ASSESSMENT OF INSTITUTIONAL NEGLECT AND SPATIAL INEQUALITY AS DRIVERS OF PASTORAL POVERTY: EVIDENCE FROM KEBBI STATE, NIGERIA

This study was conducted to examine the perceived factors contributing to poverty among nomadic pastoralists in Kebbi State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling method was utilized to collect survey data from 216 pastoralists. Descriptive statistics such as mean scores, standard deviation using a five-point Likert scale, and mean ranking was used to analyse the result. The study identified institutional neglect as the most strongly perceived driver of poverty (Mean = 4.96), followed by the high cost of veterinary services and animal feed (Mean = 4.91), spatial inequality in roads and transport (Mean = 4.76), lack of irrigation and weather information (Mean = 4.75), and weaker market access (Mean = 4.34). Notably, education deprivation ranked lowest (Mean = 1.96), suggesting that pastoralists prioritize livelihood-relevant deprivations such as water, grazing land, and market access over formal schooling when assessing poverty. The findings underscore that pastoral poverty is fundamentally structural and institutionally reinforced, shaped by exclusion from development interventions, market constraints, and unequal infrastructure distribution rather than individual failings or income alone. The study recommends targeted investments in mobile veterinary services, climate information systems, and inclusive development programming that recognizes pastoralists' own poverty priorities.