The Problem of Migration of Rural Women in Northern Ghana: Alternative Approaches to Livelihoods and Poverty Mitigation

Masters Project PPA 996 05/04/2011

Prepared for

Ghana National Development Planning Commission

Under the guidance of Prof. David Van Slyke Prepared by: Anoop Kumar Bahruz Agayev

Nafisa Puneet

Abukari Agarwal

The Problem of Migration of Rural Women in Northern Ghana: Alternative Approaches to Livelihoods and Poverty Mitigation
Masters Project PPA 996 05/04/2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Content No. Executive Summary Introduction 4

Page 3

The problem of migration of rural women from Northern Ghana 5 Diagnostic Analysis Critique of existing poverty reduction strategies of Ghana 10 Rationale of alternatives 12 Alternative #1 : Wage employment model based on Indias 13 National Rural Employment Guarantee Model Alternative #2 : Micro-credit and womens self-help group 19 Based on Bangladesh Grameen Bank Model Alternative #3 : Agriculture-based model supporting 24 women smallholders Comparison of alternatives 31 Conclusion/Recommendation 32 7

Implementation Plan and Implications 33

Bibliography 35 Annexure 1 38 Annexure 2 39

Executive Summary
This project is in the form of a comprehensive proposal presented to the National Development Planning Commission of Ghana, which is an advisory body to advise President of Ghana on development policy and strategy for effective implementation of poverty mitigation and socio economic development of Ghana. Our attention was drawn to the unique pattern of rural to urban migration of poor rural women of northern Ghana i.e. Savannah regions migrating to urban commercial centers of southern Ghana e.g. Accra and Kumasi to escape from grueling poverty and lack of livelihood opportunities. Since colonial times, neglected and impoverished agrarian regions of Northern Ghana have been treated as a labor reserve for prosperous and developed coastal southern Ghana and migration has been a regular phenomenon. Since 1980s, 80% of the total migrants from northern Ghana are observed to be rural women and female adolescents. We have studied this unique migration pattern with the theoretical framework provided by Ravenstein that migration process is governed by a "push-pull" process; i.e. unfavorable conditions in one place (poverty and economic deprivations, oppressive laws, heavy taxation, etc.) "push" people out, and favorable conditions in an external location "pull" them in. We have provided detailed analysis of variety of complex diagnostic factors responsible for such kind of migration. We considered following policy alternatives to address the poverty induced distress migration: (1) Wage employment model based on Indias National Rural Employment Guarantee program, (2) Micro-credit and womens self-help group model based on Bangladesh Grameen Banks and (3) An agro-based model of supporting women smallholders. All three alternatives were evaluated on the impact criteria equity, efficiency, feasibility and sustainability. We find that none of the above alternatives can solely address the multilayered migration problem. We feel that it will be more pragmatic and judicious to apply the blending of abovementioned alternatives, considering the short-term resolution of distressed migration and medium-term socio-cultural and institutional adaptations. We have worked out an implementation strategy and its implications for the poverty mitigation policies for northern Ghana.

Introduction
Ghana, officially known as the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by the Ivory Coast to the West, Burkina to the North, Togo to the East and the Gulf of Guinea to the South. The current population of Ghana is about 24 million, which was 6.7 million in the first post-independence census in 1960. Ghana is home to more than 100 different ethnic groups, which speak more than 50 languages and dialects. The country is divided into ten regions with Accra being the national capital. (See the Map at Annexure 1) Agriculture remains a mainstay of the economy, accounting for more than one-third of GDP and about 55% of total employment. Ghanas primary cash crop is cocoa, which typically provides about one-third of all export revenues. Other items earning export revenue are timber, coconuts and other palm products, Shea nuts, and coffee. Cassava, yams, plantains, corn, rice, peanuts, millet, and sorghum are basic staple food crops, which are grown for local consumption. Ghana is one of the worlds poorest countries with an annual per capital income of U.S. $364. Over the past few decades, Ghana has experienced growing and deepening poverty, an evidence of intensification of vulnerabilities and exclusion among some groups and in some areas, especially the three Northern Savanna regions (the Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions). The north is having the highest concentrations of the poor in Ghana. Studies estimate that 80% of the population in the three northern regions is now poor, while almost 70% is extremely poor (Ghana Statistical Service, 2000, 2005, Norton et al, 1995, Awumbila 2007). Studies show that poverty in Ghana has important gender implications as females represent 50.5% of the total population, with regional variations of 49% in the Western Region, 52% in the Central Region (Ghanaweb.com, 2010). The evidence also suggests that regions experiencing the least reductions, or experiencing increases in poverty levels (Central, Eastern, Northern, Upper East and Upper West) also tend to have female populations in the range of 50-52 percent. Studies have also shown that women in Ghana experience greater poverty have heavier time burdens, lower rates of utilization of resources and lower literacy rates. Gender disparities exist with respect to access to and control of a range of assets including direct productive assets such as land and credit, human capital assets including education and health, and social capital assets such as participation at various levels, legal

rights and protection. Lack of startup capital and resources for any kind of income generation enterprise prevent women from escaping poverty.

The problem of migration of rural women from northern Ghana

Ghana has been experiencing a large-scale internal as well as outbound migration from the three northern regions to the southern Ghana to meet their survival needs. Over the last few decades, internal migration trends suggest an unusual trend that almost half of the migration to larger Southern cities like Accra and Kumasi are of women and female adolescents. These women migrants get absorbed in informal labor markets as Kayayei or female head load porters (derived from the Hausa word Kaya meaning luggage and Ga word Yei, meaning girls) carrying loads of goods on their heads for abysmally low wages. This study has been taken up with objective to critically enquire into this unusual phenomenon of migration of northern rural women which indicates a complex and starkly different pattern. In the words of Kelvin (Kelvin, 2000), it is an undeniable fact that given sufficient opportunities for employment, income, personal fulfillment, and a more equitable distribution of resources, most people would choose to stay closer to their loved ones and culture. In the absence of such an ideal world, people have to move. In the face of population growth, competition for land and decreasing farm productivity, for example, migration either for a short term or a long term is usually considered a dependable alternative to escape poverty and deprivation at home (Netting, 1993). However, it is important to analyze why this rural women centric migration is a problem, even though it is the unavoidable option. Health and socio-economic consequences of migration on cities of southern Ghana The ever-increasing influx of women from rural areas of Northern Ghana creates a number of social problems in receiving (host) locations, mostly Greater Accra and Kumasi. These problems include street squatting, proliferation of slums, poor and dehumanized living conditions, sexual abuse & exploitation, informal prostitution, unwanted pregnancies and high risk of HIV AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. According to Jawula (2010) Away from support from their home communities and families, many of them are devoid of basic amenities and end up living and working under in the slums of Accra and are vulnerable to both physical abuse and health risks, especially sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS due to informal prostitution rampant among them. As these women migrate to the south to look for livelihoods, they are exposed to certain serious risks and vulnerabilities which have implications for the host cities. They sleep in open places, wash down in open, defecate in open gutters, cook, have sex, and give birth in
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lorry parks (talkGhana.com, 2007). They are also exposed to hazards such as rape, defilement, parental neglect, street fights and prostitution (Awumbila et al, 2007). Additionally, they are subjected to physical and reproductive health risks, especially sexually transmitted infections such as HIV/AIDS (Ghanaweb.com). Accra is said to be the main economic hub, administrative capital and commercial and financial nerve center of Ghana. The population of Accra has grown steadily since the turn of the century and has swelled to 2.5 million, partly due to migration. Accra provides the grave manifestation of the effects of rapid rural-to-urban population drift. The city now has the problems of rapid, unplanned growth typical of large African cities: squatter settlements, over-crowded housing and schools, and an inadequate infrastructure of roadways, sanitation, piped water, electricity, transportation public systems. In Ghana, the estimated HIV prevalence rate is 1.9-2.6% (UNAIDS, 2007) with a female to male ratio of (1.8-1) that is one of the highest female ratios in Africa. Prevalence of HIV among women is on higher side (1.1%) compared to 0.1% among men in the same age group (UNAIDS/HPMA, 2005). Theoretical framework of problem analysis Ernest Ravenstein, an English geographer and widely regarded as the earliest migration theorist, used census data from England and Wales to develop his "Laws of Migration" (1889). He propounded that migration was governed by a "push-pull" process; that is, unfavorable conditions in one place (poverty and economic deprivations, oppressive laws, heavy taxation, etc.) "push" people out, and favorable conditions in an external location "pull" them in. Ravenstein's laws stated that the primary cause for migration was better external economic opportunities; the volume of migration decreases as distance increases; migration occurs in stages instead of one long move; population movements are bilateral; and migration differentials (e.g. gender, social class, age) influence a person's mobility. Awumbila and Ardayfio-Schandorf (2008) maintain that the unusual trend of women only migration from northern Ghana is a multi layered phenomenon, and various factors that cause migration interact with each other and are interrelated. Following is the summary of reasons and contributing factors, which have been identified by the group for such migration.

