TITLE:
Spatial Analysis of Hotspots and Coldspots of Poverty in Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Fatai Abiola Sowunmi
KEYWORDS:
Poverty, Spatial Contiguity, Senatorial District, Spillover of Poverty
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geographic Information System,
Vol.8 No.2,
April
29,
2016
ABSTRACT: 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.