CHAPTER ONE
1.0INTRFRFTRODUCTION
One of the most challenging problems comforting the Nigeria nation today is how to significantly address the problem of a widespread and rising incidence of poverty among the populace. Available statistics shows that as much as 70.8% of the populace lived on less than us & I a day and are thus classified as extremely poor. This is an increase from 15% in 1970, 46.3% in 1985 and 65.6% in 1996 (Fos, 1996). Apart from death due to starvation and other health hazards that these poor people are rarely faced with, poverty induced hunger and malnutrition are known to impair mental (intelligent quotient) development in children and could lead to a large loss in quality of life, productivity and economic growth in developing countries(Von,2005). Empirical evidence on the level of poverty in Nigeria is that the poor are predominantly the rural households that depend primarily on agricultural income. (Philip et al., 2009).
Poverty is a multi dimensional phenomenon that affect many aspect of human conditions ranging from the physical, moral to the psychological (Agbi, 2013). It is defined as the state of being poor or deficient in money or means of subsistence. The concept of basic subsistence is a measured by the availability of infrastructural services such as safe water, sanitation, solid water collection, health care, schools and security. (Agbi, 2013)
Poverty can also be defined based on the concept of access to opportunities and resources, concern for human rights and environmental challenges. Other factors include exposure to violence, injustice, powerlessness and uncertainty in the face of unexpected situations like sickness, accidents and natural disasters. Poverty in Nigeria is characterized by hunger, homelessness, disease, malnutrition, high child mortality rate, family disintegration, unemployment, human trafficking, child labour, kidnapping, killing, sexual assault, drug abuse, prostitution and high mortality rate (Agbi, 2013).
Poverty alleviation involves the improving of the lives of poor people (Shringal, 2000). Poverty alleviation is the result of overall economic growth and result from an increase in human and physical capita (Krugman et al., 2009). According to Bharati (2005), the process usually followed in poverty alleviation programs is as follows
Find the main activity of the target group
Turn the activity in an economic activity capable of generating income
Involve as many members of the target group a possible in the economic activity.
Educate the target group on personal finance to enable them use the generated income to improve their lives
This process is expected to diffuse through the community.
In a bid to overcome poverty of Nigeria, government has initiated different policies and structural programmes between 1997 till date. These programmes includes: Directorial of food, Road and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI), Better Life Programme (BLP), National Directorate of Employment (NDE), People’s Bank of Nigeria (PBN), Community Bank (CB), Family Support Program (FSP), Family Economic Advanced Programme (FEAP), Poverty Eradication Programme (PEP), National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP) and National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS). Their aims are to ameliorate the suffering of the people by providing them employment opportunities and access to credit facilities to enable them establish their own business. (Adebisi, 2011).
Plantain and banana are staple food for rural and urban consumers as they provide an important source of rural income, particularly for small holders who produce them in compound or home gardens (Nweke et al., 1988).