Papers by AJPS Asian Journal for Poverty Studies
The purpose of the study is to determine factors that influence the development of future Malays ... more The purpose of the study is to determine factors that influence the development of future Malays in relation to their economic status, personal identity and leadership position. The study was conducted amongst 505 Malaysian Malays to understand their views about the important elements of emerging Malay. Malay self-attributes, education system and contribution of other parties play different but unique roles in the formation of the emerging Malays. This paper is written with two main objectives: 1) to determine the factors that contribute to emerging Malays with strong identity, economic power and leadership attributes 2) to examine whether the factors of personal attributes, education system, and the role of the community, economic and government support (subsidy) have a significant effect towards the future development of Malays. The authors found that Malaysian Malays are optimistic about the emerging Malaysian culture and are adapting well to the cultural elements of other ethnic groups despite some differences in opinions about what constituted the Malaysian culture.
Asian Journal for Poverty Studies, 5(1), 42-50, 2019
Child labor is one of the Philippines' most crucial problems, and emanates from a range of econom... more Child labor is one of the Philippines' most crucial problems, and emanates from a range of economic and social factors. This research was undertaken to describe the precarious situation of child sex workers in Cebu, Davao, Manila, and Pampanga who are in the tourism industry. Rooted on the Push-Pull factors theory and a descriptive design, it utilized an archival data-gathering method. The data were compiled from the researches done previously on child labor in the tourism industry in the Philippines that included 1046 respondents from the four provinces. Findings revealed that as they work in the establishments and streets, many of these child sex workers are 17 years old (49%), Catholic (88%), female (64%), born in the city/municipality where they work (38%), eldest child in the family (33%), have 3-4 siblings, and are living with their families (48%). A big bulk (67%) of them work to give financial support to help their families or they want to earn easy money. A good number (36%) of them work in bars/pub houses/nightclubs/gay bars/discos, and as entertainers (37%). The higher paid child sex worker earn an average of Php 900.00 per day. At the extreme high end, a few earned an average of Php 5,000 a night but their average daily earnings is only Php 400. Seven hundred-two (51%) are happy with their present jobs, while 678 (49%) also experience pain as they work. All child sex workers covered in the study were offered some form of assistance from the government, NGO’s, the Church, and school, like scholarship, jobs, and livelihood, but only 440 or 42% of them were ready to accept help. The process of reducing, if not eliminating, child labor is a vision that requires the commitment and cooperation of the government, employers, trade unions, and other sectors of society.
Asian Journal for Poverty Studies, 5(1), 15-24, 2019
Nigeria is divided for political convenience, into six geo-political zones; The north east, in th... more Nigeria is divided for political convenience, into six geo-political zones; The north east, in the last decade is in global media because of the ceaseless conflict and war-like situation between the Nigerian government and youth insurgents. The dictum of western education is “unlawful” was the agitation of the insurgents, and they seek to change the educational status quo. North East Nigeria is blessed with an arable land for agricultural activities and mineral resources. The inability and lack of the political will by the governments both at central and state governments to strategically invest in the growth of these sectors for development purposes, brought about many challenges for the north east geo-political zone. Greater percentages of the population within the north east are youths in their productive ages that were engaged in rural-urban drift in search for a better livelihood and economic comfort. This paper seeks to explore the magnitude, changes and solutions of urban poverty in north east Nigeria. The paper adopts a qualitative design to investigate the perceived economic deprivation, social challenges and political miscalculations by the state and their inability to plan for the economic well-being of its population. Data were sourced at secondary source and thematic analysis was employed for analysis. Urban poverty brought many untold hardships to the people in the north east states, Hitches arising from fast urbanization with rapid development of the cities in the North-East, are very apparent. Lack of ensuring satisfactory and steady establishment of the basic needed services such as housing, health care amenities, water, electricity etc are remains the greatest encounter. This will further incapacitate family’s social growth and economic progress unless income generating opportunities are created by policy makers and backed with a greater political will.
