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It is not possible to say whether poverty increased or decreased in Nigeria between 2009 and 2019, a FAQ on the Nigerian Living Standards Survey (NLSS), following release of the Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria 2019 report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the NLSS is a household-based survey conducted by the NBS in collaboration with the World Bank, the main objective of which is to collect information on the living conditions of the Nigerian population.
Conventionally, according to the NBS, the survey is meant to be carried out every 3 – 5 years. The last round of the survey was conducted in 2009/10, making it almost ten years since the last official poverty estimates. The most recent round was conducted in 2018/19, albeit with notable changes in the methodology.
The NBS has said the NLSS 2018/19 is now the new baseline for tracking the status of poverty in Nigeria, and that given the lag and new changes between the 2009/10 and the 2018/19 survey, it was not possible to say whether poverty increased or decreased in the country.
“With support from the World Bank, the NBS adopted best practice in the collection and processing of the data.
“As is often the case, such improvements come at the expense of giving up some degree of comparability with earlier rounds of the survey while achieving high standards in survey practice.
“Aside from the use of electronic devices for data collection, a 7-day recall for recording household consumption and expenditure was adopted for this round, as opposed to the monthly consumption diary used in previous rounds.
“In addition, additional efforts were made to measure food quantities in households using non-standard units of measurement, resulting in better quantification of food consumption.
“All these new changes and improvements, as well as the lag between this round and the last round make it problematic to compare, therefore, a deliberate decision was made to use the 2018/19 round as the new baseline.
“As such, it is not possible to say whether poverty increased or decreased between 2009/10 and 2018/19, because of the changes made in the survey design and implementation,” the FAQ read.
Highlighting the relevance of the survey, the NBS stressed that “the results of the NLSS are extremely useful and important for Nigeria and Nigerians. Primarily, the data is useful for policymaking, for research and for holding government at various levels accountable to their promises.
“It can help targeting government interventions, designing of policy and programs, as well as monitoring the implementation and status of existing ones. The information is also useful to the private sector for business and investment decision making, as well as to development sector operators to guide the operations.
The next round of the NLSS has been scheduled for 2023, a general election year for the country.