Gender equality and poverty in Ghana: implicationsfor poverty reduction strategies

Mariama Awumbila

Published online: 14 February 2007� Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007

Abstract Poverty trends in Ghana show a

decline over the last two decades. However, the

period also shows evidence of the intensification

of vulnerability and exclusion among some

groups, including women. Among several vari-

ables accounting for women’s vulnerability to

poverty are gender inequalities, which it is

argued, undermines development and the pros-

pects for improving standards of living. Therefore

it has been suggested that policies, which aim at

reducing poverty and promoting sustainable

development must integrate gender equality,

equity and women’s empowerment in its goals.

Despite these, the interconnections between a

reduction in gender inequality and a reduction in

poverty are complex. The paper explores the

gender dimensions of poverty in Ghana, and how

gender inequalities are manifested and implicated

in the reproduction of poverty. It also assesses the

extent to which these have been taken into

account in poverty reduction strategies and pol-

icies to enhance the situation of women. It

concludes that if strategies to engender poverty

reduction programmes are to be sustainable it is

important to recognize unequal gender relations

and the structures of power that women confront

at all levels in Ghana and how these increase

women’s vulnerability to poverty.

Keywords Development � Empowerment �Gender equality � Ghana � Poverty � Women

Introduction

Data shows that the extent of poverty in Africa is

not only large, but that poverty increased both in

absolute and relative terms in the 1990s (World

Bank, 2001a). Poverty in Ghana, as elsewhere, is a

complex phenomenon and takes many forms. As a

result its definition and measurement is not without

problems. It is now widely recognized that poverty

is multi-dimensional, with complex interactive and

causal relationships among the dimensions. Defi-

nitions of poverty have therefore been broadened

to encompass dimensions such as lack of empow-

erment, opportunity, capacity and security.

Among the several variables associated with

poverty is gender. It is argued that the processes

by which people become poor and the ways in

which they experience poverty are related to

their position and situation in society. Data for

Ghana, suggests 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

M. Awumbila (&)Department of Geography and ResourceDevelopment, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG59,Legon, Accra, Ghanae-mail: mawumbil@ug.edu.gh

123

GeoJournal (2006) 67:149–161

DOI 10.1007/s10708-007-9042-7

poverty among women, especially associated

with rising rates of female-headed households.

Studies have shown that countries with the

highest levels of poverty also have the greatest

levels of gender discrimination. It is therefore

argued that gender inequality undermines devel-

opment and the prospects for reducing poverty

and improving standards of living (World Bank,

2001b). Therefore the UN Millennium declara-

tion resolved to ‘‘promote gender equality and

the empowerment of women as effective ways

to combat poverty, hunger and disease to

stimulate development that is truly sustainable’’

(World Bank, 2003: 3). As a result, several

strategies for reducing poverty undertaken par-

ticularly in the last two decades have had some

gender dimensions. However, the interconnec-

tions between gender inequality and poverty is

not a straight forward one. How poverty is

created and reproduced, how gender differenti-

ates the social processes leading to poverty, and

the different ways women and men are able to

move out of poverty are not yet clearly estab-

lished.

This paper explores the gender dimensions of

poverty in Ghana, and how gender inequalities

are manifested and implicated in the reproduc-

tion of poverty. It also assesses the extent to

which these are taken into account in poverty

reduction strategies and policies to enhance the

situation of women.

Poverty in Ghana: spatial variations and trends

One-third of Ghanaians are classified as ‘‘poor’’

or ‘‘very poor’’ (Ghana Statistical Service, 2000).

The overall trend in poverty shows a decline in

poverty levels from 51.7% to 39.5% from 1991/

1992 to 1998/1999. Extreme poverty declined

from 35.7% to 29.4% over the same period

(Fig. 1). Despite this, the period also shows

evidence of the intensification of vulnerability

and exclusion among some groups, particularly in

the rural and urban savannah, and in the urban

coastal regions, which experienced increases in

poverty over the period (Fig. 1). The impact of

poverty differs according to geographical

location, place of residence, life cycle stage,

occupation and gender. Poverty is more concen-

trated in the northern savannah regions ranging

between 69% and 88%, while the Greater Accra

Region, in which the national capital is located,

remains the least poor region with 5% living

below the poverty line in 1999 (Government of

Ghana, 2003). Poverty is also an overwhelmingly

rural phenomenon, with 80% of those persons

classified as poor residing in rural areas. The rural

savannah tops the list as the poorest zone with

recent studies estimating that 90% of the popu-

lation in the rural savannah regions is now poor,

while almost 80% is extremely poor. Indicators

such as child under-nutrition, adult literacy rates,

and the level of illiteracy are highest in the rural

savannah and point to the degree of under-

development and poverty in the area (Ghana

Statistical Service, 2000, 2005a). Indeed despite a

10% drop in the incidence of extreme poverty at

the national level during the period, the rural

savannah experienced significant increases in

poverty levels during the period and poverty

remained stable in the urban savannah (Fig. 1).