Diagnostic analysis
Historical factors

Ghana has a long history of internal (especially rural to urban) migration. The roots of the pattern of labor migration in Ghana can be traced back to the British colonial rule. Historically as a result of British colonial policy, the north was promoted largely as a labor reserve for the south (Awumbila 2007). During the heydays of British Colonial rule, in their quest for commercial opportunities and raw materials, British and other European companies, assisted by their governments, set up subsidiaries in the coastal cities of Accra, Cape Coast, and later Kumasi to exploit the country's (then known as Gold Coast) rich mineral deposits and forest resources such as timber and rubber. These cities were used as the base for export of minerals like Gold, Bauxite and Manganese, timber products through the ports located in the southern coast. To provide raw materials needed by industrial establishments in the European countries, the stated economic policy of the British colonizers was to promote the production of export-oriented cash crops like Cocoa in southern Ghana. This triggered uneven urban growth concentrated in the cities of coastal southern Ghana like Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast, and Sekondi-Takoradi. These urban centres were provided amenities and infrastructural facilities such as schools, roadways, hospitals, and industrial and economic projects while the hinterlands like rural Savannah region were left virtually unaffected by the economic progress that was taking place on the coast. Having an edge over other hinterland rugged areas like Savannah, which did not receive attention from colonialists, the cities of southern Ghana became magnets to pull the labor migrations from the northern Ghana. Even after the attainment of political independence, these areas continued to receive preferential treatment as sites for investment expenditures. Endowed with fertile agricultural land and cheap labor, the rural areas became the centers for international agribusiness ventures and plantations. These international companies were able to acquire land by various means. Where land was communally owned, those who served as trustees of the land often sold or leased it to the companies. In other cases, the government itself expropriated large tracts of land and turned them over to the companies for various financial considerations. The result was that subsistence farmers had to give up their land holdings and find alternative sources of employment. The profits agricultural companies made from the sale of raw materials were not reinvested in the rural economy. The exploitation of natural resources without a policy of economic development left the rural areas impoverished, thus triggering the drift from rural to urban Ghana. Regional disparities and skewed development policies

The replacement of subsistence farming with a cash crop and an export-oriented agricultural economy continued in Ghana even after political independence from England was achieved in 1957. The reasons for the failure on the part of the post-independence governments of Ghana to rectify this problem are not difficult to trace. Some economic reasons are evident. As the export of cash crops provided the bulk of foreign exchange for Ghana's postcolonial government, the revenue earned from the production of cash crops far outweighed the economic benefits derived from the production of subsistence crops The export-oriented cash crop economy meant that the government had no incentive to invest in the establishment of local processing industry. Ghana, like many developing countries, continued to provide cheap agricultural raw materials to the developed countries in exchange for foreign aid. For these reasons, the emphasis on export-oriented agricultural production had continued in Ghanaian policies. This trend of rising unemployment in rural Savannah region was further compounded by the existence of regional imbalances in socio-economic development within the country, which have collectively accelerated the phenomenon of migration. Welfare indicators such as school enrolments and basic amenities like availability of clean water supply are worse for this region. The rural poor are concentrated in the rainfall-dependant parts of northern and central Ghana, which continue to have low agricultural productivity, while the bulk of the jobs are being created in Southern Ghana. As the developed areas had increased demand for labor, the increase in migration was further compounded by regional differences and population pressure on land, inequality of infrastructure, lack of industrial development and increased marginalization of agriculture as a source of livelihood. The densely populated areas of the southern regions stand in contrast with the sparsely populated, underdeveloped, and predominantly rural areas of the Northern and Upper regions. In the latter two regions, the effects of ecological disasters and long spells of drought have made these areas the least developed in the country, with most citizens eking out an existence by growing millet and raising cattle. The production, marketing and distribution of cocoa, as well as other auxiliary services associated with the cocoa trade are located in the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo and Eastern regions. The gold, bauxite, manganese and diamond fields are also located in the Ashanti and Western regions Hence, the drift of labor in Ghana continued unabated from the impoverished rural areas of the country to the southern and mid-central cone which is comprised of cities such as Accra and Tema (Greater Accra region), Kumasi, Sunyani, Konongo, Obuasi (Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo regions), Cape Coast, SekondiTakoradi (Central and Western regions).
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Adverse impact of structural adjustment program Under Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP), advocated by IMF & World Bank & implemented in Ghana since 1980s, large scale farming and export led commercial crop production has been promoted, completely neglecting subsistence based food grain farming. SAP have largely been based on the assumption that productivity improvements are easier to obtain in the export oriented crops like cocoa as opposed to subsistence or locally-traded crops sector, and that the increase in income stemming from export production will ensure national food security (Joekes, 1991). Thus, in agriculture, the benefits of structural adjustment have largely accrued to medium and larger farmers in the cocoa sector in the southern and coastal region out further impoverishing northern Ghanas women farmers. As a consequence of SAP, more resources (land, labor, and inputs, including research) have been reallocated from subsistence production to the production of export crops. The implications of this shift are many, especially for women farmers of Savannah region, engaged in the subsistence farming sector and whose ability to move into export crops is limited by various constraints, including: (a) time (double burden of productive and reproductive tasks); (b) systemic (low access to credit, technological packages and marketing); and (c) socio-cultural (traditional responsibility for feeding and care of the household). Women farmers already limited access to resources is further constrained given the low priority accorded to the subsistence farming sector. These adverse impacts of SAP have created high levels of distress and have pushed women to destitution and migration as coping up strategy. Gender related factors Hashim (2005) argues that women in Ghana are viewed as only temporary members of their households, since they move to their husbands village on marriage. She states that girls are less embedded in the social, cultural and economic relations of their agnatic kin (Hashim 2005). The Northern Regions have patriarchal societies in which families are headed by males with one or several wives and children. The traditional gender roles comprise of the husband acting as the head of the family who also controls resources (such as land) in the family. Within the household, there is a gender division of labor on the basis of age and sex. Women and men have their roles clearly defined in their contribution towards the upkeep of the household. Political and religious roles in the community are primarily assigned to the men. Allocation of resources, status, roles and duties between women and men are determined by factors such as descent, succession and inheritance, paternity and economic potential. However, gender inequalities are manifested in the feminization of poverty, as the
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study of Awumbila (2007) on the gender dimensions of poverty in Ghana shows. She explains that data for Ghana suggest that women have a higher incidence of poverty than men, that their poverty is more severe than that of men, and that there may be a trend towards greater poverty among women, especially associated with rising rates of female-headed households. Sociological reasons The sociological research on migrant women has revealed that most of the Kayayei women who are married do not migrate with their husband, but leave their husbands in their hometowns. Twumasi-Ankrah (1995) has brought out other determining factors, such as the lack of prestige of farm work, the social degradation and stigma associated with rural living, and the lack of appropriate jobs and social amenities as the major driver for migration. The recent stream of young female migrants circulating between northern Ghana and Accra, where they tend to work as porters (Kayayei), has been shown to be related to poverty, lack of education and employment opportunities, and the need to accumulate wealth in preparation for marriage (Awumbila and Ardayfio-Schandorf , 2008).