Asian Journal for Poverty Studies, 5(1), 1-14., 2019
Sri Lanka has been one of the countries in the region with faster expansion of urban areas. Howev... more Sri Lanka has been one of the countries in the region with faster expansion of urban areas. However, less attention has been paid on the rapid expansion of Sri Lanka's urban areas and its impacts on poverty and income inequality in Sri Lanka. Hence, the objective of the current study is to examine the impacts of urban sector on poverty and income inequality in Sri Lanka. The study applied probit and ordered probit models and calculations of growth elasticity of poverty along with appropriate descriptive statistics. The analysis is mainly based on the data from Household Income & Expenditure Survey (2012/13) conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka. The findings suggest that the being an urban sector household significantly reduces poverty. More specifically, the probabilities of being extreme poor, poor and vulnerable non-poor for a household in the urban sector are lower by 0.2%, 3.4% and 8.1% respectively, compared to the estate sector. Similarly, the probability of being non-poor for a household in urban areas is higher by 11.63%, compared to the estate sector. Furthermore, the urban sector has the highest Growth Elasticity of Poverty (-0.31) which reflects that the rate at which growth translates into poverty reduction is highest in urban sector compared to other sectors. Apart from that, expenditure-based and income-based Gini coefficients for the urban sector are 0.4 and 0.51 respectively, and both are higher than that of the national and provincial averages of the Gini index. Moreover, the poorest decile of the urban sector owns only 0.5% of the total urban sector income while the richest decile accounts for 55.8% of the total household income of the urban sector. The study has empirically confirmed that, despite urban sector has the lowest probability of being poor, urban sector and urbanization significantly increase inequality. Therefore, the study recommends having a well-planned urban sector that promotes more equal distribution of resources as well.
Asian Journal for Poverty Studies, 5(1), 33-41., 2019
This research analyzes perceptions surrounding the social reality for women in poverty in Saudi A... more This research analyzes perceptions surrounding the social reality for women in poverty in Saudi Arabia (K.S.A.) to assist policy-makers in the creation of programs better able to help women in poverty. This study may be considered the first of its kind that includes Saudi women and foreign-born females in the K.S.A. In this study, poor women in Saudi Arabia were examined using the phenomenological approach. Using open-ended questions, in-depth one-onone interviews with the participants were conducted. The findings indicate that the reasons behind their situations include the following key points: (1) dependency on women’s traditional roles, (2) poverty relating to more structural attributes than individual factors, (3) less decision-making power, (4) intersection of gender, citizenship, and tribe status, including occupational status, stateless or non-tribes, education, and age, where older and less educated women experienced more poverty, and (5) financial assistance from SSD and other charities that is not sufficient to leave poverty.
The study was undertaken on production and marketing scenario, farmers' perception and efficiency... more The study was undertaken on production and marketing scenario, farmers' perception and efficiency of hybrid rice and maize producers in Bangladesh. Data from400 farmers and 40 seed dealerswere collected fromDinajpur, Sherpur, Gopalganj andNoakhali district.Ten leading seed companies were also included in the study. About 4 thousand tons of hybrid rice seed were imported by leading 10 seed companies in 2014-15 which was about 38% of total import of hybrid rice seed. BADC is the main hybrid seed producer (HL 8 h) in Bangladesh but it is not more than 10% of total import. Twelve to twenty seven hybrid rice varieties were found in the study districts, and the highest area covered by hybrid in GopalganjSadar (13813 ha) followed by Sonaimuri (7200 ha) ofNoakhali. Farmer's gross return and gross margin increased by using hybrid rice seed. The solution of the linear programming model shows that area under HYV rice have been shifted to hybrid rice about 8 to 52 percent. The results of stochastic frontier production modelindicated that inefficiency effects are present in hybrid rice and maize production. Hence, technical inefficiency effects have significant impact on output. These results suggest that there is a substantial scope for increasing rice production in the country using hybrid seed. Farmers are happy by producing hybrid rice as it is higher yielder.
