Rural community perception of poverty and devleopment strategies for poverty alleviation

Poverty usually conjures terrifying and sometimes confusing images which are imposed mostly form outside. Ideally, images of poverty should be ethnographically constructed within particular cultures by particular people. It is the discovery of these images, the underlying processes and reasons for their creation that pose enormous global challenge to researchers and policy makers. Drawing from an ethnographic research in two plural rural communities inhabited by Efik and Ibibio ethnic groups in Nigeria, the paper reveals that in both communities culture bearers made a distinction between community and individual poverty. Both ethnic groups in each community agreed on common indicators, which if lacking failed to promote general socio-economic well-being or welfare of the inhabitants. Individual poverty was a more personal matter and differently perceived by constituent ethnic groups. While the Efik perceived individual poverty as lack of adequate itie udia (asset(s) easily converted into cash), the Ibibio perceived it as the inability to build a modern house in natal home and to feed one's children. Community poverty was addressed through collective efforts whereas individual poverty was tackled differently by constituent ethnic groups and depended maximally on inheritance pattern of the people. The paper seeks to re-echo and strengthen the usefulness of ethnographic understanding in poverty research and poverty alleviation in rural communities of the developing world. Keywords: ethnography, perception, poverty, rural community, wealth, immigrants, development Global Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 4(1&2) 2005: 9-1