This indicates that the existing patterns of

regional inequalities in development attributed

to the differential resource endowment of the

regions, strengthened as a result of colonial policy

and further exacerbated more recently by liber-

alization and structural adjustment programmes

(Songsore, 2003) have not changed, and that

poverty reduction policies are not achieving the

desired impact in the savannah regions. These

also indicate that spatial and social inequalities in

development may indeed have exacerbated the

spatial variations in poverty levels in Ghana.

Local perceptions of poverty in Ghana (Nor-

ton, Bortei-Doku Aryeetey, Korboe, & Dogbe,

1995) draw a distinction between economically

active but disadvantaged social categories, and

social categories that suffer extreme helplessness

and destitution as a separate category of the poor.

Among such groups, people who are classified as

poor are presented not as passive victims of

deprivation, but as people actively engaged in

efforts to overcome their limitations and to find

outside help. Also of significance from participa-

tory poverty assessments (PPAs) is the fact that

women and men’s perceptions of well being are

individually and not household based, and that

150 GeoJournal (2006) 67:149–161

123

women and men advance different criteria for

analyzing their own well being.

Gender dimensions of poverty in Ghana

The debate on gender and poverty has been well

documented (Baden & Milward, 1995; Kabeer,

1997; Razavi, 2000; World Bank, 2001b). At one

level, the relationship between gender and pov-

erty appears to be a straightforward one, where

women or female-headed households are equated

with the vulnerable or the poor. In line with this, a

frequently made link between gender and poverty

is the equation of female-headed households with

the poor. This is often taken up by development

agencies such as the World Bank within a general

set of arguments about the ‘‘feminization’’ of

poverty (Buvinic, 1997)). A second approach is

the ‘‘win–win’’ scenario where investing in

women, their education in particular, is seen as

an effective means for increasing welfare or

reducing fertility (World Bank, 2001b). A third

approach has been through the gender disaggre-

gation of well being outcomes, which has helped

to highlight significant female disadvantage.

While all these arguments provide some insight

into the relationship between gender and poverty

and have some empirical validity, although to

varying degrees in different contexts, they tend to

be used in a generalized manner. Razavi (2000)

argues that generalizations have thus tended to

replace contextualized social analysis of how

poverty is created and reproduced and how

gender differentiates the social processes leading

to poverty.

Female headship of households and poverty

A number of studies have emerged linking female

household headship with increasing poverty.

There is a general perception of an increasing

incidence of female headship on a global scale

and an association of this trend with the ‘‘femi-

nization of poverty’’. Studies have claimed that

growing poverty in sub-Saharan Africa is associ-

ated with the growth of female-headed house-

holds, and that female-headed households are

disproportionately poor. Specifically the femini-

zation of poverty has been linked to a perceived

increase in the proportion of female-headed

households and the rise of female participation

in low return urban informal sector activities

particularly in the context of 1980s economic

crisis and structural adjustment programmes

undertaken in several developing countries (Ba-

den & Milward, 1995; Buvinic, 1997).

In Ghana, the data shows an increasing trend in

female-headed households. Female-headed

households increased from 25.7% in 1960, to

28.6% in 1970, to 31.9% in 2000, to 33.8% in

2003. Female household headship increases with

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

hGa

ancAcra

Urban

Cosa

atl

Ubran

oFre

st

rUb

naSav

a

hann

uRra

l Coa

ts al

Ruarl

oFre

st

Rural

Sav

anna

h

Locality

%f

oP

ol

up

atio

n

1991/92

1998/99

Fig. 1 Incidence ofextreme poverty inGhana. Source: GhanaStatistical Service: GhanaLiving Standards Survey1991/1992 and 1998/1999.Upper povertyline = 900,000 cedis (US$340 per annum at 1998exchange rate). Lowerpoverty line (Extremepoverty) = 700,000 cedis(US$265 per annum)

GeoJournal (2006) 67:149–161 151

123

age and residence, with 45% of females aged

50 years and older and living in urban areas,

being heads of households in 2000 (Ghana

Statistical Service, 2005a, 2005b). Not only has

the proportion of female-headed households

increased, but the marital circumstances of these

heads, has also changed over time. A larger

proportion of female household heads were

widowed, divorced or separated in 2000 com-

pared to 1960. This implies that a greater

percentage of households, headed by females,

have no current conjugal relationships with men

and so have a lower likelihood of getting financial

support from them for their upkeep.

However, while the literature equates female

household headship with poverty, the data from

Ghana does not support this. Data from the

Ghana Living Standards surveys indicates that the

incidence of poverty was lower among female-

headed households than for male-headed house-

holds in 1991/92 and 1998/99 for both the upper

and lower poverty lines (Ghana Statistical Ser-

vice, 1995, 2000). Data from the core welfare

indicators questionnaire survey (Ghana Statistical

Service, 2005a) also shows that a lower propor-

tion of households headed by women are found in

the two lowest wealth quintiles. The proportion of

households headed by women in the highest

welfare quintile is also larger than the proportion

of households headed by men (Fig. 2). Focusing

only on rural households or on urban households

only, the pattern remains the same. Using total

household expenditure as the indicator, Lloyd

and Gage-Brandon (1993), analysing 1987/1988

data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey

also conclude that female-headed households are

not necessarily worse off than male-headed

households and indeed may even be better off.