It is globally accepted that the agricultural sector is the backbone of every economy. This secto... more It is globally accepted that the agricultural sector is the backbone of every economy. This sector plays a significant role over the course of economic development by contributing a considerable share in the gross domestic product and employment generation. Further, this sector is considered as a herculean weapon to eradicate extreme poverty, food insecurity and poor standard of living particularly in the underdeveloped and developing nations. There are some internal and external forces which have both positive and negative effects on this sector, which includes government policies, environmental condition, population pressure on land, cropping pattern, globalization, international trade and information, communication and technology. Against the above theoretical background, the present study tries to assess the role of ICTs in the development of agriculture in the Union territory of Puducherry, India. In order to execute this study, both primary and secondary data have been used. Secondary data have been collected from the published reports and materials while primary data have been collected from 90 sample respondents from three villages using simple random sampling method. The dataset include socioeconomic profiles of the sample respondents and role of television, radio, cell phone, news papers and internet in offering information for the development of agriculture. The study uses simple percentage and Garrett Ranking method to analyze the data. The result of this study shows that television is in the towering position, followed by radio, news papers, cell phone, and internet in generating awareness on suitable input applications like pesticide and fertilizer use, soil quality test, credit opportunities, agricultural prices and cultivation methods. Hence, the study suggests that agro-based programmes should be more effectively relayed through local and national level channels in vernacular language to enhance the agricultural production and productivity.
This study aimed to examine household in goat keeping farms having more than two goats with respe... more This study aimed to examine household in goat keeping farms having more than two goats with respect to its viability, socioeconomic characteristics of the women goat keepers, contribution of small scale goat farming to food security and livelihood, identify major problems associated with small scale goat famers. The study had been conducted in 6 villages namely Kandhapara, Hossainpur, Merigai, Horinadi Shimulia and Nagua of Phulpur upazila in Mymensingh district. In total 60 farmers comprising 07 medium, 43 poor and 10 most vulnerable or extreme poor farmers were randomly for the study. Primary data were collected from the selected farmers by interview method. Both tabular and financial analyses were done to achieve the objectives. The study revealed that most of the women were poor with small family size. However they were young and literate. The study clearly indicated that investment in goat farming were viable. The annual total cost of production per Black Bengal goat was BDT. 3,374, while gross return and net return per household were BDT.21,276 and BDT.17,902 respectively. It was observed that livelihood increased dramatically through goat rearing in the study area. Annual food purchasing capacity increased from 20 to 28 percent. The social status of the farmer " s family increases. Educational status, festival, health facilities acceptance were increased at 19%, 26% and 28% through goat. The position in the family, participation in social activities, water facilities and sanitation also increased remarkably. The study also identified that the goat farmers had been facing some crucial problems with goat keeping. If these problems could be overcome, all the goat farms would be able to earn a higher level of that of the existing level. It was clearly found that the women who reared goat had the most rapid improvement in livelihood.
The enormous natural resources of India's forests including Non-Wood forest products (NWFPs), suc... more The enormous natural resources of India's forests including Non-Wood forest products (NWFPs), such as medicinal and aromatic plants, leaves, seeds, nuts, fruits and gums offer employment that provide up to half the income of about 25 % of the country's rural labor force. Despite of the potential benefits that are offered by non-wood forest products, it has been widely documented that forest still offers little in terms of opportunities for expanding livelihood options and assets required to reduce livelihood vulnerability. Based on this, a study was carried out to determine the contribution of NWFPs towards poverty reduction by assessing potentials and constraints experienced by adjacent local communities towards their exploitation. The specific objective of the study is to assess the role of NWFPs contribution to tribal income and also influence on the poverty reduction. The study was conducted in Kodaikanal and Palani range in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu state. The data were collected personally in cooperation with forest officers and other officials of the district by using pre-tested interview schedule. The findings reveals that the 65 selected households involved for collection of myrobalam (kadukkai), honey, amla, broom grass, stone flower, pepper, and coffee. These products were easily accessible and available to them and these activities are the important source of employment and income. The tribes earned at an average per day, from the collection of NWFPs of Rs700 for broom grass, Rs.650 for kadukkai, Rs.600 for amla, Rs.500 for pepper, and Rs.400 for coffee and stone flower. Regarding honey collection, the tribes earned Rs.400 per liter. Majority of the respondents (92.3 %) were facing the problems related to lack of transport facilities for NWFPs existence of bad weather (76.9 %), deforestation(69.2 %), fluctuated market price (61.5 %), lack of storage facilities for NWFPs (56.9 %), over collection of outsiders (38.4 %), low infrastructure facilities for NWFPs (18.4 %), lack of skill oriented training for NWFPs(16.9 %) and lack of timely information for marketing of NWFPs (15.3 %). It is suggested that there is a need to take necessary steps by the government to eliminate these existing problems faced by the respondent of study area. Respondents expected nearby Ration shop and Primary health centre from the district authority.
