MICRO FINANCE AND WOMEN'S LIVELIHOOD: SEND GHANA EASTERN CORRIDOR MICROFINANCE LIVELIHOOD SECURITY PROGRAMME

Abstract

In an attempt to improve the wellbeing of the most disadvantaged in society particularly women, past and present governments have introduced a number of pro-poor policies targeted at their welfare. These include among others, policies that will encourage savings, private investment, increasing income generating opportunities and the promotion of small-scale industries in the informal sector. Some of these policies have been pursued successfully and proved to have yielded positive impacts. The fight to ensure the welfare of poor people is not left entirely to the state. Of late, non- governmental organisations are championing the course through the provision of a wide range of services that are targeted at the very poor who constitute the majority segment of the populace. They believe that by reaching out to the poor with these services, poverty will be addressed in its all aspects. One of the crucial services that NGOs assist poor groups with is financial resources. SEND Ghana is one of such charity organisations that have been assisting poor women in the Eastern Corridor of Ghana with financial services. The study therefore investigates the extent to which SEND Ghana intervention through the provision of financial resources has improved the livelihood status of poor women in the Kpandai district. The study also evaluates the type of financial services that the organisation extends, the type of economic activities that clients invest their credit in the informal sector of the economy, the challenges associated with the financial programme as well as the ways that the programme could be improved to address their economic and social problems. The study through the use of a number of data collection methods reveals that although beneficiary women have witnessed some improvement in their lives, the programme has not solved all the socio-economic obstacles confronting them. In this regard, the following recommendations were made towards the improvement of the programme: the size of the credit should be increased, the interest charge on the credit should be reviewed downward , the period for repaying the credit should be extended, an impact assessment of the operations of microfinance programmes, a reform of the transport network and the review of project officers condition of service.