Poverty In Ghana Research Articles

Poverty as a Hindrance to Accessing Quality Healthcare in Ghana: A Theological and Pastoral Reflection

Access to quality healthcare is a key requirement in every modern society. In developed countries, majority of the populace has access to quality and affordable healthcare. However, in developing countries such as Ghana, hospitals with quality infrastructure, healthcare equipment, drugs, and well-trained health practitioners are limited and expensive to access. Given the significant number of people living in extreme poverty in Ghana, it is not surprising that many people experience deterioration in their health and eventually die due to the inability to access and/or afford quality healthcare. In the current situation, where economic hardship keeps increasing in the country, there is a need to engage in a discussion on how healthcare can be made available and affordable to people of all economic classes. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to assess the limitations that poverty places on people in their quest to access healthcare and offer solutions from theological and pastoral perspectives. This paper employed qualitative and historical descriptive research designs to describe the current state of affairs of the impact that poverty has on access to health care in Ghana. The paper used data collected from secondary sources such as books, journal articles and dissertations. After a careful analysis of the subject matter from the Ghanaian and biblical perspectives, the paper made recommendations for the nation (Ghana), the church, and all stakeholders to contribute to the provision of quality, accessible, and affordable healthcare for all irrespective of one’s financial background or economic status. Keywords: Poverty, Hindrance, Quality Health, Ghana

Credit Access and Poverty in Ghana: Does the Source of Credit Matter?

ABSTRACT Poverty remains a concern for policymakers across the globe because a considerable number of individuals are still poor and unable to make a decent living for themselves. Among the efforts to combat poverty is to enhance the income of individuals by improving access to credit. Extant studies have investigated the nexus of poverty and credit access, but the majority of them tend to focus on microcredit without considering the broader theme of credit. Moreover, most of the studies ignored the potential endogeneity inherent in credit access. Again, studies that focused on Ghana are concentrated on some specific areas, districts, or municipalities of the country which does not reflect the country-wide effect of credit access on poverty. To bridge these study gaps, we analyzed the impact of accessing credit on poverty using more representative data within an instrumental variable (IV) framework that is robust to endogeneity. Besides, we extend the discussion by showing how the poverty impact of accessing credit from formal sources differs from informal ones. Using data from the 2016/2017 round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS), we found that accessing credit generally deepens the poverty status of Ghanaians. However, the specific impacts of credit sources indicate that accessing credit from formal sources is more effective in reducing the propensity to be poor in Ghana. Additional findings show that age, income, and location of the individual have significant impacts on their ability to access credit to better their lives. It follows that efforts by the government to improve financial inclusion to roll in more people will increase credit access from formal financial institutions and help reduce poverty in Ghana.

Poverty dynamics for Ghana during 2005/06–2016/17: An investigation using synthetic panels

Ghana has consistently kept its poverty rate lower than the regional average over the past 25 years, but this positive trend has slowed down recently. Without actual panel data, it would be next to impossible to probe into the dynamic patterns beneath this trend. We offer the first study that examines the dynamics of overall, moderate, and extreme poverty in Ghana during 2005/06–2016/17, addressing the lack of actual panel data by constructing synthetic panel data from three nationally representative cross-sectional rounds of the Ghana Living Standards Surveys (GLSSs).We present a well-defined decomposition framework, which allows us to examine a rich profile of the dynamics among different population groups. Beyond poverty analysis, we further investigate the dynamics of the full consumption expenditure distribution. Although we find considerable conditional chronic (extreme) poverty rates hovering around 50–60%, there was more upward mobility than downward mobility during this period. Poor households were also more likely to have stronger consumption expenditure growth. The findings suggest that factors such as educational attainment, female household headship, urban residence, and nonagricultural work are positively correlated with poverty reduction. Compared to all other correlates, educational attainment appears to be the most effective in pushing households out of poverty and keeping them from falling into poverty. These results contribute to the growing literature on poverty dynamics in developing countries in general and provide new and relevant inputs for policy advice in Ghana in particular, especially since policies that address chronic poverty typically differ from those that tackle transient poverty.

