Gender Differentials in Household Poverty Reduction Activities in Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State

Abstract

Over the years, poverty index among households in Nigeria has continued to fluctuate, calling for concerted efforts by all stakeholders in human development towards addressing the issue. The study examined the different poverty reduction activities, the attitude and proportion of beneficiaries by gender in Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State. Data was sourced through well structured questionnaire administered on randomly selected 152 respondents. Data collected was analyzed through descriptive statistics and simple regression model. Results showed that 75% of the total respondents were between age 5-35 years and that 92% possessed formal education. A higher proportion of male household members were involved in non-domestic activities such as family farm labour, hired labour and hawking while the female were more into domestic and less stressful activities. Also, female members participated willingly in poverty reduction activities while their male counterparts were less willing and in most cases, demanded incentives before doing so. Among other things, female members were found to spend more hours per day on poverty reduction activities than the male members of the family. Given that, the majority of those who are unwilling to participate in poverty reduction activities or at most demand incentives before doing so are within the school age bracket, this study recommends that household in the study area should access government poverty reduction programmes so as to excuse the affected members from such activities. Too much involvement in poverty reduction activities portends dangers for school age children-physical and moral hazards, distractions from academic works and exposure to kidnapping and raping of the girl-child.