These point to the fact that female-headed

households are not necessarily poorer than male-

headed households as the general literature seems

to portray. However, as noted by recent studies,

the household may not be the appropriate unit for

analysis of poverty among women as it does not

look at intra household resource allocation and

how this might contribute to gendered poverty

outcomes. Contemporary analysis of gender

regard the household as a terrain of inequality,

with well being, power and often access to

economic resources all being differentially dis-

tributed. Intra household relations themselves

have been shown to be a powerful determinant

of individual access to utilities and capabilities

(Whitehead & Lockwood, 2000). In the absence

of other data however, household headship is

used in this paper where necessary to examine

poverty.

Households headed by women are not homog-

enous in structure nor are the reasons for why

households are headed by women the same. The

data for Ghana shows that the marital status of

the household head is important in explaining

differences in welfare amongst households. Thus

using the 1998/1999 rural household samples, it

was found for example that none of the house-

holds headed by married rural women had lower

welfare measures compared to rural households

headed by married men. However, rural house-

holds headed by divorced or separated men had

significantly lower welfare measures compared

to rural households headed by married men

(Ghana Statistical Service, 2005a, b). Lloyd and

Fig. 2 Distribution ofhouseholds headed bywomen and men bypoverty level, Ghana (%).Source: Core WelfareIndicators Questionnaire,2003

152 GeoJournal (2006) 67:149–161

123

Gage-Brandon (1993) similarly point to the het-

erogeneity among female-headed households in

Ghana, with widows being the worst-off female-

headed households, whilst other categories of

female heads were not necessarily especially poor

or vulnerable. Furthermore, female-headed

households are on average smaller than male-

headed households and have a higher dependency

ratio than male heads of households. These

characteristics tend to make female-headed

households especially vulnerable to poverty in

Ghana. In terms of intra household processes,

Whitehead (2004), in her study of north east

Ghana, found that, whilst women in poor house-

holds were likely to be poor, there was no

certainty that women in well-off households

would not be poor; age, health and marital status

were important factors in determining well being

of individual women and there was also differen-

tiation between women within the same house-

hold.

Thus, the relationship between female head-

ship and poverty is complex and there are

considerable methodological and conceptual

problems. Nevertheless, in most contexts, a sub-

group of female-headed households is likely to be

concentrated among the very poor. The charac-

teristics of this subgroup vary considerably

between contexts depending on a number of

factors.

Gender inequality and poverty: exploring

the interconnections

Studies have focused on the link between gender

inequality, poverty and development. It has been

argued that gender inequality undermines devel-

opment and prospects for reducing poverty while

economic growth and rising incomes reduce

inequality. Some studies notably by the World

Bank (2001b, 2003) have suggested that poverty is

greatest and quality of life is lowest in societies

where gender discrimination is greatest. There-

fore policies which aim at reducing poverty and

promoting sustainable development must inte-

grate gender equality, equity and women’s

empowerment in its goals. Despite these, the

interconnections between a reduction in gender

inequality and a reduction in poverty are com-

plex. This is partly because gender is not the only

determinant of poverty or well being outcomes,

but also because women and men as social groups

are differentiated by several other characteristics,

such that poor women and poor men are not two

internally homogenous groups which experience

poverty solely on account of their gender. Despite

these differences, poverty has different implica-

tions for men and women and is experienced

differently by men and women. For these reasons

a full understanding of the gender dimensions of

poverty is necessary in any poverty reduction

strategy. This section examines gender inequali-

ties as they are manifested in opportunities,

capabilities and empowerment in terms of pro-

duction resources, inequalities in the labour

market, vulnerability to risks and crisis, gender

divisions of labour, and explores how these are

implicated in experiences of poverty for women

and men in Ghana.

Limited opportunities, capabilities

and empowerment

One of the major factors predisposing women to

greater poverty are the limited opportunities,

capabilities and empowerment in terms of access

to and control over production resources of land,

labour, human capital assets including education

and health, and social capital assets such as

participation at various levels, legal rights and

protection. Gender gaps in access to, ownership

and control over resources make women more

vulnerable to poverty than men. In Ghana, the

literature indicates that women’s access to re-

sources has been substantially less than men’s.

Women’s limited access to productive resources

has been suggested as key to understanding

women’s subordinate position in society and to

explaining gender inequality in Ghana. This

section focuses on gender inequalities in access

to land as a critical factor predisposing women to

poverty.

Land is a key asset for many Ghanaians

because of the central role of agriculture in

meeting livelihood needs and for social and

political status. Several studies show that land

relations often reflect gender, class and kinship

GeoJournal (2006) 67:149–161 153

123

relations, with women having less access com-

pared to men (Duncan, 1997; Kotey & Tsikata,

1998; Manuh, Songsore, & Mackenzie, 1997).

Data from the core welfare indicators question-

naire survey, 2003 (Ghana Statistical Service,

2005a) indicates that less than a third (31%) of

households headed by women own land com-

pared to 40% of households headed by men, with

a greater gender gap in rural communities.

Among rural households there is an inverse

relationship between land ownership and welfare

quintiles, with the households in the lowest

quintiles having the least land ownership. Gender

differentials are also widest among rural house-

holds in the lowest wealth quintile (Fig. 3),

suggesting that gender and location are important

predisposing factors to poverty. Furthermore,

studies indicate that women’s access to produc-

tive resources tends to be indirect and contingent

on their relationships with men, either by kinship

or through marriage (Awumbila, 2001).

