Indigenous Women Social Entrepreneurship; Poverty Alleviation Tool Used by Development NGOs in Ghana

Abstract

This research paper examines the role of Non-Government Organizations (NGO) in the use of indigenous women social entrepreneurship as a means of reducing poverty in Northern Ghana. The study focused on an Estonian NGO working in significantly poor-rural districts of Northern Ghana. The study employed case study design where face to face semi-structures interviews were used to gather data from local women entrepreneurs, NGO staff and local government officials. A sample of twenty-one (21) respondents was gathered purposefully to achieve the aim of the study. The study found out that, most poor communities in Northern Ghana are endowed with resources needed for production. What are however lacked are managerial training, financial and technical support as well as market access. Development NGOs connect indigenous resources such as raw materials, human capital and social capital together through provision of equipment and skills training to produce internationally certified products for both local and international market. The study found out that producing local products for international market increases the rate of poverty alleviation since many local people get involved and the financial returns is higher than producing for the local market. The study also identified the creation of new macro-micro international relations between the NGO’s home country and the indigenous communities. Keywords: Indigenous Social entrepreneurship, Women, Poverty alleviation, Development NGOs, Northern Ghana.