LIVELIHOOD OPTIONS OF RURAL WOMEN TOWARDS POVERTY REDUCTION IN THE JIRAPA DISTRICT

Abstract

Ghana has made remarkable progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets by the end of 2015 such as halving extreme poverty, halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water, universal primary education and gender parity in primary schools (UNDP 2015). Women in the Jirapa district employ diverse means to help meet their basic needs of food and shelter. The study sought among others; to identify the characteristics of the assets from which people draw their livelihoods, to identify the livelihood activities and their contributions to household needs and to determine the effectiveness of the roles of the stakeholders in ensuring livelihood security for the people. The study employed the Social Relations Approach and also adopted a participatory approach by involving only women in five communities and other relevant stakeholders. Both primary and secondary data were used. Primary data was collected using questionnaire, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and observation. The data was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The study revealed among others that people in the study communities depended largely on natural capital particularly farmland as their major livelihood asset from which they draw their livelihood. The major economic activity that people engage in as a means of living is agriculture (mainly crop farming). The study further revealed that there has been a shift from the livelihood activities of the women to. The major cause of the shift in livelihood activity of the people is the presence of booming business activities. The study recommends women empowerment, mechanization of Agriculture, Access to Agricultural Credit facilities and the Formation of Community Based Associations as ways to take advantage of expansions in the various sectors of the economy.