the collocation and interpolation of the power series approximate solution to generate a continuous linear multistep method. We modified the existing block method in order to accommodate the general nth order ordinary differential equation. The method was found to be efficient when tested on second order ordinary differential equation

Determinants to Soil Water Conservation Techniques Adoption among Farmers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

This study examines soil water conservation techniques adoption as a means towards increased food production, income generation and poverty reduction among farming households in Akwa Ibom State. 90 farmers/respondents were randomly selected from the three Senatorial Districts of Uyo, Ikot Ekpene and Eket that make up the study area. Frequency counts, means and percentages were the tools of analysis using tables to summarize the results. The logit regression model is used to ascertain the determinants to soil-water conservation adoption among farmers in the study location. Findings reveal that most of the farmers have adopted one form of soil water conservation or the other since the inception of their farming business especially in erosion and drought prune locations. A very negligible percentage (8.89%) of the farmers that have not used any conservation method attributed it to their cultural belief, no erosion problem and operating on few and less than 1 hectare of farmland on subsistence level to feed the family. The results also reveal that apart from marital status and farming system all other explanatory variables specified in the models were significant determinants to soil water conservation techniques adoption. More extension contacts, increased micro credit and effective marketing systems are recommended. Keywords: Determinants, Adoption, Farmers, soil water conservation techniques

Solving General Second Order Ordinary Differential Equations by a One-Step Hybrid Collocation Method

A one-step hybrid method is developed for the numerical approximation of second order initial value problems of ordinary differential equations by interpolation and collocation at nonstop and step points respectively. The method is zero stable and consistent with very small error term. Numerical experiment of the method on sample problem shows that the method is more efficient and accurate than the results obtained from our earlier methods

Farm Level Soil Water Conservation Techniques and Poverty among Farmers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

This study examines soil water conservation techniques adoption as a means towards increased food production, income generation and poverty reduction among farming households in Akwa Ibom State. 90 farmers/respondents were randomly selected from the three Senatorial Districts of Uyo, Ikot Ekpene and Eket that make up the study area. Frequency counts, means and percentages were the tools of analysis using tables to summarize the results. Other analytical tools included the Gross Margin, Profit, Regression models and the Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) weighted index model to ascertain the performance of the various soil water conservation techniques in terms of income generation, level of adoption and poverty reduction among farmers in the study area. Findings reveal that most of the farmers have adopted one form of soil water conservation or the other since the inception of their farming business especially in erosion and drought prune locations having N7, 549,670 and N7, 297,640 gross margin and profit respectively as returns. A very negligible percentage (8.89%) of the farmers that have not used any conservation method attributed it to their cultural belief, no erosion problem and operating on few and less than 1 hectare of farmland on subsistence level to feed the family. 57.78% of the farmers lived above poverty line while a negligible percentage (14.44%) are the extreme poor. The results also reveal that apart from marital status and farming system all other explanatory variables specified in the models were significant determinants to soil water conservation techniques adoption. More extension contacts, increased micro credit and effective marketing systems are recommended. Keywords: Adoption, Farmers, Poverty, Income, conservation techniques

Determinants of Economic Growth Differential in Rural Nigeria

Increasing income inequality and poverty continue to be the most challenging economic problem facing most developing countries including Nigeria. It has been observed that inequality in Nigeria is mainly through income differential. Mean earnings also differ greatly across groups defined by occupation, gender, education, experience, and other observed traits. The paper explores the extent to which a set of factors determine income growth differential in rural Nigeria between 1996 and 2004 using the National Consumer Survey data of 1996 and 2003/2004 National Living Standard Survey dataset. The two periods have sample sizes of 11,577 and 22,000 respectively. Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition approach was used to estimate the contribution of selected factors to the growth differential between the two periods. From the decomposition results, the key determinants of growth for both periods respectively were: age of household head (0.011, 0.199); house unit type (0.038, 0.032); education status (0.129, 0.141); and weekly hours of work (0.183×10-4, 0.002). Others were Gender, (-0.117, -0.213); and household size (-0.044, -0.140). [Adigun Grace Toyin, Awoyemi Taiwo Timothy, Omonona Bolarin T. Determinants of Economic Growth Differential in Rural Nigeria. New York Science Journal 2011;4(4):50-58]. (ISSN: 1554-0200). http://www.sciencepub.net/newyork. Keywords: Growth, Inequality, Per Capita Expenditure, Rural Nigeria, Oaxaca-Blinder Decomposition

One-Step Implicit Hybrid Block Method for The Direct Solution of General Second Order Ordinary Differential Equations

A one-step implicit hybrid block solution method for initial value problems of general second order ordinary differential equations has been studied in this paper. The onestep method is augmented by the inclusion of off step points to enable the multistep procedure. This guaranteed zero stability as well as consistency of the resulting method. The convergence and weak stability properties of the new method have been established. Results from the new method compared with those obtained from existing methods show that the new method gives better accuracy

Poverty reduction efforts in Nigeria 1996 – 2004: a micro level analysis of the relative importance of income growth and redistribution.

A common narrative on Africa’s development process is that specific country policies of income growth and redistribution are necessary for poverty reduction. For growth theoreticians, economic growth must be pursued while for political economists, redistribution is necessary to cushion the detrimental effect of reform policies. These views appear to converge in the many policies and programmes implemented over the years by the Nigerian government. In light of this, we accounted for the effect of these variables using two recent national household survey data sets collected by the National Bureau of statistics in 1996 and 2004 upon which we applied three commonly used poverty indices(FGT) and the Shapely decomposition analytical framework. For robustness, we carried out complementary analysis using the stochastic dominance test and growth incidence curve. Results showed that for the whole country, rural and urban areas respectively, income growth component accounted for -16%, -10% and -10%, while the redistribution component represented -5%, -7% and -4%, suggesting on the average a poverty reducing role. However, a more disaggregated pattern of changes in per capita income reveal that the poor did not benefit much