Challenges in rural communities call for awareness of community leaders in overcoming these chall... more Challenges in rural communities call for awareness of community leaders in overcoming these challenges. One of these challenges is the government's endeavour to ensure that the rural community development is parallel to the country's development; hence, a credible, effective community leader is needed to achieve the country's development aspiration. This study was conducted in four rural communities in the state of Terengganu, Malaysia to identify the role played by local community leaders. These communities were selected based on their excellent achievement in community development programmes and contests. The objectives of this research are, (1) identifying the role of leaders in bringing success for every development programme and (2) ascertaining the leadership style that can bring positively impact a community. The data for this study were obtained from observations and interviews with 40 respondents who comprised of chairpersons and members of the Villages Development and Safety Committee (J3K), as well as local residents. The findings showed that effective community leadership plays a significant role as an agent of change and has the ability to positively impact the development of rural community. Besides that, community leaders' practise of effective leadership style is perceived to bring changes among the community in the social, economic and cultural aspects, as well as changes in the way of thinking among rural communities. In this regard, leadership in these four communities is viewed to manifests the change into better leadership that can inspire other community leaders.
Only 23 out of 63 provinces in Vietnam have established credit guarantee funds since 2001, when V... more Only 23 out of 63 provinces in Vietnam have established credit guarantee funds since 2001, when Vietnamese government encouraged the establishment of provincial credit guarantee funds to support small and medium enterprises. The Credit Guarantee Fund which reach the largest small and medium enterprises guarantee for only 105 loans. The article uses content analysis method to assess the situation of credit guarantee operation for small and medium enterprises in Vietnam. Research shows that guarantee funds are currently not expanding due to the fact that unfavorable guarantee regulations do not encourage borrowing under the guarantee of these funds; charter capital is at small scale; cooperation between banks and these funds are not based on sharing benefits and risks; inflexible and increative Municipal Credit Guarantee Funds. Following the recent findings, the paper suggests recommendations for the policies to strengthen the credit accessibility of SMEs in Vietnam.
This paper aims to examine the impact of the Program Titian Saksama Rakyat (PTSR) to the petty tr... more This paper aims to examine the impact of the Program Titian Saksama Rakyat (PTSR) to the petty traders. PTSR is a microfinance program which focuses on the growth and the development of the micro entrepreneurs in Penang, Malaysia. It was initiated by the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) in cooperation with the Penang State Government in November 2008. Based on the sample of 150 petty traders involved in various business activities, the results showed that the amount of the loan received has a significant effect on their income. In addition, this study revealed that the amount of the loan received and the actual amount of the loan application (whether it is fully approved or not) were significantly affect the success of these traders. The results of the analysis also indicated that, the traders enjoyed significant benefits from the PTSR as this program was able to increase their income, expand their business, lift them out of poverty, improve their ability to increase the amount of deposits and their property, improve the quality of their health and improve their ability to own a house and land. Because of these benefits, these traders are interested and plan to apply for another loan from the PTSR program. This study, therefore, suggests that the PTSR program should be continued as it played significant roles in improving the socioeconomic performance of the petty traders.