Ethnic heterogeneity and healthcare utilization: The mediating role of poverty in Ghana

AbstractsThe healthcare that a woman receives during pregnancy, at the time of delivery, and soon after delivery is imperative for the well-being and survival of both the mother and her child. Hence, understanding the factors that influence the utilization of healthcare around the period of birth is important for improving the health of the mother and her child as well as reducing maternal mortality. Although numerous studies have examined the factors that influence the utilization of healthcare around the period of birth, no study has considered the role of ethnic heterogeneity. This paper bridges a significant gap in the literature by reporting findings from the first study that examines the effect of ethnic heterogeneity on healthcare utilization in Ghana. The study utilized data from both the Demographic Health Survey and Ghana Population and Housing Census. Our estimates show that a unit increase in a heterogenous ethnic group lowers the likelihood of utilizing healthcare at the time of birth and after delivery via increasing household poverty.

Evaluating local perceptions of sustainable utilisation of non-timber forest products and their potential to improve livelihoods in Ghana's forest fringe communities

The sustainable utilisation of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) holds significant promise for livelihood improvement within forest fringe communities in Ghana. While local communities benefit from NTFPs, there is limited understanding of the locals' perceptions with regard to the potential of NTFPs to alleviate poverty. This research evaluated the intricate interplay of local perceptions with regard to climate change, value addition and the multiple uses of NTFPs, and their influence on livelihood improvement. The study employed a multidimensional approach, incorporating quantitative, qualitative and systematic review methodologies. Surveys and interviews were conducted to gather data on the perceptions of local communities of climate change, value addition to NTFPs and the multiple uses of NTFPs, as well as social factors that influence their perception. In addition, a systematic review using the PRISMA method was used to assess the potential of NTFPs to alleviate poverty. The findings underscored the significance of education, religion and gender, which are pivotal in shaping local perceptions of NTFPs and their potential to improve livelihoods. The systematic review showed the potential of NTFPs to alleviate poverty in Ghana and in other parts of the world. Initiatives that enhance market accessibility and create value-addition opportunities should be considered to uplift communities economically. Furthermore, policy frameworks and institutional support can emerge as essential elements in shaping local perceptions. In conclusion, this research elucidated the vital role of local perceptions for the sustainable utilisation of NTFPs to improve livelihoods within Ghana's forest fringe communities.

Trends and Relationship between Education and Poverty in Ghana: Evidence from Ghana Living Standards Surveys from 1991 to 2017

Trends and Relationship between Education and Poverty in Ghana: Evidence from Ghana Living Standards Surveys from 1991 to 2017

An Assessment of Multidimensional Poverty Trends in Ghana

This study aims at establishing the trends in multidimensional poverty in Ghana from 2011 to 2020 using intertemporal and counting approach. Alkire and Foster methodology was applied to identify and analyse the data. The study adopted the global multidimensional poverty indicators made up of three dimensions – health, education, and standard of living – and the ten indicators of which equal weights are attached to each dimension, and the same weights for the indicators within each dimension. It was found that Ghana did very well in reducing multidimensional poverty in all the six indicators within the standard of living dimension both in absolute and relative terms. However, the nation increased its multidimensional poverty in education and health dimensions. The Northern region continues to be the poorest region with the lowest reduction in multidimensional poverty in absolute and relative terms. Overall, multidimensional poverty reduced significantly both in absolute and relative terms at the national and regional levels. As compared with Sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana performed better in decreasing multidimensional poverty than the mean of the sub-region in almost all the dimensions and indicators, both in absolute and relative terms. Government should sustain this feat and improve upon it to eliminate poverty in all its forms by 2030 as envisaged by Sustainable Development Goal 1. Government must invest heavily in education and health as well as agriculture and rural development to reduce poverty. Strategy that targets the poorest regions should be implemented to reduce poverty. Keywords: Multidimensional poverty, Headcount poverty, Monetary poverty, Trends, Ghana.

The role of financial inclusion in moderating the incidence of entrepreneurship on energy poverty in Ghana

Purpose This study aims to assess the role of financial inclusion (FI) in moderating the incidence of entrepreneurship on energy poverty in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach The assessment is made by using pooled data and two-stage least squares. The exposition builds from the 7th (GLSS7) and 6th (GLSS6) rounds focusing on the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GSS, 2014, 2019) that is collected by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) from 10 principal regions in the country. Findings The findings show that entrepreneurship has an unconditional positive incidence on energy poverty while the interactive incidence between entrepreneurship and FI on energy poverty is negative. The corresponding FI policy thresholds that should be exceeded in order for FI to effectively moderate entrepreneurship for negative outcomes in energy poverty are between 0.154 and 0.280 index for the full sample; 0.187 index for the rural subsample; 0.200 and 0.333 index for the male sample. Thresholds are not computed for the rural and female subsamples because at least one estimated coefficient that is needed for the computation of such thresholds is not significant. Policy implications are discussed. Originality/value This study has complemented the existing literature by assessing how FI can be used to influence the nexus between entrepreneurship and poverty in Ghana.

