ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN AS A POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY IN THE NEW JUABEN MUNICIPALITY, GHANA

Abstract

Women‘s economic empowerment is fundamental to lifting them out of poverty. Despite this fact, women‘s businesses underperform and their potentials are underutilised, thereby dragging them into poverty. The study sought to achieve a number of objectives. Among these are: to investigate how economically empowered women are able to reduce poverty among themselves; to investigate the socio-cultural factors that exist in the New Juaben Municipality that impede economic empowerment of women; and to find out the strategies that exist to empower women economically to reduce poverty among them. In achieving this, the study relied on a cross-sectional descriptive survey as a research design and qualitative and quantitative approaches as strategies of inquiry. A sample size of two hundred was used and cluster sampling, simple random sampling, quota sampling and purposive sampling were used as sampling techniques. The study adopted questionnaire, interviews, focus group discussion and key informant interviews as methods of data collection. The study found out that when women are empowered economically, they are able to reduce poverty among themselves and that among the Akans, traditions and customs do not prevent women from inheriting land from fathers. The study concludes that culturally, women need to discuss with their husbands and obtain their permission before loans are obtained; that lack of education and finance serve as impediments towards the economic empowerment of women; and that education, social protection and the provision of small loans to women help to reduce poverty among them. Among the recommendations made by the study are that the government must enforce the Free Compulsory Basic Education enshrined in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana so that all girls of school going age will be in school and husbands must be educated to guide their wives when they (wives) are going for loans.