Livestock sector plays avigorous role in socioeconomic progress of rural families. Livestock rear... more Livestock sector plays avigorous role in socioeconomic progress of rural families. Livestock rearing has substantial optimistic influence on equity in terms of employment, income and poverty lessening in rural zones by way of dispersal of livestock is more democratic as compared to land for agriculture purposes. In Andhra Pradesh, more than 5 percent of the rural households own livestock and a majority of livestock owning households are small, marginal and landless households. Small animals like sheep, goats, pigs and poultry are largely kept by the land scarce poor households for commercial purposes due to their low initial investment and operational costs. In the recent decade, demand for various livestock based products has increased considerably due to rise in per capita income, urbanization, taste and preference and increased awareness about food nutrition. Livestock sector is likely to arise as an appliance for agricultural progress in the coming years. This study only confined to Sree Rangaraja Puram Mandal in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh. In this paper author will make an attempt to analyses the performance of livestock sector in terms of livestock population, production, employment and income on one hand and the role of livestock sector in reducing rural poverty on the other. The study will also highlight the various major problems facing by the people those who are engaging in livestock sector in Sree Rangaraja Puram Mandal of Chittoor district.
Urban poverty is still a thorny issue in almost all cities in Indonesia. Urban poverty is grouped... more Urban poverty is still a thorny issue in almost all cities in Indonesia. Urban poverty is grouped into two different characteristics: chronic and transient. Chronic poverty experienced by those who are under the poverty line, while transient poverty experienced by those who are around the poverty line. Unlike the chronic group that is often the target of poverty reduction policies, transient group is often overlooked. They do not exist in the scheme of poverty reduction programs. In fact, the number of transient poor population is about 46 percent, compare to the chronic population that is only 11%. With almost having similar condition with the chronic group, transient group is characterized by unstable income, large spending on food, limited access to drinking water, live in the surrounding slums, and having a low quality sanitation. The question is, how the survival strategy of the neglected transient is able to cope with their difficult life. And the most important thing, what program should be done by the government to deal with transient poverty? This paper will discuss the economic living conditions of transient poor families in urban Bengkulu City, Indonesia, reviews their survival strategy, initiatives and experiences. It also talks about ongoing Green Kampong project promoted by the University of Bengkulu that integrates incomes generation efforts for the transient poor and the commitment of environmental protection through the vegetables planting in every idle land in the kampong area.
Agricultural development is the sine qua non for socioeconomic development of a nation in general... more Agricultural development is the sine qua non for socioeconomic development of a nation in general and developing countries in particular. The sustainable agriculture can be traced that it enhances the environmental quality and the resource base upon which agriculture depends. This form of agriculture is expected to provide basic human food and other major needs which are socially desirable and economically viable. This awareness has come to the centre stage of global debate as a result of degradation of natural resources and environment. The present study is an attempt to examine the farming practices in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India. The study is an empirical investigation based upon the data collected from the above mentioned field. The data were collected from 335 respondents of the district who were selected through multi-stage stratified random sampling method. In the first phase one developed taluk, a backward taluk, and a most backward taluk were identified. In the second phase one community development block is selected from each taluk. Third phase is the selection of five villages from each block. And at the final stage from each village 10 per cent of the farm households were selected at random. From the selected respondents the data were collected by using the tool of interview-schedule. The farming pattern of each educational group is associated with the views on advantages of cultivating traditional crop variety and the awareness of impact of chemical fertilizer on land and crops.
This paper investigates the determinants of poverty in Mekong River Delta Key Economic Zone in Vi... more This paper investigates the determinants of poverty in Mekong River Delta Key Economic Zone in Vietnam for a sample of 604 households in Can Tho province, An Giang province, KienGiang province and Ca Mau province in 2012. Explanatory variables include demographic, nature, region, finance and physical. Using Binary Logistics regression, results show the complexity of the issues, wherein the financial variable has been the most important influence of poverty in this area.
