Poverty and Income Inequality in Rural Agrarian Household of Southwestern Nigeria: The Gender Perspective

Poverty is a common phenomenon in the world today, with a vast dominance in Africa, with Nigeria not exempted. This paper analyzes gender perspective of income inequality and poverty among sample of rural households in Southwest, Nigeria. Gini coefficient, Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) and Logistic regression model was used to assess the objective of the study.

The poverty line stands at N15271.83 ($76.74), with more than half (53.71%) of the male population considered poor while the female poor population stood at 47.22%. However, the study found that income inequality was lower among the male respondents than the female counterparts. A number of explanatory variables were considered, the following - educational years, household size, farming experience, market distance, extension access, credit access and member of social group represent important poverty drivers in the study area.

The study therefore suggests that reducing the number of dependent household members and ensuring ready availability and equal access to institutional facilities, basic amenities, credit facilities, and human capital development of rural households are some measures that could curb the menace of poverty.