Population Growth, Environmental Quality and Poverty Propagation in Nigerian Economy: A Case for Sustainable Environmental Policy

Abstract

This study examined the effect of population growth and environmental quality on poverty in Nigerian economy between 1980 and 2017.The study was anchored on the Neo-Malthusian Theory which asserts that population growth has negative consequences on the environment and income growth. The study  used secondary data collected mainly from the World Bank’s World  Development Indicators(2017 edition) and multiple regression model which has poverty level(based on $5.50 per day) as the dependent  variable and female fertility rate, population growth rate, and environmental quality, proxy by CO2 emission in thousand of  kilo tons as the independent variables. Engle-Granger Error Correction Model (ECM) techniques of analysis were employed for the analysis of the data. The unit root test results showed that are the variables are integrated of order 1, while the co-integration test results revealed that population growth rate, female fertility rate,   environmental quality,   and poverty level have a stable long run relationship.