Critique of existing poverty reduction strategies of Ghana

Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) of Ghanas macroeconomic and social policies and programs to promote growth and reduce poverty, as well as associated external financing needs are prepared by governments with its development partners, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). IMF's loan conditions focus on monetary and fiscal issues. They emphasize programs to address inflation and balance of payment problems, often requiring specific levels of cut backs in total government spending. The adjustment programs of the World Bank highlight market liberalizations, seen as promoting growth theory expanding exports particularly cash crops. According to James Sackey, former World Bank Country Representative in West Africa, these instructions include privatizations, trade liberalization, high interest rates etc. Trade liberalization for under-developed economies could have some serious attendant effects. Critics also say that these policies have reduced the level of social safety and worsened labor and environmental standards in developing countries. GPRS provide the basis for World Bank and IMF assistance as well as debt relief under the heavily indebted Ghana. These strategies bring out the usual IMF/World Bank thrust on creating favorable conditions for private sector led growth.

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The Ghana Growth & Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS I), which was formulated in 2001 and implemented over the period 2003-2005 had the stated objective to realign the government interventions to improve the conditions for implementation of policies designed to promote economic growth. The emphasis was on macroeconomic stability, higher private investment, improvement in public sector delivery programs and also incentives to stimulate the private sector to increase and sustain the production of basic staples, production of selected export crops, and a vigorous expansion of employment in sectors such as tourism. The strategy also focused on measures designed to improve access of Ghana's population to basic needs and essential services. These programs included basic education, safe water and improved health and environmental sanitation. The main weakness of the strategy adopted under the GPRS I to reduce poverty is its reliance on macroeconomic stability as a mechanism for accelerated economic growth without the corresponding structural reforms and physical infrastructural development. There was almost total absence of effective strategies to reduce the gender disparities in terms of access to education, healthcare, agricultural credit and education for poor rural women. Ghana Government launched a successor national development policy framework - the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy II (GPRS II) for the period 2006-2009 which had primary approach of supporting the private sector to create wealth. Emphasis was placed on restructuring the economy by diversifying the export base, and increasing agricultural productivity, processing and storage facilities. GPRS II prioritized certain areas for policy action e.g. improving Ghana's access to global and regional markets; strengthening of firms' competency and capacity to operate effectively and efficiently; enhancing government capacity policy formulation for private sector participation, facilitate the removal of institutional and legal bottlenecks and facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship.

Lack of gender focus As mentioned earlier, poverty in Ghana has important gender implications. The connection between education, female household heads and income earning capability is a good reason to worry about the fact that only 6% of females aged 15 years and over had attained higher than secondary school education. Nearly 35% of all household heads are females. About 61% (53%) of female household heads in the urban (rural) area fall in the poorest 20% of the population. Although Ghana vision 2020 mentions about the importance of addressing gender issues through policies and programs and focus on improving economic opportunities for
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women; improving women human capital through investment in girl-child education and womens health and improving the institutional capacity for policy making to ensure that gender issues are adequately incorporated into the policy making process. However, a closer examination of Ghanas poverty reduction strategies reveal that much not has been done to incorporate the gender component in the policy framework.

Rationale for alternatives

There is a definite need for women centric and gender sensitive interventions and their mainstreaming in overall growth and poverty reduction strategies of the country. Womens lack of skills and their social deprivation from equal access to formal sector credit are responsible for relegating women in low-return economic activities. The lack of gainful wage employment for the households residing in impoverished Northern regions push people to take recourse to migration. Hence there is a need to address the livelihood needs of the people. We are proposing following three new policy alternatives: 1. Wage employment model 2. Micro-credit and womens self help group model 3. Agro-based model: supporting women smallholders We will provide a detailed analysis of the ramifications caused by implementing each of the policies above and compare these three alternatives to the current state based on the impact criteria. This will allow us to compare how effective each of the alternatives is in meeting our goal. We will then compare the effectiveness of each with respect to the current state. This will allow us to provide a recommendation as to which of the proposed policies are better than the current state. Evaluation criteria We have the following evaluative criteria for the evaluation of the alternative approaches to address the problem of distress migration, poverty mitigation and the generation of income generating livelihoods.
1. Equity : Addressing income disparity across the region and reducing gender disparity in

regard to access to resources

2. Efficiency : Cost effectiveness and ability to meet overall objective 3. Feasibility : Ensuring the politically acceptability and administrative viability 4. Sustainability : Continuity and affordability in longer run and institutionalization 14

Alternative # 1: Wage employment model based on Indias National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Model
Concept of Public Wage Employment Program Public wage employment programs have been an important measure of poverty alleviation worldwide and are being implemented in various forms. Such programs comprise the government giving work to the people on daily wage payment basis either in cash or in kind e.g. food. Such programs have generally been introduced in response to crisis of unemployment and poverty, stemming from macroeconomic policies (such as structural adjustment programs) or agro-climatic shocks (such as droughts etc.). Some programs, e.g. Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Scheme initiated to mitigate disaster like drought in early 1970s, got absorbed to become a social policy response to poverty & rural unemployment. The success of this scheme paved the way for a series of national wage employment programs in India since 1983 with the objective to provide work for specified number of days per year to rural landless poor. In 2005, replacing those schemes, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was passed which guarantees 100 days of low-wage employment in a year on public works programs to every rural household in India. In Africa, such public works programs are less common. Drought-ravaged Ethiopia is an exception where Food for Work Program was implemented as the safety net for providing food in exchange of manual labor. South Africa has also launched a program offering work at wage rate to all unemployed willing to work. However, no public employment program giving employment to rural poor has been launched in Ghana so far.

Benefits of Public Employment Programs Employment Guarantee program has multi-faceted economic, social and regional benefits. It operates in the rights space, as it is another variant of Right to Work (in limited rural context), which provide social safety net to poor and vulnerable. It contributes in solving basic-needs insufficiencies at the household level through the income earned as well as through the provision of services that beneficiaries can create and access. It improves human capital at the individual, local and national levels. It reduces pressure on informal labor markets by providing opportunity to the individuals to get a reasonably paid job in the public sector. In general, such program can contribute to picking up the shortfall in the case of cyclical and/or structural unemployment, creating a floor for wage levels, and maintaining

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wage and price stability (Radhika Lal et al, 2010). Also, there have been indirect benefits to the poor from the resulting infrastructure or other outputs. Among all the public employment programs, the program being implemented in India giving legal guarantee of unskilled work to all rural households has a unique place. The inclusion of the rights-based approach in this program has strengthened the developmental role of the program through political empowerment of the marginalized that guarantees employment and wages to all those who demand it. We will first examine the main features of this model. Employment Guarantee Program of India The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in India, enacted by legislation on August 25, 2005, provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wages (presently 100 (US $2.17) per day). This commitment is clearly a landmark event in the history of poverty reduction strategies in the world. Under the NREGA, every adult members of a rural household willing to do work register themselves with the local village body i.e. Gram Panchayat and get a Job Card issued. On demand for employment by a Job Card holder in writing to the Gram Panchayat, employment shall have to be given within prescribed period (15 days); otherwise daily unemployment allowance will have to be paid to job card holder whose liability lies with the States. All households, whether below poverty line or above poverty line, are entitled for work under the scheme. Equal wages are paid to both men and women. The person can indicate his choice for the nature, place and timing of the work and the work is given to him accommodating these choices to the extent possible. Works must be targeted towards a set of specific rural development activities such as: water conservation and harvesting, land development, afforestation, rural connectivity, flood control and protection, etc. At least one-third beneficiaries are to be women who have registered and requested work under the scheme. Women-friendly facilities such as crche, drinking water, shade have to be provided at each work site, so as to encourage women participation in work in large number. A lot of record-keeping is done at all levels of administrative machinery to ensure transparency. Public grievance mechanism and social audit system has also been included for better monitoring and vigilance of the program.