Functional properties and chemical constituents of eight underutilized Ghanaian legumes

The aim of this study was to determine the potential of some Ghanaian underutilized legumes in helping to reduce the problems of poverty, hunger and malnutrition among the vulnerable group of the Ghanaian population. The study looked into the functional properties, fat and fatty acid distribution, raffinose, sucrose, glucose, fructose, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron, copper, manganese, zinc, cyanide and isoflavone contents of raw and processed seed flours of Cajanus cajan, Canavalia ensiformis, Canavalia gladiata, Mucuna pruriens, Parkia biglobosa, Phaseolus lunatus and Vigna subterranea. The parameters mentioned above were also determined for raw fruit flour of Dialium guineense. In addition to these, the study also looked into the crude protein and starch contents of the raw and processed seed flours of Canavalia gladiata, Parkia biglobosa and Vigna subterranea. The obtained results suggest that the legumes may have untapped potential, which may be exploited to help assist in reducing hunger, malnutrition and poverty in Ghana. Results of the functional properties reveal that the legumes may serve useful roles in various food products. For instance, velvet tamarind (Dialium guineense) flour may be useful in infant food formulations because of it high solubility and low bulk density. African Locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) flour had the highest fat content among the studied flours, recording a fat content of approximately 14%. It may therefore be economical to express the oil and use the oil as an edible oil or for industrial applications for products such as soaps, shampoos, paints, etc. This means the properties of the oil of African Locust bean flour need to be studied to know the uses of the oil. Unsaturated fatty acids in the cis configuration formed more than 50% of the fatty acids in all the legumes. This observation coupled with the low sodium content of all the legumes suggest that these legumes may be suitable for consumption to prevent cardiovascular diseases. The daily nutrient needs of individuals can be met by the consumption of the appropriate amounts of these legumes. For example, 375.25 g of processed velvet beans (Mucuna pruriens) flour may be able to meet the adequate intake (AI) of 350 mg/day magnesium for adult males.

Religion, social capital and poverty in Ghana: Correlations and explanations

AbstractReligion is a key source of social capital for poverty reduction. This study used nationally representative data from households (N = 16,772) in Ghana to determine the association between religious affiliation and the incidence of poverty. Descriptive statistics, multilevel mixed‐effect logistic model and nearest neighbour matching estimator were used to analyse the data. We found that relative to the unaffiliated, except affiliation with Other Christian and Other religions, affiliation with Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal/Charismatic, Islam and Ahmadiyya is negatively associated with the incidence of absolute poverty. In urban areas, relative to those who belong to no religion, except affiliation with Other religions, affiliation with all the major religious denomination is negatively associated with the incidence of absolute poverty. The study also found that, compared to all other denominations, affiliation with Ahmadiyya and Catholic is positively associated with the incidence of poverty in Ghana. We concluded that in Ghana, religious affiliation reduces the odds of falling into poverty for those who live in urban areas, although some religious norms and values could expose households to poverty. The study recommends that the introduction of faith tax on religious denominations and conditional transfer programmes could help maximize the effect of religious affiliation on poverty reduction in Ghana.

Fiscal Policy and Economic Development in Sub Saharan Africa; Emphasis on Poverty in Ghana and Nigeria

Fiscal Policy and Economic Development in Sub Saharan Africa; Emphasis on Poverty in Ghana and Nigeria

The Role of Financial Inclusion in Moderating the Incidence of Entrepreneurship on Energy Poverty in Ghana

The Role of Financial Inclusion in Moderating the Incidence of Entrepreneurship on Energy Poverty in Ghana

Food poverty assessment in Ghana: A closer look at the spatial and temporal dimensions of poverty

The multifaceted nature of poverty in terms of its duration or chronicity, systematic changes, seasonality, variation, and risk or vulnerability makes its measurement and analysis complicated, especially in lower-income countries. In Ghana, data show that absolute poverty remains prevalent, and inequality has been rising. Despite the gradual decline in poverty, spatial income inequality has also become a concern in Ghana. This study develops a Foster-Greer-Thorbecke Poverty Measure based spatiotemporal model to investigate the variation in food poverty in Ghana. Application to population-based surveys fielded in 2012/13 and 2016/17 indicate that considerations of temporal and spatial dimensions of poverty have implications for gaging the level of deprivation among households and the potential allocation of scarce resources via policy to achieve poverty alleviation objectives. A model that jointly considers both the spatial and intra-annual dynamics arguably considered the most accurate and flexible but data-intensive one, resulted in the mean unconditional food poverty rate of 50%, with the lowest rate being the Northern Region in March (45%) and the highest rate being in the Upper West Region in June (54%). Overall, cost-wise, this flexible model also results in the highest potential cost savings.