Size of landholdings also shows that house-

holds headed by women tend to own on average

lower hectares of land (35 ha) than do households

headed by men (47 ha). As expected women in

the poorest wealth quintiles own the smallest land

holdings, however gender disparities increase

with higher wealth quintiles (Table 1). Where as

the gender gap in size of land holdings among

male and female-headed households in the lowest

wealth quintile is 10 ha, it increases to 15 ha in

the fourth welfare quintile and to 20 ha in the

fifth welfare quintile. This demonstrates the

complexity in the link between gender and

poverty. Gender inequalities in land ownership

do not necessarily decrease with higher wealth

status.

Inequalities in the labour market

Gender inequalities in the labour market which

puts most women in the non-wage informal sector

employment is another important predisposing

factor that increases women’s vulnerability to

poverty. The Ghana Living Standards Survey

(Ghana Statistical Service, 2000) indicates that

poverty is most prevalent among food crop

farmers and informal sector employees. Public

and formal sector employees are the two socio-

economic groups who are consistently least

affected by poverty. This has significance for the

gendered nature of poverty, as very few women

are in wage sector employment, with most

predominating in the informal sector and in food

Fig. 3 Land ownership ofrural households by sex ofhousehold head and bywelfare quintile (%).Source: Core WelfareIndicators Questionnaire,2003

Table 1 Average size of land owned by households(hectares)

Welfare quintile Women Men

All 34.79 46.65Lowest 27.84 37.872 33.86 41.933 39.24 43.554 38.70 54.02Highest 32.71 52.66

Source: Ghana Statistical Service, Core Welfare IndicatorsQuestionnaire, 2003

154 GeoJournal (2006) 67:149–161

123

crop farming. The informal sector has particular

relevance for both poverty and gender concerns

because employment in this sector has been

associated with if not increasing poverty, then

increasing vulnerability and insecurity among

women. This is because informal sector activities

are often characterized by low productivity,

income irregularities, poor access to financial

services, information, technologies and training.

In Ghana, women’s labour participation rates

are relatively high, constituting 43.1% of the

economically active population compared to

44.6% for men. However, there is gender segre-

gation with about 91% of economically active

women employed in the informal sector as own-

account workers in agriculture or non-agriculture

(mainly in agro-based enterprises and commerce

or small scale manufacturing in the informal

sector), or unpaid workers on family enterprises

(Ghana Statistical Service, 2000, 2005a, b). Women’s

employment is thus frequently concentrated in

activities for which earnings are low, the risks of

poverty is high, and control over income precar-

ious. Gender segregation of the labour force thus

influences the risks of poverty particularly among

women. With the structural adjustment policies of

the 1980s to mid 1990s, there was an increasing

reliance on informal sector employment for men

and women, as part of household survival strat-

egies, thus swelling the ranks of the informal

sector and resulting in increased competition and

deterioration of conditions (Gladwin, 1991). In

the informal sector there is also strong occupa-

tional segregation. Women tend to be confined to

a narrow range of occupations, mainly in personal

services or petty trading, whereas men are more

often found in small-scale manufacturing. In

Ghana in relation to apprenticeship for artisanal

training, there is a striking differentiation be-

tween males and females. Female apprentices

have a much narrower range of occupational

choices compared to men because of the high

levels of gender segregation in artisanal occupa-

tions. The two most popular options for female

artisans in Ghana is in the area of hairdressing

and dressmaking, whereas there is a wider range

of options for men as carpenters, masons, black-

smiths, mechanics, painters, repairers of electrical

and electronic appliances, upholsterers, metal

workers, car sprayers, to mention a few. Also of

significance is the fact that earnings in the male

artisanal occupations are higher than for the

female occupations.

Women’s greater vulnerability to poverty com-

pared to men is not only in their differential

access to employment but also to lower earning

capacity within the labour market, as well as

longer hours of work. Data from the Ghana

Living Standards Survey shows gender differen-

tials with females earning less than males in

almost all sectors (Table 2). Males in paid

employment (both public and private) received

on the average higher wages than their female

counterparts. Females earned an average daily

wage of 6,280 cedis (US $2.71) compared to

8,560 cedis (US $3.70) for males in 1998, implying

a 36% higher income for males relative to that of

females (GSS, 2000). In terms of occupation,

agricultural workers remain the lowest paid

group, with women earning 64,004 cedis ($24.18)

per month compared to 100,464 ($38) for men.

Not only are there gender gaps but these appear

to be widening over time between the period 1991

and 1998, particularly in the informal sector

(Table 2). Even in the formal sector, the surpris-

ingly higher monthly wages earned by females in

the formal sector in 1991/1992 had been eroded

by 1998/1999. A study by Heintz (2005) similarly

found that individuals primarily engaged in for-

mal, nonagricultural wage employment had the

highest average earnings per week worked, with

informal agricultural workers having the lowest

average weekly earnings. There were also clear

gender differential in earnings, with women’s

earnings being 73% of what men earned.