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The NREGA scheme was originally implemented in rural areas of 200 selected backward districts of the country. Later, it was extended to all the 600 odd districts. Impact of NREGA Studies have shown that the NREGA has raised the productivity, increased the purchasing power, reduced distress migration and helped in creation of durable assets in rural India. An indirect benefit of the program is that it has acted as insurance for rural workers against unemployment, although the increase in income generated may not be substantial. Furthermore, it has stabilized income for rural households as more work has been provided in the agricultural off-period. It has also assisted income-smoothing among the poor and reduced their need to make distressed adjustments like cutting down on food expenditure, sale of livestock, resorting to moneylenders loans on exorbitant interest rates, or migrating to other areas for work. There are positive evidence that the NREGA has engaged women informal labor in paid wage employment, reduced drudgeries and helped to enhance their economic independence and self esteem (Ghosh, 2006). Impact assessment study of NREGA conducted by researchers in a State in India has shown that the program has reduced migration by 15-20 per cent in some villages (Jacob, 2008). Field level observations showed that this reduction is seen especially in the case of women who stay behind in the expectation that they will get work locally. How the Model will work in Ghana Ghana Government has been investing in human capital through formal training programs to develop their skills and increase productivity, with an overall objective to combat unemployment. It is, however, observed that while targeted training helps workers to get access to jobs, a singular focus on training may fall short as a general approach to address the needs of the long-term unemployed when structural unemployment is high or labor demand is insufficient. It is argued that public policy that favors training without commensurate job creation puts the cart before the horse and is unlikely to succeed (Radhika Lal, 2010). Without creation of new jobs, the newly trained staff will simply displace previously employed workers who will then join the ranks of the unemployed. Thus, jobs must be made available that can take workers as they are regardless of their skills, education, or personal characteristics. From this perspective, employment creation through public work programs can be of great help to the unemployed section of the society of Ghana in earning their livelihood, at least as a short term measure.

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Low employment opportunities and relatively higher poverty levels in northern Ghana has been the compelling factors for the migration of labor to the Southern regions, especially women who land up in Kayayei practice due to their lack of skills for work. In such situation, a wage employment program on the lines of NREGA giving work to rural households in northern Ghana holds great promise in arresting migration by assuring them wage employment within their areas. In the three northern regions of Ghana, only around 5% of the economically active population (those above 15 years age) is employed in public sector and around 10% are unemployed. Among employed category, about 23% are unpaid family workers who are not getting any economic returns for their work. Though government policies have been quite successful in promoting export-based economic growth in the country, it has lead to widening of rural-urban divide and income disparity in southern and northern Ghana. Wage employment through public works to the poor in Northern Ghana could be one of the effective ways of reducing these inequalities. Implementation issues NREGA, being one of the largest single rights-based social protection initiatives in the world, requires huge amount of funding in India, ranging around 1% of GDP. So, affordability of the program is an issue. Economists have argued that in principle, sovereign governments can always financially afford to provide jobs to unemployed workers as government spending in sovereign currency systems is not limited by the ability of the state to raise revenue. Still, while trying to adopt similar model in Ghana, it may be difficult to mobilize funds of that order by the Government. To address this issue, we propose to adopt phased approach by launching the program only in three regions of northern Ghana (northern, upper east and upper west) and restricting it only to the households which are below poverty line. By limiting the scale of operation and targeting only that section of the population which needs employment support the most, one can keep the budget of the program within manageable limits. It would be imperative for the Ghana Government to make provision of funding for this program out of their own budget so that the commitment of the government for the program is reflected. For this, the government can consider augmenting their revenue generation by imposing surcharge on big export houses and people in high income group. This will help in reducing inequality in income among different sections of the society. Alternatively, if full amount could not be allocated, the balance funds could be met through multilateral donor agencies, as is the case for the food security program in Ethiopia which is supported by a consortium of donors with Government of Ethiopia providing support only in kind form such as staff, office space, etc.
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Ghana can consider launching wage employment scheme without any legal guarantee to start with, as is the case worldwide except India. But experience has shown that assurances given under such schemes may not always be fulfilled by the respective governments due to various limiting factors unless it is a legal obligation for them. Keeping in view the salutary effect of such legal commitment in providing insurance to the rural people against unemployment, legislation backed employment guarantee scheme would be desirable. Proper institutional arrangements will have to be made to ensure effective implementation of the program in Ghana. At the national level, the program could be run by the Ministry of Employment & Social Welfare. At the local level, it could be administered by the District Assemblies (DAs) in each of the districts under direct control of District Chief Executive and Regional Coordination Council (RCC) could perform monitoring and vigilance role at the regional level. Administrative machinery of optimal size will have to be set up at the district level. Different departments should actively participate in the program and encourage use of labor generated under the program for execution of their works. Training and capacity building of the officials/staff of implementing departments should be built in the program. Ensuring an employment guarantee of 100 days year after year on a continuous basis will not be an easy task for Ghana. This will be feasible only if: (i) works are planned in a way that they generate a continuous flow of employment, and (ii) the employment guaranteed under the act keeps creating assets that generate sustainable employment avenues in the mainstream economy for a part of the labor force that demands work under the act. The latter will tend to reduce the demand for work under the employment guarantee act, gradually reducing the need for the act. If this does not happen, the employment guarantee act will become a permanent drain on the public exchequer raising sustainability issue. So, the guaranteed wage employment cannot be treated as a pure welfare activity, instead it must be used productively for creating assets that generate sustainable employment avenues in the mainstream economy. Right to work will be given equally to both women and men under the program, but it would be essential to work for gender equity as arresting migration of women to southern Ghana is one of the key objectives for running the program in Ghana. Experience of NREGA shows that large portion of the work force on public works used to be women, since men in general get employment elsewhere at better wage rates. Employment needs to be generated in the vicinity of the households and child care facilities should be provided at the worksites to ensure greater participation of women. While NREGA had reserved 33.3% of employment for women in each work, we propose that women reservation can be enhanced to 50% whiling adapting the program in Ghana.
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Instances have been reported regarding siphoning of government money and corruption by the officials/gram Panchayat( Rural Local self Government) bodies in implementing NREGA in India. In order to safeguard the employment guarantee program in Ghana from these malpractices, we need to ensure strong beneficiary participation, community oversight and involvement of civil society/NGOs in the program implementation. Mandatory social audits, increasing public awareness and well laid out public grievance redressal mechanism, are some of the means to ensure accountability of the government officials in service delivery and program implementation. Once Right to Information act is passed in Ghana which is lying in the Parliament, it will give a potent tool to the people to enforce accountability in program implementation. Strengths and Weaknesses Equity: The program is desirable from equity considerations as it is targeted towards employment generation for the poor & low-income households thereby helping to reduce income disparities. As 50% work is proposed to be reserved for women, this model will also lead to gender equity. Feasibility: Since the program is going to generate employment for the poor, it should find favor with the political classes in Ghana, esp. as pro-people democratic system has been adopted in the country since 1992. Making it a legal guarantee through legislation would mean that the political class cannot project employment generation as their largesse; instead they would become answerable to the people for providing adequate work at all times. So, some efforts will have to be made to convince the political class of the merits of doing this. On the balance, being populist in nature, program will be politically feasible in Ghana. A new administrative set up will have to be put in place at the field level for program implementation which will come at some cost. But, we feel that it would be administratively feasible to implement the program if there is a political will. Efficiency: The administrative deficiencies and chances of misuse of money raise concern over efficiency aspect of the program. However, by having detailed monitoring & oversight arrangement and mandatory social audits, the administrative machinery can be made accountable and program efficiency be enhanced. Program will help in improving efficiency of labor market by arresting migration esp. of women and by ensuring wage stability. Sustainability: Assets created under the program in the rural areas should be such that it generates sustainable employment opportunities in the mainstream economy. This will lead to

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reduction in the work demand and the provision cost associated with it, thereby making the program sustainable.