The Orang Asli is one of the natives in Peninsular Malaysia lagging behind in rapid development, ... more The Orang Asli is one of the natives in Peninsular Malaysia lagging behind in rapid development, and has a high poverty rate. Although since the independence, Malaysian government has been implementing various development programs to solve the poverty problem, but the effect is not comprehensive. There are still tribes of Orang Asli less to participate in implementation of development programs. Instead, they are more focused on performing traditional economic activities especially hunting and gathering activities. Orang Asli from Semaq Beri tribes in the state of Terengganu are among the communities that are in the situation. Based on this problem a study was made with the objective; (i) evaluate the implementation of development programs such as agriculture and fisheries projects that have been implemented for the locals, (ii) understand the problems faced by residents in their programs. To meet this objective, data were collected through observation techniques and interview process. Observation technique used to find out people's reactions to the implementation of development programs, and interview techniques used to obtain information in the form of views and comments on the residents of the development. Studies of the documents were also made to get a clearer picture of the problem. The results showed that the implementation of development programs such as palm oil and fish farming cages less involving locals since the beginning of its implementation. Residents do not have sufficient information and skills to participate in this project. In addition, people also have trouble participating in the project on a number of factors such as lack of exposure, skills training, lack of guidance, leadership problems, culture and current financial problems
A total of 735 rural entrepreneurs were selected and sub sampled from 2,093 rural enterprises of ... more A total of 735 rural entrepreneurs were selected and sub sampled from 2,093 rural enterprises of Women Extension Group (KPW) under the governance of Malaysia Department of Agriculture (DOA). They are producing processed food products, which is a popular industry to eradicate rural feminism poverty. The main objective of this paper is to explore the leadership positions of rural entrepreneurs in communal activity in relation with type of business ownership. Then, follows by identifying factors explain the active group of entrepreneurs in communal activities. To summarize, five types of community activities were traced – politics, religion, community, socio-economy and parent and teacher association (PIBG). The leadership score for entrepreneurs in company was high for political activity, while for entrepreneurs in all other types of business ownership their leadership scores were high in socioeconomic activity. By sex of entrepreneurs, it may be concluded that entrepreneurs who usually have a leadership position in political activities have a tendency to develop their enterprise. By dividing leadership score into two groups – active and less active, as dependent variable; against gender, family business status, size of business, registration status and number of family members, as independent variables; Binary Logistic Regression obtained (p<0.05) that an active group can be explained by number of family members and family business status. Every one additional family member may decrease about 36.1% the likelihood of one respondent in this study to be in active group. Despite offering opportunity for networking, leadership positions require a lot of time and high commitment. For rural women with many children under their care, to active in communal activities is almost inconceivable. Non-family business status may reduce about 37.6% likelihood of one respondent in this paper to be in active group. Thus, especially for rural women enterprises, they had to operate in form of family business to success. Family business status may reflect potential of development in rural women business, which is good for family business development. No significant relationship between other dependent variables with the likelihood of the respondent to be in active group level in this study.
The aim of the study is to investigate the decision making behaviour of the Malay women entrepren... more The aim of the study is to investigate the decision making behaviour of the Malay women entrepreneurs at the peripheral area of Tok Bali, Kelantan Malaysia. Six respondents were observed and interviewed using in depth interview protocol. The in depth interview (IDI) transcripts concluded that most respondents venture into business is just to raise their respective families and solve their current financial problem instead of contributing to the economy of the area. Thus, the characteristics of entrepreneurship among them do not exist. Therefore, most of the respondents cannot be categorized as real entrepreneurs as most of their businesses are just small-scale businesses to support their family. However, they do bring a significant change to their family's economy and play a role in changing their family's economic condition but do not act as catalyst for the economic change for the peripheral area. It was also found that the most popular businesses in Tok Bali is " Fish crackers ('i.e. Keropok') " business and they have received the government's assistance such as capital, machinery, business training and business premises. The present study is exploratory in nature, thus researchers will only able to describe the situation instead of recommending what should be done to improve the situation. For further research, it is recommended that more extensive study to be done to gain more information on their decision making behaviour towards entrepreneurship and their attribution to success. More respondents should be interviewed to gauge more factors and issues. A mixed method with quantitative analysis will enrich the result.
The position of women in Indonesian society is progressing. The progress trend is supported by se... more The position of women in Indonesian society is progressing. The progress trend is supported by several legal instruments and policies that guarantee women's rights. Although adequate legal instruments began, many implementations in the field are distorted. Implementation of the protection schemes for women does not address to the changing of the poor women's living condition, instead it remains vulnerable. This action research was addressed to analyze and discuss the practices of state social protection for the poor communities, as well as the testimony of beneficiaries. Based on the field learning from both parties, activists from universities and non-governmental organizations, attempt was made to knit some state schemes and policies into a model of protection; it also aimed to facilitate access and accelerate changes.
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Papers by AJPS Asian Journal for Poverty Studies