An Investigation into the Determinants of Rural Poverty in Yobe State, Nigeria

The study investigates empirically the determinants of rural poverty in Yobe state, Nigeria. Questionnaires were distributed and the responses obtained were analyzed using log it regression model. The findings of the study show the coefficients for variables gender and availability of credit were not found to be statistically significant at 1or 10 percent level and hence do not influence the level of poverty in Yobe state. Whereas, the coefficients for Age, household size, educational level of the households, monthly income/expenditure, primary occupation were found to be statistically significant with odds ratio different from zero and hence were found to be determinants of rural poverty in the study area. Based on the findings, the study recommends among other; provision of social or basic infrastructures in the rural areas, boosting and supporting agriculture this will help create jobs and income thereby reducing the number of dependents, soft loans should be provided to farmers and businesses in the rural areas, large family size should be discouraged, health and educational facilities in the rural areas should be improved significantly.