Alternative # 2: Micro credit and womens self-help group based on Bangladesh Grameen Bank model
Bangladesh Grameen Bank model of micro-credit and womens self help group based self employment, propounded by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has been identified as one of the most effective tool for gender based strategy of poverty reduction in recent times. It is a mechanism under which credit can be provided to the poorest of the poor on a group liability basis instead of individual collateral. The Grameen Bank believes that poor have skills which remain unutilized or under-utilized and poverty is created by the institutions and policies which surround the poor. In order to eliminate poverty, it is imperative to make appropriate changes in the institutions and policies, and create new ones, if they are nonexistent. Creation of self employment through micro enterprises requires investment in small working capital and obtaining of credit becomes only option available. Brief background Professor Muhammad Yunus, then Head of the Rural Economics Program at the University of Chittagong, observed that banks were not inclined to extend their credit schemes to the rural poor as they were not considered creditworthy. Poor were being forced to approach moneylenders who charge exorbitant rates of interest. In 1976, he launched The Grameen Bank Project, on an experimental basis to study the framework of banking services for the rural poor. The principal objectives of the Bangladesh Grameen Bank are providing banking services to the rural poor, eliminating exploitation of the rural poor by moneylenders, facilitating selfemployment projects for unemployed rural people and making women self-reliant by providing them opportunities through Grameen Bank. In the words of Prof Muhammad Yunus (1995), To reverse the vicious cycle of - low income, low saving & low investment, into a new cycle of "low income, credit, investment, more income, more credit, more investment, more income." Grameen Bank made giant strides and expanded its operations very rapidly. From 15,000 borrowers in 1980, the membership increased to 2.3million and from a figure of US $498 in 1976, the bank's total disbursements increased to US $170.39 million. With 1,170 branches across Bangladesh, Grameen Bank is seen as a role model for
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microfinance all over the world and has resulted in widespread attempts to replicate it in many countries. It was replicated across the world -- not only in developing countries like India, Pakistan, and Vietnam, but even in developed countries such as Australia and the USA, where similar schemes were set up to improve the lives of the urban poor. General features of the model Most distinctive feature of Micro credit is that it is not based on any collateral or legally enforceable contracts. It is based on "trust", not on legal procedures and system. It provides credit service at the door-step of the poor. In order to obtain loans a borrower must form selfhelp groups, called solidarity groups in Ghana and then join a group of borrowers, called credit association. Loans can be received in a continuous sequence. Generally these loans are given through non-profit organizations or through institutions owned primarily by the borrowers. If it is done through for-profit institutions not owned by the borrowers, efforts are made to keep the interest rate at a level which is close to a level commensurate with sustainability of the program rather than bringing attractive return for the investors. Grameen credit's thumb-rule is to keep the interest rate as close to the market rate, prevailing in the commercial banking sector, as possible, without sacrificing sustainability. In fixing the interest rate market interest rate is taken as the reference rate, rather than the moneylenders' rate. Grameen Banks micro credit model gives high priority on building social capital. It is promoted by developing leadership qualities through annual election of credit associations. To develop a social agenda owned by the borrowers, NGOs undertakes a process of training and intensive deliberations among the borrowers, and encourages them to take these decisions seriously and implement them. It gives special emphasis on the formation of human capital; build community capacity to help girls education by providing scholarships and education loans. The most remarkable achievement of the Grameen bank model is that it revolutionized the rural peoples attitudes towards women and their work. In an orthodox Muslim religious society like Bangladesh, women have historically been subjugated to early marriage, excessive child bearing, illiteracy and unemployment. Even today, labor participation from women in Bangladesh is 9.1% of the aggregate labor force, but Grameen bank has increased womens participation in economic activities as 93% of the borrowers are women. Grameen bank model has been a success story in reaching out to target group most effectively in delivering the credit package without middlemen or brokers. It has successfully
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mobilized poor rural women, improved their economic conditions and enhanced their self esteem and social status Micro finance based development strategy for northern Ghanaian women The Bangladesh Grameen bank model has created a methodology of microfinance and institutional framework to cater the financial needs of the poor women, and provided access to credit on reasonable terms enabling them to build on their existing skill to earn a better income in each cycle of loans. As evident from above analysis, micro-finance can be an effective tool for poverty reduction and credit service delivery mechanisms for targeting the productive and skilled poor women of northern Ghana. Poor women in Northern Ghana suffer from lack of access to institutional credit, support services and enterprise development, diversification of income generating productive enterprises. Hence, micro credit appears to be a viable model for income generating enterprise based livelihoods for them. Ghana has a network of 135 Regional Rural Banks working under the supervision of Bank of Ghana. We are proposing setting up of National Bank of Ghana for Rural development, on the pattern of Bangladesh Grameen bank of Bangladesh and NABARD in India. This can be carved out from Nodal Bank of Ghana and a specialized bank to address the credit need of rural poor with focus on women. The objective of the above bank would be to provide micro credit with top priority to womens Self help groups with an overall objective to generate income generating opportunities and employment of the target poor women specially those amenable to distress migration to southern cities. Solidarity groups are primarily community owned institutions which evolve through a process of social mobilization wherein the poor are organized and their capacities built up to tackle various issues that are critical for mitigating poverty and ultimately overcoming it. It emphasizes on capacity building by creating self-managed grass-roots institutions. Micro credit approach combines access to low-cost financial services with a process of self management and development for the women who are SHG members. SHGs enable women to grow their savings, which they continue to do in the su-su groups and to access the credit which banks are increasingly willing to lend. SHGs can also be community platforms from which women become active in village affairs, stand for local election or take action to address social or community issues. The SHGs may give Ghanaian women the tools to build financial and social stability through decision making and livelihood activities like agriculture, dairy, poultry, handicraft and other

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rural non farm sector activities. In most of the successful interventions, SHGs are linked to the formal banking system or microfinance institutions for accessing credit. Adaptation of the model to Ghana Formation of self-help groups & credit associations The first step would be to organize 10 to 12 six women into self help or solidarity groups. Five or six of such solidarity groups within the same community could join Credit Savings Association of 30 to 36 women. Under this each member of the solidarity group guarantees one another in case of default. Each association would elect President, Treasurer, Porter and Educational Animator and a Secretary among its members to run its affairs. Newly formed Credit Associations would be undergoing weekly training sessions for a minimum period of four weeks on groups dynamics, business skills and health / nutrition. The capacity building of the women members of the credit associations would be facilitated by professionally trained trainers to be drawn from Non profit Organizations active in the northern and central Ghana. After an association has undergone the required training, required loans would be disbursed after which weekly savings are made and the Credit Officers collect repayments. Each association meets once a week with one of the Banks credit officers (promoters) for 2 hours. Thirty (30) minutes of the meeting time is devoted for educational sessions. The initial loan given is 100,000 Cedi per person and each subsequent cycle increased by 50%. The borrowers contribute 1% of the loan disbursed into a group fund that could be assessed by any of the association members. Community involvement/ participation Chiefs, elders and opinion leaders of these towns would be actively involved right from the program concept and they are first and foremost tasked with the responsibility of organizing the members into groups. They would provide the critical community collateral from the Council of Village Elders under the leadership of the Village Chief or community chief. In situations of loans default, the Chiefs and Elders are involved in the recovery of loans. Strengths and weaknesses Strengths: This alternative would provide an enabling platform for unleashing the
innate abilities of the poor rural women to overcome poverty. Micro credit and Self Help Group represent a unique approach to financial intermediation coupled with women empowerment. The approach combines access to low-cost financial 24

services with a process of self-management and development for the women. Following are the points of strength on each of the evaluative criteria.

