Corporate Social Responsibility and Implications on Livelihoods of Communities In Gombe State, Nigeria

Abstract

The world is going through a pivotal period in its history. There is significant concern about the current state of the world's economy and its effect on the inhabitants. Corporations are nudge to address these challenges in communities through CSR. This study titled Corporate Social Responsibility and implications on livelihoods of communities in Gombe State, Nigeria was conducted to ascertain the impact of CSR to the livelihood of the communities. The study’s objectives were to determine the effect of economic-related CSR activities, assess the impact of social-related CSR activities, ascertain the relationship between environmental-related CSR activities and evaluate the influence of corporations’ ethical policies and actions on the communities' livelihood. The study was guided by social contract, legitimacy. and sustainable livelihood theories. The study employed the convergent-parallel design. The study' target populations was 25,479 individuals from 19 corporations and 22 communities. The total sample population was 246 individuals. The stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used to select experienced representatives, one from each of the 19 corporations and 22 communities for key informant interviews. A multi-stage sampling technique comprised of purposive, clustered, and stratified sampling was used to administer questionnaires to a sample of 205 respondents, 110 from communities and 95 from corporations, for the quantitative study. The study collected questionnaires from 183 respondents, achieving a collection rate of 86.3%. Thematic and narrative analysis were used to analyse qualitative data in the study, and the findings were presented using quotes. The quantitative data collected was analysed using a cross-tabulation chi-square test. Findings from both corporations and communities’ respondents revealed that corporations’ economic-related CSR activities contribute significantly to the livelihood of the communities with the statistical value of p=.022 and p=.039 respectively. The Social related CSR activities result indicate an insignificant impact to livelihood of the communities with, p=.064 and p=.108 respectively. For the third objective the result p=.028 and p=.042 indicate that the environmental related CSR activities contribute satisfactorily but not significant to the communities’ livelihood. The last objective, indicates that, corporations’ ethical policies and actions had a sufficient and positive influence on the livelihood of the communities with p=.037 and p=.041. It is generally, concluded that CSR initiatives enhanced the livelihood of the communities affected by climate change in Gombe State, Nigeria. The research recommended that attention need to be given to political influences, empowerment of beneficiaries and PLDs upon completion of training and ethical policies and actions should be strengthened.