It is Lagos. Nigeria's economic powerhousebut there’s something to it. The worst slum In the country
The slums of Lagos are characterised by high levels of poverty – a condition by which there are insufficient resources to satisfy the fundamental needs of life, similar to food, water, shelter, health care and education.
Poverty is multifaceted. It's not nearly money. Yet poverty in Lagos slums is usually studied using traditional methods that focus totally on income thresholds. An individual is taken into account poor if his income falls below a certain level. This approach captures financial difficulties. But it misses out on other points of poverty, similar to lack of access to education, health care, clean water and decent living conditions.
One is required to measure poverty. A multidimensional approachnot only one Income Approach. Multidimensional poverty means taking a look at all points of deprivation to get a whole picture of what it means to live in poverty. This helps policymakers and researchers understand that even with some income, an individual should still be disadvantaged because they lack other essential services.
i A study Regarding poverty within the slums of Lagos State, two other development economists and I used a mathematical framework to model multidimensional poverty. We used what’s often called Fuzzy set approach. It was developed within the Nineties as an alternative choice to purely monetary measures of poverty.
gave The traditional financial approach Often categorizes people as either “poor” or “not poor” based on specific cut-off points. In reality, poverty exists on a spectrum, and other people can experience different levels of deprivation in several points of their lives. The fuzzy set approach accounts for this by assigning degrees of membership to different poverty indicators.
We found considerable heterogeneity in poverty based on the multidimensional index amongst slums in Lagos State. Our insights will enable economists and policy makers to see how individuals are disadvantaged in slums. This in turn will help them understand improve their lives more purposefully and effectively.
Background and Methodology
Our study focused on five major slums situated near the coastline in Lagos State. These are from the slums. The World Bank has identified the upgrade as a part of a USD 200 million loan plan to enhance drainage and solid waste management.
We chosen 400 respondents from five slums: Makoko, Iwaya, Alaje, Ejura Badia and Amokoko.
According to Avijit Hazara and Nithya J. GogteResearchers in geostatistics and research methodology, at the least 384 samples are suitable for larger populations. Nevertheless, the sample chosen for this study limits the generalizability of the findings to other slums, especially those with different characteristics.
Results
The Multidimensional Poverty Index was highest in Makoko and Evia. These scores indicate severe poverty, as they’re above the 0.50 threshold.
In contrast, Amokuko had the bottom multidimensional poverty index, indicating relatively less severe deprivation across all indicators.
Mukoku and Avia are particularly disadvantaged in areas similar to education, sanitation and nutrition. This explains their high poverty level in comparison with other communities.
Makoko's location along the coast, together with its temporary housing and poor infrastructure, adds to its vulnerability. Iwaya shares similar challenges in education and health services. These aspects make each areas more deprived than other slums.
Of the three broad dimensions of poverty, education emerged as essentially the most deprived across communities. This highlighted the limited formal education amongst residents.
In particular, Mukoku and Avia showed the best deprivation in education. Despite some improvements, particularly in child enrolment, these communities are still severely disadvantaged.
Another dimension of severe deprivation was quality of life. There were variations in several slums. Makoko and Iwaya had more cleansing challenges.
The third dimension within the severe deprivation category was health. Indicators include mortality and malnutrition. They were high in lots of slums, contributing significantly to their multidimensional poverty indices.
Other communities, similar to Amokoko (0.0312), showed higher sanitation results. On the opposite hand, the electricity, flooring and cooking fuel indicators generally showed lower levels of deprivation, with most slums scoring around or below 0.03 in these categories.
The prevalence of each serious and minor diseases combined with inadequate medical care increased the death rate.
Poor hygiene can be a consider health problems. In Makoko and Evia, toilet facilities and waste management were poor, with waste often being disposed of in waterways.
Nevertheless, personal hygiene practices similar to use of unpolluted water, soap and regular brushing were practiced. This helped to maintain the cleanliness index relatively low in comparison with other aspects affecting health.
Other slums had relatively higher waste collection systems and customarily higher sanitation practices.
What must be done?
Policy makers should prioritize initiatives focused on education. This should include improving access to quality schools, providing scholarships and establishing adult literacy programs.
The study also highlights challenges related to sanitation, particularly in Makoko and Iwaya. These areas need higher infrastructure, similar to higher sanitation facilities, waste management systems and access to scrub water.
Policies should give attention to upgrading sanitation services to cut back health risks and improve living conditions.
But differences in poverty indices across slums indicate different levels of deprivation, suggesting that a one-size-fits-all approach is not going to work.
Coastal slums similar to Makoko and Evia require more intensive intervention than slums that are usually not directly on the coastline similar to Amokoko.
Policymakers should focus resources where they’re needed to have the best impact.
Slums like Ilaje and Ijora Badia are near the brink of utmost poverty. Policymakers must take proactive steps to stop these communities from falling victim to severe deprivation.
Finally, it can be crucial to make use of data to discover priority areas and develop targeted interventions to enhance quality of life for slum dwellers.
Rather than counting on general approaches, insights from this study can facilitate the design of specific policies that address the distinct needs of every community.