The global economic downturn of 2008/09,
coupled with the food and fuel crises,
has exacerbated poverty and deprivation
through shrinking employment opportuni
-
ties, reduced wages and remittances, declining lev
-
els of demand and cuts in government expenditure
– especially with regard to basic services. A particu
-
larly vulnerable group, and one on which the crises
are likely to have a long-lasting impact, is children.
Evidence shows that, when children are withdrawn
from school, are required to work, suffer early life
malnutrition or are victims of neglect or violence,
there are likely to be long-term, often lifelong and
even intergenerational consequences. The extent
to which an economic crisis intensifies these phe
-
nomena is thus a matter of major concern, as are
policy responses to crisis episodes (see Harper et
al., 2009).
The impacts of the 3F crisis in Nigeria remain
largely under-analysed, in part because of the dearth
and poor quality of existing data. This Background
Note presents key findings of a study that maps the
impacts of the 3F crisis on vulnerable social groups,
particularly women and children, as well as related
coping strategies undertaken by households across
Nigeria’s six socioeconomic zones.
Understanding the links between three crises that
originate at an international level and outcomes that
affect children at local levels is a complex endeav
-
our, as the channels of impact are many, are often
non-linear and operate at different levels. In order to
reflect the heterogeneity of the three different crises,
this analysis adopts three key conceptual frame
-
works that accommodate the multiple and often
contradictory linkages. By mapping the various pos
-
sible channels of transmission of the effects of the
crises, from the macro through to the meso levels,
these frameworks are proposed as critical analytical
tools for examining the effects of different types of
crises on child well-being (see Figure 1 overleaf for
the framework to analyse financial crises; this is
modified in the main report to explore the food and
fuel crises).
Together with in-country stakeholders, the follow
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ing states in the six socioeconomic zones of Nigeria
were selected: Lagos, Kano, Edo, Imo, Benue and
Adamawa. Selection criteria included the likelihood
of different channels of crisis impact – food price
variability, remittance dependency, rising unemploy
-
ment, declining trade opportunities, cuts in state
government spending and rising vulnerabilities owing
to economic malaise – and security, logistical and
network considerations. To reflect demographic and
socioeconomic heterogeneity, two or three locations
within each state were selected, with the assistance
of state-level stakeholders.
A mixed methods approach was used, consisting
of: 1) a comprehensive review of secondary literature;
2) analysis of nationally representative household
surveys, complemented by a household survey in
Lagos and Kano; 3) key informant interviews (KIIs)
with government, donor, non-governmental organi
-
sation (NGO) and academic stakeholders; 4) focus
group discussions (FGDs); and 5) in-depth interviews
(IDIs) with community members.