Equity: The program participant women at the Rural Banks catchment areas would get self employment opportunities within their region ameliorating the root causes of distress migration to the urban centers of Southern Ghana. By generating large scale self-employment opportunities through women run micro enterprises as a result of enhanced access to microfinance, this alternative would be promoting gender equity. This model will provide an enabling mechanism to realize the potential to poor women of northern Ghana and will address income inequities in northern and southern Ghana. Efficiency: This alternative would provide low-cost financial services with a process of selfmanagement to the poor women of northern Ghana. Group lending would ensure the success of self-employment projects and reduce the transaction costs. Timely delivery of credit to group beneficiaries would ensure high recovery. Using the group methodology, micro finance can have a wider outreach than normal commercial banking loan products. Feasibility: The project has high feasibility as success of women associations is feasible due to present cultural norms in Ghana where women entrepreneurs have shown high degree of voluntarism, resilience and integrity. The micro credit model would give women the
tools to build financial and social stability through decision making and livelihood activities like agriculture, dairy, poultry, handicraft and other rural non farm sector activities

Sustainability: The project has institutional, infrastructural and socio-political sustainability. Given the necessary credit, the confidence of women in the society would build up. This will reflect in greater involvement of women in the community activities. Weaknesses: Lack of formal education and awareness about banks norms of credit delivery would be a major constraint in organizing women in solidarity groups and credit associations. Another source of problem is in engaging the whole community for providing the necessary societal support and community collateral is the typical structure of Northern Ghana which is patriarchic and male dominating. Surmounting the backlash from tribal chiefs and moneylenders (the influential operators of existing Local Susu groups) may cause bottlenecks in the implementation of this model.

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Though there is no need to create new institutions and the proposed Ghana Bank for Rural development would be carved out from existing Ghana State Bank, it will still entail some cost of creating additional posts and ensuring flow of experienced human resources. This alternative will require introductions of new structures and procedures the way women seeking the micro credit are proposed to be organized in credit associations. Hence, there is some degree of uncertainty about success of Group lending, group formation and animation, pre-determines the success of the projects and reduces the transaction cost of credit. Lot of efforts for training and backstopping need to be invested into strengthening of rural banks, NGOs and women credit associations involved in the core processes of program management to make this alternative sustainable.

Alternative # 3: Agriculture-based model: Supporting women smallholders

Agriculture in Ghana Agriculture is the main contributor to overall GDP of the country with little over 37.94 percent (Ghana Statistical Service, 2004) and the population employed by this sector is over 60 percent. However, the contribution of the rural northern Ghanas agriculture to overall GDP and its performance has been only modest. This low-productivity could be explained by the sluggishness of the technologies, gender inequalities in access to land, extension services, and financial services in addition to the environmental challenges, which are the main obstacles in the growth of agriculture in the rural north. Climate Climate in northern Ghana is much drier in comparison to the South. This is mainly explained by the fact that the northern Ghana is located close to Sahel and Sahara. Rainy season is from April to September with the average rainfall of 750-1050 mm, and the period from October to April is mostly dry. Northern Ghana is also prone to seasonal winds, which is usually from December to February. Causing soil erosion the wind pattern is one of the main factors of low soil fertility. According to Blench (1999), soil erosion in northern Ghana is further pushed by factor of deforestation by farmers with the purpose of either increasing cropping area or using trees in the household for cooking etc. As a result, removal of trees and all other kind of land covers leave the area prone to wind erosion. Farming

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Like the rest of the country, agriculture in northern Ghana is smallholder1 dominated. Average smallholder farm size in the country is 3.9 ha and this group of smallholders account for 80 percent of agricultural production. The main food crops cultivated in northern Ghana are roots and tubers (cassava, yam), cereals (maize, rice, sorghum, millet) and cowpea and groundnut. Among these crops only rice, cassava, yam are not drought-resistant and are cultivated in swampy lowlands and valleys. Women play very important role in smallholder dominated agricultural life of northern Ghana. According to Fontana and Joekes (1998), about 90 percent of women in Ghana are self-employed or work as unpaid family labor in farming, agro-based enterprises, or smallscale manufacturing in the informal sector with low productivity and low incomes. In family farms, in addition to taking care of household and rearing children, they also actively participate in harvesting process, but men are the ones controlling the household capital and are the main final decision-makers. Nevertheless, women accounting for more than 50 percent of smallholders in Northern Ghana face societal, cultural, financial restrictions. The most common ones are land rights, access to credit, and lack of skills among others.

Land rights Legal framework in Ghana recognizes rightful access of women to land. Both 1992 Republican Constitution of Ghana and land legislations and policies guarantee protection of women land rights, however there are some weaknesses. In Ghana, 78 percent of land is owned by customary authorities (stools, skins, clans and Families) and only 22 percent is state owned. The main access to customary lands is through inheritance and mostly in the families, sons inherit the land and women can inherit land if there is no male inheritant in the family. Womens access to customary lands is only through marriage. Women can also lease property however; the owners of the land ask the presence of the male partners in the leasing process. It means that if the woman is not married or do not have a partner this could create difficulties in the leasing process. There are more restrictions to land for women in northern Ghana than south despite of the fact that women in the north account for 70 percent of production of subsistence crops and for 90 percent of the labor force (An overview of Laps Gender Initiative, 2009). In northern Ghana the law is being ignored and the tribal rules continue dominating in terms of
1 There are various definitions of smallholder. While some say it is the size of the land that make farmers smallholder, others mention level of their contribution to agricultural economy.

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distribution of land. According to these rules, women are not consulted with land related issues and therefore they are not involved in decision-making process and because of the illiteracy among them, womens position with regard to inheritance has been limited. Access to credit According to a World Bank study, Women produce 80 percent of the food supply in Ghana. Yet they receive less than 10% percent of credit going to farmers and own an estimated 2% of the lands .Women smallholders in northern Ghana have limited access to financial services. One of the problems is limited number of banks and financial institutions in rural areas. According to International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) report (2000) most rural women in the northern Ghana do not have access to banks. For instance the ratio of banks to rural clients is 1:100 000, compared with the national average of 1:16 000 to 1:26 000. It means, banks are averagely in the distance of every 53 000 km2 (IFAD, 2000). At the same time household duties in the family makes it even more difficult for women to leave children and travel this long distance to get credit. Even if they are able to do travel to bank, their illiteracy creates problem in processing necessary paperwork. In northern Ghana there are also informal ways of getting credits or financial services. They are called susu groups. Susu groups offer informal financial services and do not require legal documentation and are based on personal business relationship, which is very comfortable for rural women However, susu interest rates are very high and since there is no formal documentation between moneylenders and the client, in some cases it even leads to fraud or cheating. Extensions services Extensions are offered mainly by the Ministry of Agriculture of Ghana. However, the coverage of these extensions is very small. According to IMF report (2006), the extension officer farmer ratio in Ghana is 1: 1200. Extension services include seeds, fertilizer, tractors, and irrigational infrastructure etc. The most common problem with seeds, fertilizer and tractors is difficulty of getting them on time for affordable price. Since women smallholders have limitation with mobility and resources, they are not always able to get these inputs on time and even if they are able to get them, the price at that time becomes very high. Another problem is the accessibility of small-scale technologies that women need the most in tillage. IMF reports shows that the tractor to farmer ratio is very low, remaining at 1:120,000 levels. Focusing on subsistence crops
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According to World Bank study (1995), women are the primary providers for household food production and consumption, and this factor forces them to be more inclined cultivating household food crops rather than being involved in the export-oriented sector. Irrigational facilities In addition to low soil fertility women smallholders have constraints with irrigational facilities. According to IMF report (2006), Government is mainly focused on building largescale infrastructures such as dams and disregard developing conventional irrigational methods like; valley bottom irrigational schemes (for rice) or dug outs. As there are various geographical areas in northern Ghana, different irrigational methods could be applied to different areas. For example, valley bottom schemes are good for rice cultivation and for dry Savannah zone in northern Ghana, water harvesting irrigation method could be applicable. Agriculture as Basis for Economic Growth in Northern Ghana: Supporting Women Smallholders This policy alternative considers developing women dominated agricultural sector in northern Ghana by addressing socio-cultural, financial and technological restrictions that trigger the migration of women to the cities of Accra and Kumasi to earn cash. In particular, it is supporting women smallholders by connecting them to market through increased investment and technology. If we are thinking about developing the agricultural sector and achieve economic growth, we should first think about addressing the problems distressing women smallholders. Thus, in supporting women smallholders this alternative takes a holistic approach that includes; advocacy for women smallholders land rights, increasing access to formal financial services, increasing access to extensions services, promoting export crops, improving irrigational system and connecting them to market which will slow down the ruralurban migration pattern. Advocacy for womens land rights Constitution of Ghana guarantees equality of men and women regarding to land and property rights. However, there is still need for provisional legislation passed by Parliament to guarantee womens rights to land and ensure the enforcement in the rural north where tribal rules are dominating. Most of the women smallholders in rural areas have very little knowledge of land-rights, leasing and regulations and this create limitations about inheritance and leasing. That is why; organizing seminars and trainings on land rights and process involving contractual

