EFFECTIVENESS OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS IN POVERTY REDUCTION IN KASENA-NANKANA AND BUILSA DISTRICTS IN NORTH-EASTERN GHANA

Abstract

Governments in the world particularly those in Africa and Ghana have been challenged by global socio-economic changes that made it difficult for them to provide adequate support for their peoples. For some time now, NGOs have stepped in to complement Government efforts in reducing poverty. However, in spite of an increase in the number of NGOs, the incidence of poverty still remains high in the Upper East Region of Ghana especially in the Kasena-Nankana and Builsa Districts. The aim of this study was therefore to find out how effectively the strategies of NGOs in the two Districts are contributing to poverty reduction. The survey research tools included household questionnaire administration, interviews, focus group discussions, direct observation and a review of related literature.The findings suggested that the strategies of NGOs have not had any significant positive effect on poverty reduction in the Kasena-Nankana and Builsa Districts. This is because of low level of investment by NGOs in the area, poor networking, advocacy, accountability and community empowerment as well as low collaboration between the District Assemblies and the NGOs. It was however noted that communities‟ commitment to participate in the development process in the two districts was encouraging once they were given the opportunity to engage the District Assemblies. The communities were found to be very weak at monitoring projects being implemented in their areas. The study however confirmed that poverty is still a serious constraining factor in the lives of the people. Their description of the poverty phenomenon differed from the elitist views of the NGOs and District Assembly staff. Discussions with focus groups indicated that District Assemblies and NGOs have not targeted the poor appropriately and this is one other reason why remarkable poverty reduction in the area has not been achieved.