Inequality between men and women is widely acknowledged across many parts of the globe. For example, among paid employees in Ghana, women’s average hourly earnings were around 67% of men. The disparity in earnings perpetuates poverty. Access to financial resources is widely regarded as crucial machinery to addressing this gender disparity and reducing poverty among women. Microfinance is a conduit to increasing access to finance among poor urban and rural women who usually lack the collateral to access loans from traditional financial institutions. Notwithstanding the vital role microfinance institutions play, there is no consensus on the assertion that its impact is generally favourable. Therefore, this study investigated the role of microfinance on health, education, and standard of living, as dimensions of poverty reduction in the Techiman Municipality of Ghana. The results indicate that access to microfinance services positively correlates to health, education, living standards and poverty reduction. Therefore, it is essential to extend the reach of microfinance services to increase access further to finance and, consequently, accelerate the rate of poverty reduction within the Municipality.
This study investigates the impact of microfinance programmes on women’s empowerment in the northern territory of Ghana, which is known as the poorest part of the country. A survey methodology is used to collect data from a sample of 247 female entrepreneurs and their husbands (189 women and 58 men) in rural areas. The majority of the sample are aged 40 or below, and many are illiterate. The research findings indicate that although microfinance appears to have some positive effects on women’s income, it is insufficient to ease the hardships in the lives of women in northern Ghana. Most female respondents indicated that women are largely forbidden by men to own productive assets such as land and livestock. The traditional domineering behaviour of men remains a significant obstacle. Despite the increase in access to credit, microfinance itself may not be sufficient to eliminate barriers to women’s empowerment and to the reduction of poverty.
This article examines the impact of Poguba Dagar Susu Langmo-Women's Box Savings Groups (WBSGs), is a self-help financial tool capable of reducing women poverty and food insecurity in the rural areas of the Upper West Region of Ghana. A survey methodology is used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from 120 respondents in ten villages, who are all members of WBSGs. The paper establishes that, all the women who participate in WBSGs are able to feed their households at least one meal day, which was not possible. This article confirms that, most of the women could meet their daily basic needs and even effort for their wards school fees. The findings reveal that, though WBSGs is an effective micro-financial tool, they can never purchase any productive assets such as land or cattle to serve as future collateral. The paper concluded that, chauvinism and gender part obligation for which the reproductive effort inside the home is to womanhood and the main income realizing obligation to menfolk should be scrapped, and recommend that, the long-run solution to this chronic poverty and cyclical food shortage in the area, is to intensify all children education, especially the female child
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