Vulnerability to risks and crisis

Insecurity is an integral part of the experience of

poverty. Gender related security risks include

economic and social changes such as death,

divorce, desertion of a spouse, domestic violence

and conflict, physical and cultural isolation and

vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.

Studies have found that the marital status of

the household head is important in explaining

differences in welfare amongst households. These

indicate that often households headed by widows,

GeoJournal (2006) 67:149–161 155

123

divorced or separated women had significantly

lower welfare measures compared to rural house-

holds headed by married women or men (Ghana

Statistical Service, 2000; Lloyd & Gage-Brandon,

1993). In many parts of Ghana, women’s land

rights are also often dependent on their marital

status and are therefore significantly influenced

by the incidence of marriage and divorce. Mar-

riage is a very significant source of land for

women particularly in the patrilineal areas of

inheritance in northern Ghana, the Greater Accra

and Volta regions, and many women farm on land

given to them by their husbands or work together

with their husbands on the same piece of land.

While some studies (e.g. Duncan, 1997; Kotey &

Tsikata, 1998) have stressed the limits of security

generated by marriage, others (Benneh, Kasanga,

& Amoyaw, 1995) have found that it enhanced

the security of women’s rights in land. But which

ever view point is taken, the stability of marriage

and good relations with male relatives are critical

factors in the maintenance of women’s land rights

and access to agricultural resources and therefore

to poverty among women. This is of particular

importance as land is a key resource for women.

Access to health care and reproductive well

being show clear interconnections between gen-

der and vulnerability to poverty. HIV/AIDs data

for Ghana show the gender disparities in HIV

prevalence rates particularly among the age

group 15–49. Of the 64,591 AIDS cases recorded

in Ghana between 1986 and 2002, females

accounted for 64% of the cases (Ghana Health

Service, 2003). Women between the ages of 20

and 29 were three times more affected than their

male counterparts. Apart from physiological rea-

sons, socio-economic factors including gender

inequalities contribute to women’s greater vul-

nerability to being infected with the HIV virus.

Recent studies have highlighted the link between

gender, poverty and HIV/AIDS. Gender differ-

ences in educational levels, access to economic

opportunities and resources, as well as unequal

gender relations, which make women subordinate

and subservient in marital and pre-martial rela-

tionships, translates into disadvantages for wo-

men and disempowers them in terms of protecting

themselves and negotiating for safe sex. Poverty

compounds the situation as it is associated with

risky sexual behaviour and has been found to be a

Table 2 Average monthly earnings (cedis per month) in selected employment by sex, 1991/1992 and 1998/1999, Ghanaa

Income 1991/1992 1998/1999

Wages in agricultureb

Women’s average wage per month in agriculture 11,928 64,004($29.82) ($24.18)

Men’s average wage per month in agriculture 19,992 100,464($49.98) ($38.00)

Wages in formal sectorc

Women’s average wage per month in formal sector 45,872 148,052(114.68) ($55.93)

Men’s average wage per month in formal sector 35,192 236,526($87.98) (89.36)

Wages in informal sectord

Women’s average wage per month in informal sector 16,366 130,049(40.92) ($49.13)

Men’s average wage per month in informal sector 17,647 157,883(44.12) ($59.65)

Source: computed from Ghana Living Standards Surveys 1991/1992 & 1998/1999a The figures in parenthesis are the dollar equivalent of the local currency, the cedi (¢). The average inter bank exchangerate for 1999 was ¢2,647.03 to US$1.00 and for March 1992 was ¢400 to US$ 1.00b This is the mean monthly wage for all government and private sector workers in the agricultural industryc This is the mean monthly wage for workers in both the government and private sectorsd This refers to the mean monthly wage for persons engaged in private informal/self-employment non-agricultural activities

156 GeoJournal (2006) 67:149–161

123

major factor for HIV infection in sub Saharan

Africa.

Survival strategies also increases women’s

vulnerability to poverty and health risks.

Increasingly migration is being used as an

adaptive response to poverty. However, migra-

tion entails risks and vulnerabilities to migrants,

particularly for women migrants. A case study

of female adolescents from the northern savan-

nah regions of Ghana who have migrated to

work as head load porters or ‘‘kayayei’’ in

markets in Accra, have rather increased the

kayayeis risk and vulnerability to STIs, rape and

other health risks (Awumbila, 2006).

Gender divisions of labour

Gender divisions of labour make women

responsible for most reproductive tasks in addi-

tion to their productive work, thus resulting in

heavier time burdens for women. Poor women

are also subject to heavy time burdens due to

their need to balance the demands of their

productive, social reproductive and community

management roles. Comparison of time use data

in the care economy over the last decade show

increasing time burdens for both men and

women between the period 1991 and 1999 in

Ghana. Data from the Ghana Living standards

(Ghana Statistical Service, 1995, 2000) show that

time use in all housekeeping activities increased

from an average of 133 min per day in 1992 to

385 min in 1998, an almost three-fold increase.