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agreements will help women smallholders to strengthen their position in terms of land rights and land control. Increase womens access to agricultural extensions services Agricultural extensions are one of the vital elements in increasing agricultural productivity. It tailors technical knowledge to farming practices, provides new technologies and information. However, the statistics shows the number ration of extension officers is very low in the northern Ghana. In addition, women smallholders get less extension services due to cultural norms, lack of time or mobility. In order to increase women smallholders access to agricultural extensions, following steps should be taken:

Increase number of extension officers ratio in the area. One of the problems is the complicated literature of the extension services, which creates difficulty for mostly illiterate women smallholders in understanding it. Organizing trainings and seminars on extension services could increase the participation of women in extension services.

Currently the there are very few female extension officers in the field. Most of the women smallholders prefer dealing with female agents, rather than male counterparts claiming the presence of language, cultural, status differences between them.

Increase womens access to formal financial services As formal financial sources are limited in Northern Ghana, most women smallholders in northern Ghana use the services of informal financial sources that have high interest rates and limited funds. The reason women prefer dealing with susu type informal financial sources is their limitation in mobility and time that they need for making trip to far away banks. That is why in order to increase women smallholders accessibility to formal financial services the following steps should be taken:

Increase the ratio of formal financial sources in the region. Apply the model of Rural Initiatives and Development Enterprises Ltd. (PRIDE) initiated in Kenya in 1989. This scheme was mostly serving women smallholders. Clients were required to pay annual membership fee and other payments in order to make contributions to loan insurance fund, which were refundable in case of leaving the program. If the clients fail to pay, PRIDE has other alternatives to the fund2.

2 For more information on PRIDE scheme launched in Kenya see Raising the productivity of women farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1994, Katrine Anderson Saito, Hailu Mekonnen, Daphne Spurling

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Improving irrigational system In northern Ghana dependence on rain fed agriculture is the main cause of low productivity. There are some areas with naturally moist valleys used for vegetable farming and swamp areas for rice cultivations however the dry areas depend on rainfalls. Precipitation in northern Ghana is not a problem with the average rainfall of 750-1050mm and rainy season is from April to September. The main limitation is lack of irrigational facilities. One of the irrigational technologies best suited for dry savannah zone of the northern Ghana is water-harvesting irrigational method. Successful example of this irrigational scheme comes from Burkina-Faso, Tanzania etc. Rain Water Harvesting is constructed according to ridge to valley approach, where rainfall is collected from surrounding areas and channeled as runoff onto farms to add to the rain that falls directly onto the crops. If the rainwater is managed properly for harvesting, conservation the existing water resources, then there can be a prospect for sustaining agricultural development in Northern Ghana.

Connecting women smallholders to market Allocation of credit, extensions, land rights, improving irrigational facilities will not lead to increased productivity and sustainable agricultural sector unless there is marketing infrastructure. If women smallholders increase the production of crop, one of the common problems is the constant changes of prices for crops in the market, which lead to the loss of profit. One of the ways to help smallholders to benefit from this price fluctuation and increase benefits is the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) which has been very successful in Ghana. Techno Serve NGO has introduced it in Ghana in 1989. The primary objective of this receipt system, also known as inventory credit is to benefit smallholder from seasonal price swings, which would be taken by the local traders. This system was only used for maize production of Ghana because of the high fluctuation of prices. According to WRS, farmers store their maze in the warehouse and after the product is weighed, inspected for quality, the receipts are issued to the farmers. Techno Service is not responsible for allocation of credit; instead it connects farmers to the lending institutions where the farmers get credits in an exchange of warehouse receipts. WRS has been very successful as the participating farmers were able to increase their profits on maize sales. Despite being successful, WRS is still underdeveloped and it concentrates on maize crop only. If we apply the WRS to other crops and increase the capacities and operate on a larger scale the cost of warehouse receipt administration and oversight decreases with scale. The
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more warehouses are available, the lower the cost of monitoring the system will be. As a result, the storage costs will be reduced. Strengths: Supporting women smallholders through advocacy of land rights and providing extension and financial services will reduce gender inequality in acquisition, of resources and disparity between urban South and rural North.

In addition, there is no need to establish new institutions to implement this alternative, as many institutions already exist. Considering the role of agricultural sectors playing in the country, dominance of smallholder farming, political support to agricultural development and the overall growth it can bring to the country, this policy is politically feasible.

This policy alternative includes the combination of inputs and increased farming opportunities and capacities that will help to pursue sustainability. It increases smallholders knowledge and capabilities through training and education, improving their operating environment through provision of enabling technologies and financial services and improving irrigational system.

Weaknesses:

Existing institutions are small in scope and increasing the scope of them will call for additional costs. Gestation period for this model is longer.

Comparative analysis of alternatives

In the above analysis, we examined each alternative according to the various evaluative criteria, with equity being most significant impact criteria followed by efficiency, feasibility and sustainability. We then evaluated each of the alternatives side by side using a matrix, which is given at Annexure 2. In the matrix, any alternative that was significantly better than the current state of the country received three pluses, one that was moderately better received two pluses and if it was slightly better than the current status, it received one plus. The summary position is as follows:
Wage employment guarantee model +++ Micro-credit and self-help group based model +++ Agriculture based model +++

Evaluative criteria

Equity

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Evaluative criteria

Wage employment guarantee model ++ +++ +++

Micro-credit and self-help group based model ++ ++ +

Agriculture based model +++ ++ ++

Efficiency Feasibility Sustainability

Equity: After the analysis, we concluded that all the three models are useful in addressing equity in northern Ghana. Wage employment will target the rural people, including men and women which will reduce income inequality and regional disparity and also promote gender equity. By generating self-employment opportunities for women through access to microfinance, micro-credit and self-help group based model will promote gender equity. Agricultural based model will provide extension and financial services, thus reducing gender inequality in acquisition of resources and disparity between urban South and rural North. Efficiency: When we compared the three options in the context of northern Ghana, the Micro-credit alternative and Agriculture-based model were found to be much desirable. Agriculture-based model will increase productivity in agricultural sector and lead to the economic growth. The self-help group based micro-credit model will deliver critical financial services to women in cost-effective manner with reduced cost of transaction and greater degree of recovery of loans to poor women. Wage employment model will help improve efficiency of labor market by insuring wage stability and by arresting distress migration, but there are administrative deficiencies and chances of misuse of government money. Feasibility: When comparing the three options, we found that agriculture based model is superior in terms of feasibility. Wage employment is less feasible as there is a need for new administrative machinery to be put in place and there is possibility of resistance from political class following the rights-based approach. Micro-credit based model is feasible as the support from village chiefs will build high political acceptability at the regional and national level. Considering how much role agriculture is playing in the economy of the country and the political support it is getting, we could say that agriculture based alternative is politically viable. Sustainability: The comparison of all three alternatives showed that the agriculture-based model is the most sustainable. It increases smallholders knowledge and capabilities through training and education, improving their operating environment through provision of enabling technologies and financial services. Micro-credit and self-group based model requires lot of
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efforts on the part of government and the community in terms of building the confidence of womens association, training and support from government. Wage employment model is not sustainable for long-term because of the problem of affordability; it could be sustainable only if the assets created under the program in the rural areas are such that generates sustainable employment opportunities in the mainstream economy, thereby leading to the reduction of the demand for work over time.

