Approaches for Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Development in Nigeria: A Study of Ebonyi State Community Based Poverty Reduction Agency (EB-CPRA)

Abstract

Globally, poverty is an issue that has generated a lot of concerns to both the government, private individuals and non-governmental organizations. In Nigeria, the alarming growth rate of poverty and its effects on the teeming populace is quite de-humanizing. Successive government in Nigeria initiated several policy options geared toward reducing poverty scourge in the country, but such efforts have not yielded the desired result, particularly as the poverty rate is rising astronomically in the country. It is against this back drop that this paper therefore examines the activities of Ebonyi State Community Based Poverty Reduction programme with a view to ascertaining its contributions in the crusade and fight against poverty in Ebonyi State. While adopting review and trends analytical approach, the study revealed that EB-CPRA has to a large extent impacted positively well on the socio-economic lives of the citizenry living below poverty level in the state through several community projects. The paper submits that a lot still need to be done since perennial problem of poverty in Nigeria has not be adequately addressed. Consequently, it recommends among other things, involvement of the rural people in the selection of EB-CPRA projects in the rural communities as the best approach for poverty reduction in Nigeria.