SOCIAL PROTECTION AND VULNERABILITY REDUCTION: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF THE LIVELIHOOD EMPOWERMENT AGAINST POVERTY PROGRAMME IN THE LAWRA DISTRICT

Abstract

Over the past decade, there has been a somewhat convergence in thinking regarding the contributions of cash transfers to social protection and vulnerability reduction. As a result, governments of most developing countries in Asia and Africa have begun embracing the idea of cash transfer through a rollout of various schemes all in a bid to address issues of poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion. This study analyses the contributions so far made by the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme to social protection and vulnerability reduction in the Lawra District of the Upper West Region. A multi-stage sampling procedure involving the use of simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques was employed in selecting household level respondents, the District Social Welfare Officer and four focused group participants for the study. The study used semi-structured questionnaire, interview guide and focus group guide to collect data from respondents. The data collected was then used to determine the socio economic impacts of the LEAP programme on recipient households, the challenges faced by the LEAP recipient households and the Lawra District Department of Social Welfare in the implementation of the programme, and the institutional mechanisms instituted to check arbitrary abuses in the implementation of the programme. Using data from structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and desk interviews, the study found positive impacts of the LEAP programme on recipient households in the area of access to healthcare services, school enrolment and retention of children of schooling age, food consumption and nutrition, production activities and social networks. The study observed that though children were engaged in farming activities, this was perceived as a form of socialisation and skill training and therefore do not constitute child labour. In all, the study recommends that discrete social intervention programmes should be sufficiently linked together in the district. It also recommends that the inactive District LEAP Implementation Committee found during the study should be reactivated and logistically supported to perform its function. The study further recommends that the DSW should be adequately resourced to effectively and efficiently carry out its mandate.