Recommendation
After comparing all the three alternatives, we determined that most effective policy solution could be the agriculture-based model. However, the weakness it has in efficiency and the fact that it takes more time to yield results makes it less attractive. The present scenario in Ghana as we understand it, does not allow us to recommend one single alternative as a sole prescription for the problem of migration of rural women in Ghana. We feel that it will be more pragmatic and judicious to apply the blending of above-mentioned alternatives, considering the short-term resolution of distress induced migration and medium to long term institutional adaptations of these alternatives in Ghanaian system. Based on this approach, we have worked out an implementation plan and its implications for the poverty mitigation policies for northern Ghana.

Implementation Plan and Implications

As an immediate measure to check the poverty induced distress migration of poor rural women from savannah areas, wage employment program should be initiated as it will directly address the problem of lack of income opportunities and livelihoods by generating wage employment opportunities locally. This will address the core push factor of womens migration to southern cities. Keeping in view the affordability issue, this model is proposed to be introduced in only three regions of northern Ghana and will cover people below the poverty line. With creation of durable assets under the program that generates sustainable employment avenues in mainstream economy, the demand for unskilled work will reduce over time and so, gradually this program will be phased out. Self-help group based microfinance model could be an excellent medium-term solution. This will require sufficient ground preparation and requisite institutional adaptations has to be in place. Some socio cultural bottlenecks have to be surmounted to create conducive environment for introducing micro-credit program. Activities like organizing women into solidarity groups, their familiarization with micro credit system through thrift and internal lending, building trust of local village chiefs and organizing capacity building may require 234

3 years. However, as this model would provide employment in allied and non-agricultural as well as service sectors, pressure on agriculture for sustaining livelihoods could be reduced. The availability of employment through small and micro enterprises developed under this model will protect the poor from natural disasters like droughts. Supporting women smallholders through advocacy for land-rights, increasing financial and extension services, improving irrigational system and the improved storage and marketing of produce through Warehouse Receipt System will revive agriculture as viable enterprise, boost productivity in agricultural sector, connect the smallholders to market and enhance income accruals, eventually pushing northern region out of this cycle of high level poverty and migration. This model needs to be implemented as an overall long-term alternative to the unemployment and poverty related problems in northern Ghana. If adopted, above implementation strategy will definitely have number of positive implications on poverty mitigation strategies of Ghana. On one hand, it will help to bring the course correction in existing government policies towards Northern Ghana and on other, would resolve the problem of distress migration. In the long-term, it will lead to mainstreaming of northern region to the overall socio-economic development of Ghana and address wide discontent among people of Northern Ghana. Empowerment of rural women and bringing the requisite gender equity in poverty mitigation efforts of national Government of Ghana would go a long way in integrating Northern Ghana into national development process. This probably is the most crying need of time.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Radhika Lal, Steve Miller, Maikel Lieuw-Kie-Song, Daniel Kostzer (2010). Public Works and Employment Programs: Towards a Long-term Development Approach. Working paper 66. Brasilia, DF Brazil: International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth. Sjoblom, Disa and Farrington, John (2008). The Indian National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: Will it reduce poverty and boost the economy? Overseas Development Institute, London. Waddington, C. (2003). Livelihood outcomes of Migration for Poor People, Sussex Centre for Migration Research Working paper, 51 pages. Website of NREGA under Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India at http://nrega.nic.in/netnrega/home.aspx World Bank (1995). Republic of Ghana. Vocational Skills and Informal Sector Support Project (Report No. 13691) Summary, Washington DC. Yunus, Muhammad (2003). Micro-Lending and the Battle against World Poverty. Public Affairs Books, Dhaka.

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Annexure 1
MAP OF GHANA

POLITICAL

MAP

OF GHANA

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Annexure 2 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS ALTERNATIVES

Evaluative criteria Agriculture based model supporting women smallholder Wage employment guarantee model Micro-credit and self-help group based model

Equity

Supporting women smallholders through advocacy of land rights and providing extension and financial services will reduce gender inequality in acquisition, of resources and disparity between urban South and rural North

Providing wage employment opportunities using rights based approach to unemployed people of northern Ghana will help reduce income disparities. As 50% work is proposed to be reserved for women, this model will also lead to gender equity.

By generating self-employment opportunities through access to microfinance, this alternative will promote gender equity. This model will provide an enabling mechanism to realize the potential to poor women of northern Ghana and will address income disparities in northern and southern Ghana. +++

+++

+++

Efficiency

This alternative will increase productivity in agricultural sector, which will increase the benefits for women and eventually lead to the economic growth in northern Ghana. In addition, there is no need to establish

The administrative deficiencies and chances of misuse of money raise concern over efficiency aspect of the program. However, by having detailed monitoring and oversight arrangement and mandatory social audits, the
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This approach provides low-cost financial services with a process of selfmanagement to the poor women of northern Ghana. Group formation, animation, training and group lending ensures the success of self-employment

Evaluative criteria

Agriculture based model supporting women smallholder new institutions to implement this alternative, as many institutions already exist. However, existing institutions are small in scope and increasing the scope of them will call for additional costs.

Wage employment guarantee model administrative machinery can be made accountable and program efficiency can be enhanced. Program will help in improving efficiency of labor market by arresting migration of people esp. women and by ensuring wage stability.

Micro-credit and self-help group based model projects and reduces the transaction costs of the credit. Timely delivery of credit and peer-pressure ensures high recovery. For banks, micro-finance provides cost-effective mechanism of credit disbursement.

++

++

+++

Feasibility

Considering the role of agricultural sectors playing in the country, dominance of smallholder farming, political support to agricultural development and the overall growth it can bring to the country, this policy is politically feasible

As the program provides employment to poor people, the program will be politically feasible but efforts will have to be made to let the political class loosen their grip over poor people by empowering them through legal guarantee. The existing administrative structure facilitates implementation of the program by adding one new field level set-up. As such, the program is administratively feasible.

The project has high feasibility as success of women associations is feasible due to high degree of voluntarism, resilience and integrity among them. However, it will require introductions of new structures and procedures inn the way they are proposed to organized in credit associations. Hence, there is some degree of uncertainly about success of this model. As far as, administrative feasibility is concerned Ghana already has network of 135 regional rural banks which can be easily adapted to micro-

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Evaluative criteria

Agriculture based model supporting women smallholder

Wage employment guarantee model

Micro-credit and self-help group based model finance program. The support from village chiefs may bring some political acceptability at the regional level.

++

++ +++

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Evaluative criteria

Agriculture based model supporting women smallholder

Wage employment guarantee model

Micro-credit and self-help group based model

Sustainability This policy alternative includes the combination of inputs and increased farming opportunities and capacities that will help to pursue sustainability. It increases smallholders knowledge and capabilities through training and education, improving their operating environment through provision of enabling technologies and financial services and improving irrigational system.

The program will be sustainable if the assets created under the program in the rural areas are such that generates sustainable employment opportunities in the mainstream economy, as it will lead to reduction in the demand for work under the program and the provision cost associated with it.

The project has institutional, infrastructural and socio-political sustainability. However, lot of efforts and training need to be invested into strengthening of rural banks, NGOs and women credit associations involved in the core processes of program management to make this alternative sustainable.

+++ + ++

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