Women’s time burdens in the care economy are

especially heavy, increasing from an average of

about 3 h (185 min) to 7 h a day within the

same period. A study in the Upper East Region

also indicates increasing time burdens of women

with economic restructuring in Ghana (Awum-

bila & Momsen, 1995). Women’s responsibility

in this sphere of life leaves them with less time

and resources for production, exchange and

consumption. The non-recognition of the ‘‘care

economy’’ which shapes the resources, labour

and ideologies that goes into reproduction of

human beings in both daily and generational

terms in anti-poverty strategies and in policies

place burdens on the already stretched time and

health of poor women.

Poverty reduction strategies in Ghana

Strategies for reducing poverty have over the

years changed focus in tandem with changes in

development paradigms. These have varied from

the ‘‘trickle-down’’ approach to development in

the 1950’s and 1960s, which were based on the

assumption that the poor would benefit from

economic growth, to structural adjustment poli-

cies of the 1980s, to the ‘‘empowerment’’ para-

digm, which focuses on increasing the capacity of

poor people to make choices and to transform

those choices into desired actions and outcomes.

A more recent approach to poverty links the

millennium development goals, which have

poverty reduction as their central goal to country

led poverty reduction strategies (World Bank,

2003).

In Ghana, within the national economic frame-

work, several initiatives have been taken towards

poverty reduction. These strategies include the

Program of Action to Mitigate the Social Cost of

Adjustment (PAMSCAD), as well as the Ghana-

Vision 2020, which had specific policy statements

pertaining to poverty reduction. Subsequently, a

range of development programmes, which were

sector specific have had poverty reduction provi-

sions. These include the free compulsory uni-

versal basic education (fCUBE) of the Ministry of

Education, and the medium term agricultural

development strategy (MTADP) of the Ministry

of Food and Agriculture to mention a few. These

culminated in the Ghana Poverty Reduction

strategy (GPRS) which is the latest economic

framework by the government and focuses on

addressing poverty in a holistic way through a set

of ‘‘comprehensive policies, strategies, pro-

grammes, and projects to support growth and

poverty reduction over a three-year period

(2003–2005)’’ (Government of Ghana, 2003: i).

Acknowledging that ‘‘over the past 10 years,

Ghana has experienced growing and deepening

poverty, an evidence of intensification of vulner-

ability and exclusion among some groups and in

some areas’’ (Government of Ghana, 2003: i), the

GPRS seeks to reverse the situation. Other

poverty reduction programmes have been tar-

geted specifically at women, to improve access to

technology and credit for women, to reduce the

GeoJournal (2006) 67:149–161 157

123

existing gaps in education, especially in science

and technology, as well as the passage of various

laws criminalizing certain negative cultural prac-

tices and protecting the rights of women and

children in inheritance issues.

Poor people themselves do not remain idle or

passive in their experience of poverty. Among

coping and adaptive strategies adopted in Ghana

are the mutual exchanges of goods and services,

remittances and direct handouts, borrowing and

lending. At the individual household level, addi-

tional strategies such as dietary adjustments, out

migration, child fostering, shift towards the for-

mation of more informal conjugal unions among

others are adopted (Norton et al., 1995). Many

such strategies increase gender disparities partic-

ularly in terms of gender gaps in education,

labour shortages leading to increasing workloads

and a reduction in women’s claims on property

through marriage as a result of the weakening of

unions.

Policy framework on women and gender

in Ghana

Many of the poverty reduction strategies outlined

above have been criticized as not incorporating

gender into the analysis of poverty. However, it is

important to look at the inclusion or failure to

include gender in national poverty reduction

strategies within the general framework in which

government’s gender policy if any has taken

place.

In Ghana, policy related to women has been

dominated by the development paradigms per-

taining during the period. Thus in the 1970s the

focus was on ‘‘Women in Development’’ (WID)

with a focus on providing the welfare needs of

women. In the 1980s, with the implementation of

structural adjustment programmes (SAPs), with

its emphasis on productivity and efficiency, pol-

icies on women have continued in the WID

framework, but with a focus on increasing

women’s productivity. The most important tool

was the provision of micro credits to women

working in the informal sector. The gender

specific impact of Ghana’s structural adjustment

programme has been documented (Awumbila,

1997; Gladwin, 1991; Tsikata, 1995). The studies

highlight the negative impact on women and

children and the feminization of poverty, which

resulted. The PAMSCAD introduced in 1988 and

later the Social dimensions of adjustment pro-

gramme in the 1990s to cushion the impact of

SAP did not bring any real reduction in poverty

for vulnerable groups including women, as they

were seen as add on programmes and did not

challenge the fundamental objections to the SAP

framework. PAMSCAD consisted primarily of

the allocation of credit and loans disbursed to

women on soft terms and concentrated on the

traditional areas of food processing and prepara-

tion. Little attention was given to improving

marketing. Thus PAMSCAD targeted women

through the provision of a limited range of

products and ignored the underlying causes of

gender inequality. Policy approaches towards

women in Ghana were therefore largely in the

WID framework. Programmes and projects were

highly skewed in favour of interventions aimed at

addressing women’s practical and basic needs

with a focus on micro credit provision. Advocacy

and empowerment programmes that initiate

change were few.