Evaluation of Quality of Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Seed in Ghana from Three Seed Sources

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) contributes to food security and reduction of poverty in Ghana. However, low yields minimize the potential financial returnof peanut in part because of limited access by farmers to high quality seed. The objective of this study was to assess the quality of peanut seed saved by farmers, seed purchased from local markets, and seed received from public research institutions. Forty-six, forty-five, and nine seed samples were collected from these respective sources in 2019 during the planting season across the five regions in Ghana. Uniformity of phenotypes from seed samples was at least 96% for all sources with the greatest uniformity observed for plants derived from seed collected from research institutions. Field emergence was greatest for seed collected from research institutions followed by farmer-saved seed and then seed collected from local markets. However, field emergence did not exceed 53% of seed planted regardless of seed source. Nine fungal species were identified on peanut seeds, with Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, and Curvularia lunata being the most prevalent. However, differences among seed sources were noted only for A. niger and A. tamarii.

Modelling of vertical integration in commercial poultry production of Ghana: A count data model analysis

Poultry production has significant potential to reduce protein deficiency, food insecurity and poverty in Ghana. However, limited vertical integration and high cost of production in the sector have stifled growth and exposed poultry farms in the country to many risks, leading to poor business performance. This study uses cross-sectional data from 102 commercial poultry farms to assess the determinants of vertical integration in the Ghanaian poultry industry by employing zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) and Zero-inflated Negative Binomial (ZINB) models. The results show that one in every four poultry farms in the country are vertically integrated, either partially or fully. The ZINB model, which best fits the data, reveals that the degree of vertical integration in the poultry business is significantly influenced by a set of personal (education, occupation, and farming experience) and farm level (land tenure, flock size, production cost, and farm revenue) characteristics as well as institutional factors (credit access, extension access and membership of association). The paper discusses the implications of these findings and provides appropriate recommendations for strengthening the poultry industry in Ghana.

Spatial analysis of the effect of microfinance on poverty and inequality in Ghana.

Although microfinance is usually delivered with a spatial outlook, the literature is so far silent on the potential spatial effect of microfinance delivery. The aim of this study was, therefore, to examine the effect of microfinance intensity on spatial inequality and poverty in Ghana. Using the 6th (2012/2013) and 7th (2016/2017) rounds of data from a national survey on living standards in Ghana, the study first examined the pattern of district-level poverty and inequality in Ghana and then adopted spatial econometric techniques to explore the spatial correlation between microfinance, inequality, and poverty. The results revealed that microfinance has a significant negative impact on spatial inequality and poverty in Ghana. The spatial effect of microfinance intensity on poverty and inequality is characterized by both direct and spillover effects on neighbours. It was identified that the outreach of microfinance drives within-district disparity, whereas the disparity in microfinance credit distribution powers between-district disparity. Additionally, while there is evidence of an indirect effect, the indirect effect diffuses monotonically as the number of neighbours increases. The study's findings advocate for a complementary approach to microfinance delivery, as well as the elimination of institutional barriers that limit access, availability, and operational delivery of microfinance services in order to achieve spatially optimal microfinance delivery.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40847-022-00210-3.

Turning the tide on environmental poverty in Ghana: Does financial inclusion matter?

Environmental deprivation is a significant setback to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Households' investment in and adoption of environmental innovation products and services is constrained by access to finance and financing instruments. Using a multidimensional framework, this study examines the impact of financial inclusion on environmental poverty from a developing country setting. With a two-wave socioeconomic panel survey on Ghana, we develop a multidimensional financial inclusion and environmental poverty index based on dwelling, water, sanitation facilities, and energy. This study employs a number of robust techniques, including the Lewbel two-stage least squares and propensity score matching techniques. The results show that being financially included decreases households' probability of being environmentally poor by about 4.2 to 5.1 %. This result is consistent with different cutoffs of financial inclusion, multidimensional environmental poverty, and other population subgroups. This study also observes that risk aversion and depression act as possible mediators for financial inclusion's negative impact on environmental poverty. These findings provide policy support for the improvement in financial inclusion strategies to solve environmental poverty issues for a safe, healthy, and sustainable environment toward the achievement of SDGs.

