ALLEVIATING POVERTY AMONG RURAL DWELLERS THROUGH COMMUNITY EDUCATION AS CAPACITY BUILDING STRATEGY IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the extent to which community education as a capacity-building strategy is utilized to alleviate poverty among rural dwellers in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study was guided by one research question and a null hypothesis, statistically tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The design adopted for the study was the descriptive survey research. Using the convenience sampling technique, a sample of 236 rural dwellers was drawn from the population of 2,860 from 36 registered farmers' associations. The instrument for data collection was the researchers' structured questionnaire that was face-validated by three experts. The reliability coefficient value of 0.77 was obtained using the Pearson Product Correlation Coefficient. Data were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research question, while the one- way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the null hypothesis at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings show that, to a high extent, community education as a capacity-building strategy has been utilized in alleviating poverty among rural dwellers. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in the mean ratings of registered farmers from the three senatorial districts on the extent to which community education was utilized as a capacity-building strategy for alleviating poverty among rural dwellers. Some recommendations were made, among which was the intensification of the relevance of community education to the community by the national orientation agency and community leaders.