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Rural poverty in Ghana

In recent years, Ghana has emerged as a leading country in the Western and Central Africa region. It has developed its economy on a scale that could allow it to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before the 2015 deadline. It also managed a smooth and peaceful political transition in 2008 and 2009, and has created a strong political and policy environment for economic and social progress and poverty reduction.
 
The Ghanaian economy has grown at an average annual rate of 4.5 per cent over the past two decades. GDP growth was 6.3 per cent in 2007. The agriculture sector, which contributed 34 per cent of GDP in 2007, remains the country’s major engine of economic growth. The benefits of economic progress are dramatically evident in the fact that national poverty rates have been cut almost in half, from approximately 51.7 per cent in 1991-1992 to 28.5 per cent in 2005-2006. Poverty decreased by about 17 percentage points in urban areas and by 24 points in rural areas. Ghana’s growth and poverty reduction rates are probably the best that have been achieved in all of sub-Saharan Africa over the past 15 years.

Who are Ghana's rural poor people?

Although there has been a substantial overall decline in the incidence of poverty in Ghana poverty still has a firm grip on rural areas, especially in the north. There is a wide disparity of income between people in the south, where there are two growing seasons and greater economic opportunities, and people living in the drought-prone northern plains.

About 51 per cent of the poor people in Ghana live in rural areas. Poor rural people have limited access to basic social services, safe water, all-year roads, electricity and telephone services. Poverty is deepest among food crop farmers, who are mainly traditional small-scale producers. About six out of ten small-scale farmers are poor, and many of them are women.

Women are deeply affected. More than half of the women who are heads of households in rural areas are among the poorest 20 per cent of the population. Women bear heavy workloads. They are responsible for 55 to 60 per cent of agricultural production. They are much less likely than men to receive education or health benefits or to have a voice in decisions affecting their lives.

The poorest people in rural areas include the aged and the disabled, as well as people with HIV/AIDS and others who are chronically ill. Migrants also are seriously affected by poverty.

Where are Ghana's rural poor people?

The poorest areas of Ghana (the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions) are the savannah regions of the north, where many poor rural people face chronic food insecurity. Livelihoods are more vulnerable in those regions, and all the members of the community suffer as a result of food insecurity during part of the year.

Why are rural people poor? 

Among the causes of rural poverty, according to the government’s poverty reduction strategy paper, are low productivity and poorly functioning markets for agricultural outputs. Small-scale farmers rely on rudimentary methods and technology and they lack the skills and inputs, such as fertilizer and improved seeds, that would increase yields. Because of erosion and shorter fallow periods, soil loses its fertility, posing a long-term threat to farmers’ livelihoods and incomes. Increasing population pressure leads to continuous cultivation in the densely inhabited Upper East region and a shorter fallow period in the Upper West region, causing further deterioration of the land.

A small number of farms have access to irrigation. Land ownership and land security are regulated by complex systems that may vary widely (see Land tenure in the rural northern regions of Ghana). Animals are of insufficiently productive genetic stock. Poor farmers are without the good market and rural infrastructure they need for storing, processing and marketing their products.

Source: IFAD