Niger Delta Human Development Report - UNDP Nigeria - United ...

Women are active in the
informal sector, but
their entrepreneurial
activities are small,
with a low-income base
and low technological
content.
The informal sector, if
adequately transformed
and integrated into the
formal sector, has the
unique capacity to
flexibly absorb labour
and generate additional
income.
People cobble together
multiple sources of
income in order to
survive.
imposed serious hardships on women.
Those who work as informal sector
entrepreneurs need to learn new and
modern ways of doing business to avoid
the danger of displacement and
marginalization.
Pro-poor growth and poverty reduction in
the Niger Delta calls for inclusive growth
that allows the poor to reap the greatest
share of benefits. Special attention to the
informal sector would move economic
growth in this direction and simultaneously
reduce the gender gap. Clearly, the
employment and expansion potential of
the informal sector is vast. The informal
sector, if adequately transformed and
integrated into the formal sector, has the
unique capacity to flexibly absorb labour
and generate additional income. Box 6.2
describes an example of a novel initiative
aimed at enhancing the productivity and
income-generating capacity of a group of
Box 6.2: Targeting the Informal Sector
motor mechanics in Ibadan city in Oyo
State.
Multiple Incomes
Many people in the delta, whether living
in the rural or urban areas, male or female,
young or old, better-off or poorer,
indigenous or migrant, participate in
multiple activities to earn income. Although
people are likely to refer only to their
primary occupation, which may be in the
formal or informal sector, in all likelihood,
they also carry out other tasks to meet their
livelihood needs. As a focus group
participant in Akwa Ibom State said:
“In the main, commercial cycling, water fetching,
wine tapping, itinerant weekly market sale of
farm produce, palm oil milling and keeping of
domesticated animals constitute the sources of
livelihoods. The Okada riders mainly operate in
Uyo. Even those with employment in the public
sector also augment their income by petty trading
and the young adults would hawk various goods
in the urban centres.”
In a study carried out in Ogoloma, an
island community in Rivers State, it was
found that the average number of incomegenerating
activities per person was 3.2 for
males, while for females, it was 2.1
(Olawoye 2002). The types of activities
In an attempt to enhance productivity and income in the informal sector, Mabogunje
and Abumere, through the auspices of the Development Policy Centre, an NGO,
started a project with the motor mechanics in Ijokodo, Ibadan. Mechanics have a
reservoir of technology that can be utilized beyond mere repairs of motor vehicles.
The values added and the incomes of mechanics will remain low so long as all they did
was just to repair vehicles. They can be made to fabricate things. For this purpose,
engineers were recruited from the university and the polytechnic in Ibadan.
The engineers surveyed the tools and equipments owned by the mechanics along with
their expertise and skills. The types of items they could fabricate were identified. These
ranged from exhaust pipes to play toys and other gadgets with potential demand on the
market. Additional equipments were procured to facilitate these productions.
The next stage was to link the mechanics with potential markets. This model of enhancing
productivity and incomes in the informal sector can be extended to furniture makers,
dressmakers, shoemakers, plumbers, etc. The model is a potent way of reducing poverty
in the informal sector as well as hastening the transition of the enterprises from
informality to formality.
Source: DPC, Ibadan (2005)
are listed in table 6.2, disaggregated by
gender to show the relative significance of
these activities to men and women.
Understanding the entire scope of activities
can help in supporting those that
demonstrate the greatest potential for
expansion and sustainability. For instance,
in Akwa Ibom and River states, being a
housemaid is a popular informal sector
132 NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT