Socio-economic impact of participation in mining and quarrying on poverty alleviation among rural farming households in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Mining and quarry sectors are considered as one of the most important viable sectors in Nigerian economy. This paper assessed the socio-economic impact of quarrying and mining on poverty alleviation among rural farming households in Kwara State, Nigeria. A three stage sampling technique was employed to arrive at the sample size of 177 farming households that were involved in quarry and mining. Data for the study were collected from the rural households with the aid of structured questionnaire using interview schedule and questionnaire administration. Descriptive and inferential statistics as well as Foster-Greer-Thorbecke -FGT indices and stochastic dominance were used to analyze the data obtained. The results of decomposition of poverty reveal the socio-economic impacts of participating in quarrying and mining in the study area. The results also show that age, marital status, household size and distance from home to quarry sites were the determinants of rural households’ participation in quarrying and mining. The signs of all the four statistically significant estimated parameters conformed to the a priori expectations. The study concluded that the earning from the quarrying can be used to offset income shortfalls during fallow period. It is recommended that the mineral potentials in the rural areas should be harnessed and developed to cater for rural households that are left fallowed during off-farm season.