Cultural and Attitudinal Tenets of Ghanaians on Insurance Service: An Empirical Study

This study compared the cultural and attitudinal tenets of Ghanaians towards insurance service in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. The research utilized the convenience sampling to gather data from 291 respondents. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used and the relationship between the demographic variables and the actual variables was examined. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) statistical technique using smart Partial Least Square (PLS) 3.0 was also used to assess the study's hypothesized relationships. It was observed that a significant relationship existed between attitudinal trends and awareness, attitudinal trends and perception, attitudinal trends and purchase intention, awareness and purchase intention, cultural trends and awareness, cultural trends and purchase intention. Conversely, a significant relationship did not exist between cultural trends and perception, as well as perception and purchase intention. The study revealed that attitudinal trends have a greater effect on awareness, perception, and purchase intention than cultural trends, while awareness has the strongest relationship with purchase intention but perception has the weakest relationship with purchase intention. These findings may help to bring about social change by raising awareness of the importance of life insurance in the socioeconomic development of individuals, families, organizations, and communities, resulting in insurance coverage and the reduction of poverty in Ghana. Insurance practitioners who want to increase insurance penetration for business and sustainability can find the study useful.This study compared the cultural and attitudinal tenets of Ghanaians towards insurance service in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. The research utilized the convenience sampling to gather data from 291 respondents. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used and the relationship between the demographic variables and the actual variables was examined. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) statistical technique using smart Partial Least Square (PLS) 3.0 was also used to assess the study's hypothesized relationships. It was observed that a significant relationship existed between attitudinal trends and awareness, attitudinal trends and perception, attitudinal trends and purchase intention, awareness and purchase intention, cultural trends and awareness, cultural trends and purchase intention. Conversely, a significant relationship did not exist between cultural trends and perception, as well as perception and purchase intention. The study revealed that attitudinal trends have a greater effect on awareness, perception, and purchase intention than cultural trends, while awareness has the strongest relationship with purchase intention but perception has the weakest relationship with purchase intention. These findings may help to bring about social change by raising awareness of the importance of life insurance in the socioeconomic development of individuals, families, organizations, and communities, resulting in insurance coverage and the reduction of poverty in Ghana. Insurance practitioners who want to increase insurance penetration for business and sustainability can find the study useful.

Disaggregated impacts of off-farm work participation on household vulnerability to food poverty in Ghana.

This study examines disaggregated impacts of participation in off-farm employment on household vulnerability to food poverty in Ghana. We use household-level data collected from smallholder farmers in Ghana. This study employs the multinomial endogenous switching regression model to account for selection bias due to both observed and unobserved heterogeneity. Our results indicate that participation in off-farm employment activities, such as petty trading, significantly decreases household vulnerability to food poverty. Our findings further show that households that do participate in arts and crafts as an off-farm activity are more vulnerable to food poverty had they not participated. This paper provides useful policy insights to enable smallholders involved in off-farm work activities to improve food consumption expenditure and reduce their risk of food poverty.

Agricultural mechanization as a tool to alleviate poverty in Ghana: The role of belt and road initiative

This study discusses the steps and initiatives the government of Ghana is adopting to incorporate mechanization systems in agriculture to alleviate poverty. The relevance of mechanization and its adoption for farming systems has been the priority of the Ghanaian populace. However, few countries with high technologies are assisting the nation with their modern trend of food production and food security systems. Findings demonstrated that agribusiness accounts for 60% of Ghana's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 65% of its employment, and 50% of its exports. This study employed content analysis methodology to achieve its goal. Though, without hesitation, agricultural mechanization has immense potential for increased agricultural output and enhanced farmer standard of living. Notwithstanding, there have been a couple of issues affecting farm mechanization in Ghana. First, mechanization is hampered by farm owners' small size and dispersed holdings. Second, most local farm owners are impoverished and unable to afford expensive machinery such as tractors and combined harvesters. Therefore, Ghana counts on BRI and other international organizations to collaborate with Ghana by providing affordable mechanization equipment, alleviating its infrastructural deficit and poverty levels.