Multidimensional Poverty and Its Determinants among Female-Headed Households under the Nigeria Community Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) Project in Katsina State, Nigeria

Abstract

Female-headed households remain among the most vulnerable segments of Nigeria's rural population, yet evidence on the extent and drivers of their multidimensional poverty within social-protection programme areas remains limited. This study examined the extent, determinants, and coping strategies of multidimensional poverty among female-headed households under the Nigeria Community Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) project in Katsina State, Northern Nigeria. A multistage purposive sampling technique was used to select six Local Government Areas across the three senatorial zones of the state, and primary data were collected from 91 female-headed households using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, the Alkire-Foster Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) methodology across the health, education, and living-standards dimensions, and a binary logistic regression model. Results showed that female-headed households are characterised by large household sizes (mean 18 persons), low monthly incomes, small farm holdings (mean 3.2 hectares), and low educational attainment (69% with no formal education). The incidence of multidimensional poverty was 89.01%, intensity was 61.38%, and the resulting MPI was 0.5464, markedly higher than comparable national and state-level estimates. The largest contributors to overall poverty were deprivations in asset ownership, electricity access, sanitation, and years of schooling. Household size significantly increased, while income significantly reduced, the odds of multidimensional poverty (p<0.05); education, farming experience, land acquisition, farm size, cooperative membership, and livelihood diversification were not significant. Households relied predominantly on short-term coping strategies, particularly off-farm employment and borrowing from social networks, with limited engagement in long-term resilience-building measures. The study concludes that multidimensional poverty among female-headed households in Katsina State is severe and driven mainly by structural and household-level constraints, and recommends integrated, gender-sensitive interventions combining income support, household-size-adjusted targeting, and asset- and infrastructure-focused investment under NG-CARES.