Decentralization and public service delivery in Nigeria

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. The 2006 provisional census counted over 140 million people (United Nations 2007), 64 percent of whom live in rural areas. These rural areas are undergoing radical, noticeable change, particularly in the agricultural sector. The agricultural sector is...

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Autor principal: Okojie, Christiana
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162058
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author Okojie, Christiana
author_browse Okojie, Christiana
author_facet Okojie, Christiana
author_sort Okojie, Christiana
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. The 2006 provisional census counted over 140 million people (United Nations 2007), 64 percent of whom live in rural areas. These rural areas are undergoing radical, noticeable change, particularly in the agricultural sector. The agricultural sector is increasingly market-oriented and has seen a diversification of income opportunities and an increasing division of labor. It is therefore important to have a highly efficient rural service sector that fosters agricultural productivity and development outcomes. However, access to rural services, has only had marginal impacts in the agricultural sector. Rural households, therefore, continue to face poor access to agricultural and social services. These gaps in rural service provision need to be closed in order to enable the countryside to mobilize its development potential. To distinguish rural from urban development, one must define ?rural.? Demographers classify a population as rural based on the size or occupational distribution of residents and the geographical characteristics of the area. Most definitions consider an area rural if people work or live on farms. The number of residents in a population considered rural differs from less than 2000 (Reardon et al. 2001) to less than 5001 (Acemoglu et al. 2001) to less than 10,000 people (International Fund for Agricultural Development 2001). In Nigeria, areas with populations above 20,000 are considered urban, meaning that rural areas have sizes below this cut-off (Onokerhoraye 1984). Decentralization has become a key issue in development policy in the last two decades. Decentralization is a process of transitioning from a governance structure in which power is concentrated at the central or national level to one in which authority to make decisions and implement them is shifted to lower level governments or agencies. It consists of a transfer of public functions from higher tiers to lower tiers of governance.
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spelling CGSpace1620582025-11-06T06:47:18Z Decentralization and public service delivery in Nigeria Okojie, Christiana decentralization governance agricultural development development policies time use patterns Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. The 2006 provisional census counted over 140 million people (United Nations 2007), 64 percent of whom live in rural areas. These rural areas are undergoing radical, noticeable change, particularly in the agricultural sector. The agricultural sector is increasingly market-oriented and has seen a diversification of income opportunities and an increasing division of labor. It is therefore important to have a highly efficient rural service sector that fosters agricultural productivity and development outcomes. However, access to rural services, has only had marginal impacts in the agricultural sector. Rural households, therefore, continue to face poor access to agricultural and social services. These gaps in rural service provision need to be closed in order to enable the countryside to mobilize its development potential. To distinguish rural from urban development, one must define ?rural.? Demographers classify a population as rural based on the size or occupational distribution of residents and the geographical characteristics of the area. Most definitions consider an area rural if people work or live on farms. The number of residents in a population considered rural differs from less than 2000 (Reardon et al. 2001) to less than 5001 (Acemoglu et al. 2001) to less than 10,000 people (International Fund for Agricultural Development 2001). In Nigeria, areas with populations above 20,000 are considered urban, meaning that rural areas have sizes below this cut-off (Onokerhoraye 1984). Decentralization has become a key issue in development policy in the last two decades. Decentralization is a process of transitioning from a governance structure in which power is concentrated at the central or national level to one in which authority to make decisions and implement them is shifted to lower level governments or agencies. It consists of a transfer of public functions from higher tiers to lower tiers of governance. 2009 2024-11-21T10:00:53Z 2024-11-21T10:00:53Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162058 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Okojie, Christiana. 2009. Decentralization and public service delivery in Nigeria. NSSP Working Paper 4. Abuja, Nigeria: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162058
spellingShingle decentralization
governance
agricultural development
development policies
time use patterns
Okojie, Christiana
Decentralization and public service delivery in Nigeria
title Decentralization and public service delivery in Nigeria
title_full Decentralization and public service delivery in Nigeria
title_fullStr Decentralization and public service delivery in Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed Decentralization and public service delivery in Nigeria
title_short Decentralization and public service delivery in Nigeria
title_sort decentralization and public service delivery in nigeria
topic decentralization
governance
agricultural development
development policies
time use patterns
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162058
work_keys_str_mv AT okojiechristiana decentralizationandpublicservicedeliveryinnigeria