The influence of micro-credit on poverty alleviation among rural dwellers: A case study of Akoko North West Local Government Area of Ondo State

摘要

The study which was conducted in Akoko North West Area of Ondo State, examined the influence of micro credit on poverty alleviation among rural areas. The study among other things examined the socio-economic characteristics of respondents, activities of the Ondo State micro credit agency (OSMA) and the influence of micro credit on some selected macroeconomic variables of respondents. Data were sourced with the aid of well structured questionnaires from 120 respondents randomly selected from Arigidi and Okeagbe. The data collected were analysed majorly with the aid of descriptive statistics. Findings show that the incidence of poverty was high among the economically active age bracket as the mean age was 33 years. Result also showed that all respondents acquired formal education as 60% had above primary school education. Also, 39.2% of total respondents had no specific occupation before the inception of the scheme. Moreover, the scheme had positive influence on respondents’ major macroeconomic variables namely income, savings, consumption expenditures and asset acquisition. Among other things, the level of poverty was high as reflected in the type of residence, cooking materials, health institutions attended by respondents and educational institutions attended by their children. Generally 20.8, 30.9, 47.5 and 0.8% rated the programme good, poor, fair and excellent respectively. The study recommends a greater coverage of the state by the scheme. Recipients should also be encouraged to reinvest their profits in other productive economic activities.