AN ASSESSMENT OF BASIC NEEDS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES OF ABAGANA, ANAMBRA STATE

ABSTRACT
This study is set out to assess basic needs in Abagana community, with reference to strategies that are employed to meeting their needs, most researchers have only focused on the studies of individual indicators of needs, such as food and nutrition, health facilities and services, water availability and accessibility, employment and income generation and transportation. Basic needs studies are of interest to us because they offer possibilities of portraying the essential socio-geographical expressions of communities. As such, this study used the existing information on the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of Abagana community (of Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State), and their consumption of goods and services in establishing their levels of well being and assessment of their basic needs, possible inputs in any proposed rural-level socio-economic planning. The major data collection tool used in this study was the questionnaire. Others were the interviews of heads of households, opinions leaders and Focus Group Discussion. The three hypothesis that (i) the basic needs of the community do not differ significantly from household to household, (ii) the households’ strategies for meeting and satisfying their needs do not differ significantly from household to household and (iii) the quality of life of Abagana community does not differ significantly from the national standard for rural areas were all rejected based on inferences from results of the Chi-square (X2) technique, Kruskal-Wallis H-test, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The study revealed that the households do not have the basic needs and strategies for meeting these needs and that the Quality of Life of Abagana community is below the national standard for rural areas. Suggestions are given for further studies, particularly on the aspects that could not be tackled in the present investigation.

Background of the Study.
Poor access is one of the characteristics of rural environment, however, it is not the only factor but it is a key parameter, satisfying the basic needs of people in rural areas is one of the core goals of rural development. Thus, government of different nations in both the developed and developing countries strives to meet the needs of its people, results have shown that majority of rural households live in poverty with limited access to basic infrastructure, these limitations have in turn affected the quality of lives of these people.
Basic needs as defined by various authors and from various perspectives refer to those things that are necessary for sustaining life (Dung, 1988). It is the minimum requirement of a community for a decent standard of living; basic need consists of adequate food and nutrition, shelter, clothing, health facilities and services, education, transportation, employment and income generation, freedom of individuals and households as well as availability of social facilities and amenities. There is no single universally accepted definition of basic needs, or of what a development effort aimed at meeting basic needs would comprise, nor is there a uniform vocabulary to describe the various elements.

There is instead a wide spectrum of meaning ranging from, at one extreme, a minimal list of those things which are required by human beings for bare survival, for example food, shelter, and clothing to at the other extreme, an emphasis that human needs are not only physical but also psychological, not absolute but relative to what is enjoyed by other people in society, not finite but expanding t the satisfaction of one need gives rise to another. At this inclusive extreme, basic needs include not only commodities but also public services such as clean water and transportation, employment, education, participation in decision- making, leisure, human rights, democracy, an egalitarian society, self-reliance and more besides (Ott 1987). There is also considerable diversity of opinion as to what constitute the ‘ends’ which are desired as valuable in themselves and what are the ‘means’ which are inescapable if those ends are to be achieved. The vocabulary also is diverse, but ‘basic needs’, ‘core needs’ are expression that tend to be used for needs at the more minimal end of the range, while ‘non minimal’ needs, basic ‘human’ needs, ‘fundamental’ needs tends to be used for more inclusive end. A similar progression from more minimal to more inclusive is given by series life-sustaining, life-supporting, life-enhancing and life-enriching needs, (Dung, 1998).

The interest of this study was aroused by literature evidence that quality of life relates to people’s standard of living which itself is related to such basic needs as food, shelter, clothing, water supply, transportation, education, market, employment and social justice. Recent study of basic need assessment has focused on the social indicator or measurement of quality of life and understanding people’s perception of the state of well being of people and their quality of life. In Nigeria, a major interest has been on the identifiable characteristics of population such as demographic, socio-economic, cultural and spatial traits relating this to planning and development (see Mabogunje, 1970 and Ajaegbu, 1976). In most cases, the emphasis has been on the demographic indicators and attributes of the population and where the well being of the population has been studied, the focus has been in urban areas.

A combination of geographic, socio-economic and demographic factors influences poverty. The highest percentage of poor persons or household in Nigeria is in the middle and northern zones namely, Kano, Sokoto, Bauchi, Niger, Borno and Plateau states (Dung 1998), socio-economically, those or households with little or no education account for most of the poor an overwhelming large population of the extreme poor. The depth and severity of extreme poverty increased more than seven-fold in urban Nigeria compared to two-fold in the rural areas (World Bank Report, 1996. The global poverty is slowly changing and taking on a more urban face. In many countries, rapid population growth, agriculture, modernization and inequality in land ownership resulting in landlessness among the rural poor and an accelerating drift to urban centers. As urban population increases so does the extent of urban poverty. Poverty in Nigeria, as in many third-world countries, is influenced by a number of factors, for example, education, gender and nature of employment opportunities. About 79% of the rural poor have only primary school education or less. Studies have shown that educated people adapt more easily to new technologies and higher rate of productivity and therefore higher rate of accessing basic needs. Most rural communities in Nigeria are exposed to ecologically fragile areas and are faced with the risk of flooding and soil erosion. The Abagana community as well as other rural areas in Nigeria is faced with this problem. For the poor in these areas, low income, low level of education, mal-nutrition, disease, poor housing, poor sanitation and medical services are not unusual.

Major studies and researches in Nigeria have basically focused on curative instead of preventive dimension of poverty and the citizen well being of quality of life, studies have also emphasized on the measure or indicators of basic need (Eweka et al, 1979; Oyebanji, 1983; Folurunso, 1984, and Diw, 1990). None of these have extensively focused on a particular urban or rural community to the best of my knowledge and specifically not in the south east of Nigeria. This is therefore the rationale for the present study of basic needs in Abagana community, Njikoka L.G.A, Anambra state, Nigeria.

1.2 Statement of the Problem
From observation, there seems to be a dearth in basic need satisfaction of rural communities, whereas literature enumerated studies done in India, Bangladesh, United Kingdom (UK), Botswana, USA etc mostly related to standard of living and quality of life, in view of the poor assessment of basic needs in rural communities, this study intends to further fill the gap by carrying out a study on basic need assessment in Abagana community, Njikoka Local Government.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study.
The aim of this study is to assess the community’s basic needs with reference to needs satisfaction and quality of life.
The aim will however be pursued through the following objectives. The specific objectives are;
1. To provide baseline information on the state of the quality of life of Abagana community.
2. To identify the extent which the basic needs have been met and satisfied.
3. To identify the socio-economic and demographic profiles of the Abagana community and how they are to the community’s basic needs.
4. To assess the proportion of people of Abagana community living below the National permissible or standard quality of life level.
5. To identify strategies available to the community for meeting and satisfying the people’s needs.