Recent approaches toward poverty reduction

have seen the adoption of a poverty reduction

strategy in the early 2000s which aims to ‘‘create

wealth by transforming the nature of the economy

to achieve growth, accelerated poverty reduction

and the protection of the vulnerable and excluded

within a decentralized democratic environment’’

(Government of Ghana, 2003: i). The Ghana

Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) 2003–2005

acknowledges that there are gender disparities

with regards to poverty, resulting in women

experiencing greater poverty, and one of the

strategies aimed at reducing poverty includes

ensuring gender equity, and providing special

programmes in support of the vulnerable and

excluded. Women were therefore grouped to-

gether with other disadvantaged groups under the

broad category of ‘‘vulnerability’’. The GPRS

approach to social analysis, therefore rather than

see the poor as ‘‘actors’’ sees them as ‘‘vulnera-

ble’’ groups that require special protective mea-

sures. Despite the relevance of the

‘‘vulnerability’’ concept for an in-depth under-

158 GeoJournal (2006) 67:149–161

123

standing of poverty and poverty reduction, it is

important to see gender as a social issue that is

relevant at all levels of society. Another criticism

of the GPRS is that although the GPRS targets

women through the promotion of income gener-

ating activities and micro credit, it does not fully

address the issues raised about the structure of

production and employment in Ghana and how

this predisposes women to poverty. It also does

not address issues of gender differences in polit-

ical participation and autonomy.

In addition to these policies and programmes,

governments have tried in various ways to reduce

poverty through the promotion of gender equality

and women’s empowerment particularly through

the passage of various laws. The National Council

for Women and Development (NCWD) was

established in 1975 as the national machinery

for the advancement of women and in 2001 a

Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs

(MOWAC) was set up. Gender Desks were also

set up in various state institutions as apart of a

strategy of gender mainstreaming. Various

NGOS have also supplemented efforts by pro-

viding credit and other activities aimed at poverty

reduction. Despite these activities and policies

aimed at women’s empowerment, their impact

has been limited in scope and even though

poverty is reducing among certain categories of

the population, it continues to be high particularly

among sub sets dominated by women such as in

rural areas and among food crop farmers.

As a result, recent studies have expressed

concern about the way women and their needs

are being addressed in anti-poverty analysis and

policies. Concerns have been raised about gender

issues becoming a subset of poverty concerns with

attention being focused solely on poor women,

rather than on gender equality. As Kabeer (1994)

points out, gender subordination does not arise

out of poverty per se. Collapsing gender concerns

into a poverty agenda narrows the scope for a

gender analysis which can fully address how and

why gender inequalities are reproduced, not just

among the ‘‘poor’’, but in society as a whole. In

the same way, conflating gender and poverty

issues may not assist the poverty alleviation

efforts, in that it could lead to confusion in

targeting, since as shown from the literature for

Ghana ‘‘not all women are poor and not all the

poor are women’’ (Kabeer, 1994). Poverty reduc-

tion strategies which target resources at women

particularly micro-credit interventions without

attempting to change the underlying causes of

poverty may not be sustainable. Focusing on

women in isolation from their social relationships

does little to address the power imbalances rooted

in these social relations that lead to women’s

greater vulnerability to poverty. Rather poverty

should be understood as a condition experienced

and shaped by gender identities, along with

others, which frame opportunities and constraints

for access and control of material and resources.

(Jackson & Palmer-Jones, 2000). This is impor-

tant because while there are interconnections

between women’s poverty and gender inequali-

ties, gender inequalities are not simply a matter of

poverty just as poverty is not simply a matter of

gender relations.

Conclusion

Thus in Ghana, although men and women share

many of the burdens of poverty, poverty is

gendered in its predisposing factors, in its pro-

cesses and in its impact. The literature on Ghana

shows that in addition, women are also subject to

socially imposed constraints that further limit

their opportunities to improve their economic

conditions or to have equal access to public

services and consumption goods. The discussion

has shown that although there is evidence to

support the trend of rising rates of female-headed

households in Ghana and the concentration of

women in the informal sector, this needs to be

used with caution as an indicator of the femini-

zation of poverty in Ghana. However the litera-

ture also indicates that because of the weaker and

conditional basis of their entitlements, women are

generally more vulnerable to poverty and once

poor, have less options in terms of escape. The

existing gender inequalities in Ghana highlighted

in the paper in terms of unequal division of and

access to different kinds of resources, unequal

division of labour within and outside the home,

and the associated ideologies and behavioural

norms, as well as the non-recognition of the ‘‘care

GeoJournal (2006) 67:149–161 159

123

economy’’, shapes resources, labour and ideolo-

gies that go into reproduction of human beings.

These unequal gender relations impinge on the

formulation, implementation and impact of anti-

poverty strategies and policies.

Poverty reduction strategies that are based on

an understanding of the gendered nature of

poverty will enhance both the efficiency and

equity of poverty reduction strategy impacts.

Yet differences between men and women’s needs

are often not fully recognized in poverty analysis

and not fully taken into consideration in poverty

reduction strategies. If strategies to engender

anti-poverty programmes are to be sustainable, it

is important to recognize unequal gender rela-

tions and the structures of power that women

confront at all levels in Ghana and how these

increase women’s vulnerability to poverty.

Empowering women as part of a process of

engendering anti-poverty strategies should

strengthen women’s capacity to address and

confront all these levels of power and their

interrelations. This is an important consideration,

which has received relatively little attention in

Ghana’s poverty reduction strategies.

