Vulnerability to Poverty among Urban Women in Ilorin, Nigeria: Some Social and Environmental Determinants

Abstract

Poverty is a major development challenge for developing countries. It is also discovered to posses a cluster among women and rural dwellers. Among these groups, it is crucial to determine the caused and pattern of vulnerability to poverty so as to tackle the scourge. In Africa, poverty is endemic but it is always difficult to determine proportions of the poor because some people appear confortable only to roll back into poverty sooner afterwards. This is due to the differential levels and causes of poverty. This examines the various dimensions of “being poor”, the women’s own meaning of poverty, and what makes them poor. The data for the study were generated from a survey of 400 women sampled randomly from the twenty traditional wards of Ilorin metropolis, Nigeria. The survey involved both structured questionnaire and four Focus Group Discussions (FDGs). The FDGs were carried out in four wards also sampled randomly. The results indicate that although several features serve to expose women to poverty, these features vary spatially in line with the socio-economic characteristics of the city population. More often, local ceremonies and festivals appear as the most common feature that drains local resources among women in the indigenous parts of the city while other features like cost of basic services and children education were identified as the common causes of poverty among educated inhabiting the suburb and the urban fringe. The paper makes suggestions that could be adopted to address the various issues of vulnerability to poverty identified in the study.