Author(s)

Fatai Abiola Sowunmi

Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

The study identified the hotspots and coldspots of poverty as well as the determinants of poverty of each identified group. Data were obtained from National Living Standard Survey and Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire Survey conducted by National Bureau of Statistics. Spatial econometrics technique was used to analyze data. The result of the analysis identified the hotspots and coldspots of poverty with average poverty rates of 82.6% and 31.8% respectively. The positive significance of spatial dependence of hotspots (r = 0.34) and coldspots (r = 0.21) indicated that spillover of poverty existed in significant proportion among senatorial districts in the two groups. Percentage of people employed in agriculture, type of soil, annual rainfall, household membership of association and access to credit are found to be important determinants of poverty in hotspots of poverty in Nigeria. Incorporation of poverty spillover when designing poverty alleviation programme, increased productivity of people employed in agriculture and the need to bridge the infrastructural gap between the hotspot and coldspots could play a significant role in reducing poverty incidence significantly in Nigeria.

Poverty, Spatial Contiguity, Senatorial District, Spillover of Poverty

Sowunmi, F. (2016) Spatial Analysis of Hotspots and Coldspots of Poverty in Nigeria. Journal of Geographic Information System, 8, 301-315. doi: 10.4236/jgis.2016.82026.