The Economy, Poverty Reduction, and Economic Empowerment is an integrated programming area which addresses the dRPC’s broad focus on livelihoods, production and redistribution through social assistance programs. We come to this body of work through gender lenses, focusing on women’s participation in the economy, their lived experiences of poverty and opportunities for women’s economic empowerment (WEE).  The dRPC’s programming in this area is around 3 sets of activities:

• Building entrepreneurial skills and capacity for women in business
• Strengthening the capacity of women cooperatives and livelihood associations to advocate for women’s economic and business interests
• Engage policy makers to design, launch and implement WEE policies

Success stories in Economy, Poverty Reduction, and Economic Empowerment programming include:

• The dRPC strengthened the capacity of over 59 WEE-focused women’s groups that advocate for the national and state domesticated WEE policies. In Kaduna State the domesticated WEE policy was launched in 2024, with Kano, Kwara and Plateau states in line to launch their domesticated policies in 2025
• Since 2019, the dRPC has worked with 40 adolescent girls in Kano and Jigawa States, secondary school leavers supported to run community schools in a sustainable social enterprise model. As at December 2024, these girls have enrolled and graduated 10,000 boys and girls between the ages of 3 to 6 in community-based Early Childhood Development Community Schools

The dRPC conducted over 40 research studies on the Economy, Poverty Reduction, and economic empowerment, including Policy Briefs, Issue Briefs, evaluation studies, and Research Reports.

The dRPC is currently collaborating with the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN) on the Better Assistance in Crises (BASIC) Research Project in Nigeria, a two-year initiative aimed at enhancing social assistance to tackle extreme poverty. This partnership, which also involves the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA) on a parallel project called Data and Evidence to End Extreme Poverty (DEEP), focuses on understanding and addressing poverty dynamics amidst complex crises, particularly in Nigeria’s northern states where multidimensional poverty is severe. As of April 2025, the BASIC project, led by dRPC, seeks to improve the effectiveness of poverty reduction interventions by exploring how social assistance can better respond to protracted crises such as armed conflict, displacement, climate shocks, and the lingering effects of COVID-19.

The BASIC project employs a mixed-methods approach, integrating quantitative data from sources like the General Household Survey (2010-2019) and the COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (2020-2022) with qualitative insights gathered through life history interviews, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Fieldwork spans six Nigerian states: Borno, Benue, Jigawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, and Ekiti, covering both rural and urban areas, with a focus on vulnerable groups like internally displaced persons, women, and youth. The research investigates key questions, including why chronic poverty persists in the north, how crises impact livelihoods, and how social assistance is perceived in terms of adequacy and fairness.

Since 2023, the project has produced ten research outputs, including one issues brief, one working paper, two policy briefs, one political economy analysis, and six research briefs, each focused on individual states. Key findings from these outputs shows that crises worsen poverty through emergency coping strategies (e.g., asset loss, early marriage, child trafficking, survival sex), with maladaptive economic policies like the flood, conflict, Insurgency, 2023 cashless policy and fuel subsidy removal worsening outcomes (See https://www.chronicpovertynetwork.org/resources/2025/2/28/poverty-dynamics-and-social-assistance-amidst-intersecting-crises-in-nigeria). Social assistance, though constrained, aids resilience where accessible, while sustainable poverty escapes rely on conflict-free contexts, information access, and strong social networks. The project’s policy recommendations include expanding social assistance coverage with combined geographic and categorical targeting, strengthening conflict resolution, promoting equity-cantered economic policies, and addressing structural issues like infrastructure deficits. These insights, shared through publications and stakeholder engagements, aim to inform more effective, inclusive poverty reduction strategies in Nigeria amidst ongoing crises.

Findings have been shared at events like the 2023 Conflict Research Network West Africa (CORN) Conference on “Social Protection and Economic Uncertainties in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Contexts,” which took place from November 8th–9th, 2023, at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR); the Dissemination and Reference Group Meeting of the DEEP and BASIC Programme held in Abuja on the 12^Th of November 2024; presentations at the second and fourth quarters 2024  Roundtable on Statistics and Monitoring and Evaluation in Nigeria, held at the CBN headquarters and the dRPC office on June 13, 2024, and September 12, 2024, respectively.

Lastly, a sentinel study is currently ongoing from the same households across the state to track how households adapt to shocks, access support, and navigate systemic barriers over time since the last engagement. It also provides insight into the responsiveness of social protection systems in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Findings from the sentinel study are expected to inform adaptive programming and policy adjustments, ensuring that social assistance mechanisms are not only evidence-based but also context-sensitive and responsive to the evolving realities of the poorest populations.