Hadiza Coomassie Ahmad, Prof M. A. Suleiman, Dr M. Sanusi, Longji Hassan & Bilkisu Usman Kila
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess poverty as a determinant of infant mortality among 248 nursing mothers in rural areas of Kaduna State, Nigeria. A descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study comprised of 17,400 nursing mothers in rural areas of Kaduna State. A multi-stage sampling technique comprising of stratified, purposive, proportionate and simple random sampling was used to draw the respondents for the study. 248 copies of the researchers-developed questionnaire were distributed to the respondents, of which 246 (99.19%) were retrieved and used for the study. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the demographic characteristics of the respondents and to answer the research question. Inferential statistics of regression analysis was used to test the formulated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that poverty is a determinant of infant mortality in rural areas of Kaduna State. The study recommended that the state government and non-governmental organisations should come up with poverty alleviation programmes for rural women so as to empower them with trade and businesses that would help in reducing the poverty rate in the state.