SMALL MEDIUM ENTERPRISES' MANAGEMENT AND POVERTY REDUCTION (A STUDY OF SELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN EDO STATE)

High poverty rate has inadvertently reduced the quality of life of some individuals living below the poverty line in Nigeria. This study sets out to look at the relationship between SMES management and poverty reduction in Nigeria using selected local government areas in Edo state as study. One of the objectives of this study is to ascertain if there is a relationship between employee development and poverty reduction. The study made use of well-structured questionnaire to gather data from the field and Spearmans correlation coefficient was used to test the hypotheses that were formulated during the course of carrying out this research study. A conclusion reached by this researcher is that the required conditions for the creation of SMEs in Nigeria should be made available with adequate resources such as capital and technical knowhow to assist in the effective and efficient running of these SMES is very important to the mission of poverty reduction in Nigeria today. one the recommendations put forward in this study is Stake holders such as the federal government, banks, NGOs etc. should provide enough support systems such as transfer of suitable technology; entrepreneurial training and skills development; continues orientation and on the job training; workshops and refresher courses for SME entrepreneurs to enhance the management of the business activities and records keeping, among others.