References

Awumbila, M. (1997). Gender and structural adjustment inGhana: A case study in northeast Ghana. InA. Awotona, & N. Teymur (Eds.), Tradition, locationand community: Place-making and development (pp.161–172). Aldershot: Avebury.

Awumbila, M. (2001). Women and gender equality inGhana: A situational analysis. In E. Tsikata (Ed.),Gender training in Ghana: Trends in politics, issuesand tools (pp. 33–59). Accra: Woeli.

Awumbila, M. (2006). The gendered face of poverty:Female porters adaptive responses to poverty inurban Ghana. Paper presented at the 49th AfricanStudies Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco,16–19 November 2006.

Awumbila, M., & Momsen, J. H. (1995). Gender and theenvironment: Women’s time use as a measure ofenvironmental change. Global EnvironmentalChange, 5(5), 337–346.

Baden, S., & Milward, K. (1995). Gender and poverty.BRIDGE Report No 30. Brighton: Institute of Devel-opment Studies.

Benneh, G., Kasanga, R. K., & Amoyaw, D. (1995).Women’s access to agricultural land in the household:A case study of three selected districts in Ghana. Accra:FADEP.

Buvinic, M. (1997). Women in poverty: A new globalunderclass. Foreign Policy, Fall, 38–53.

Duncan, B. (1997). Women in agriculture in Ghana.Accra: FES/FIDA.

Ghana Health Service (2003). HIV sentinel survey 2002report. Accra: Ghana Health Service.

Ghana Statistical Service (1995). Ghana living standardssurvey 3 (1992/1992). Accra: Ghana Statistical Service.

Ghana Statistical Service (2000). Ghana living standardssurvey 4 (1998). Accra: Ghana Statistical Service.

Ghana Statistical Service (2005a). Ghana 2003 core welfareindicators questionnaire (CWIQ II) survey report.Accra: Ghana Statistical Service.

Ghana Statistical Service (2005b). Ghana: Populationdata analysis report: Vol 1. Socio-economic anddemographic trends, Accra. Accra: Ghana StatisticalService.

Government of Ghana (2003). Ghana poverty reductionstrategy, an agenda for growth and prosperity, vol. 1.Accra: National Development Planning Commission.

Gladwin, C. (Ed.) (1991). Structural adjustment andAfrican women framers. Gainesville: University ofFlorida Press.

Heintz, J. (2005). Employment, poverty and gender inGhana. Working paper Series Number 92, PoliticalEconomy Research Institute. Amherst: University ofMassachusetts.

Jackson, C., & Palmer-Jones, R. (2000). Rethinkinggendered poverty and work. In S. Razavi (Ed.),Gendered poverty and well-being (pp. 145–170).Oxford: Blackwell.

Kabeer, N. (1994). Reversed realities: Gender hierarchies indevelopment thought. London: Verso.

Kabeer, N. (1997). Tactics and trade-offs: Revisiting thelink between gender and poverty. Institute of Devel-opment Studies Bulletin, 28(3), 1–13. Brighton:University of Sussex.

Kotey, A. N., & Tsikata, D. (1998). Gender relations andland in Ghana. In A. Kuenyehia (Ed.), Women andlaw in West Africa: Situational analysis of some keyissues affecting women. Accra: WALWA.

Lloyd, C., & Gage-Brandon, A. (1993). Women’s role inmaintaining households: Family welfare and sexualinequality in Ghana. Population Studies, 47(1), 115–131.

Manuh, T., Songsore, J., & Mackenzie, F. (1997). Genderand land: The interface between legislative initiatives,customary tenure and land use management inGhana. Canada: Research Report Submitted toIDRC.

Norton, A., Bortei-Doku Aryeetey, H., Korboe, D., &Dogbe, D. K. (1995). Poverty assessment in Ghanausing qualitative and participatory research methods.PSP Discussion Paper Series, No. 83, Poverty andSocial Policy Department. Washington D.C.: TheWorld Bank.

Razavi, S. (Ed.) (2000). Gendered poverty and well-being.Oxford: Blackwell.

Songsore, J. (2003). Regional development in Ghana. Thetheory and the reality. Accra: Woeli PublishingServices.

160 GeoJournal (2006) 67:149–161

123

Tsikata, D. (1995). Effects of structural adjustmenton women and the poor. Accra: Third WorldNetwork.

Whitehead, A. (2004). Persistent poverty in upper EastGhana––Basis Brief. Collaborative Research SupportProgramme. No. 26, November 2004.

Whitehead, A., & Lockwood, M. (2000). Genderingpoverty: A review of six world bank African povertyassessments. In S. Razavi (Ed.), Gendered poverty andwell-being (pp. 115–144). Oxford: Blackwell.

World Bank (2001a). African poverty at the millennium:Causes, complexities and challenges. Washington DC:The World Bank.

World Bank (2001b). Engendering development throughgender equality in rights, resources and voice. Wash-ington DC: World Bank Policy Research Report,World Bank and Oxford University Press.

World Bank (2003). Gender equality and the millenniumdevelopment goals. Washington DC: The World BankGender and Development Group.

GeoJournal (2006) 67:149–161 161

123