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This paper seeks to address the question: why does poverty persist in crude-oil producing areas of Nigeria where the bulk of her revenue is being derived? We argue that it is due to lack of right to control fundamental livelihood assets of land and water resources. In addition, the interference of oil exploration and consequent of oil-spills on agricultural land and incursion into freshwater have led to reduction in crop and fish outputs. This study therefore, assesses this impact of this intervention on the profitability of crop-farming and fishing enterprises, poverty levels, and estimates the effect of diversifications on income. This study bases its findings on empirical work, which was build on information gathered from atwo-round survey of 590 farming households in the crude-oil producing communities of Ondo State, Nigeria. The result of the analysis indicated that intervention of oil exploitation has reduced profitability of farm enterprises. Poverty analysis shows that 40% of the sample household heads live below poverty line with an average poverty gap of 0.047. The study further shows that poor household heads attempt to augment their consumption and income through livelihood diversification, among which are; petty trading, mat weaving, palm wine tapping and fuel wood gathering for sale, local gin brewing and craftsmanship. Income earned from diversifications to non-farm activities has helped majority of the households to meet basic needs.Key words: Poverty, livelihood diversifications, oil-spillage, assets depletion |
