Effect of Microfinance on Poor Peri-Urban Female-Headed Households and the Vulnerability of Women to Poverty in Ghana

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the impact of microfinance on poverty, in general, and female-headed households, in particular, for Ghana. The analysis shows that there are three types of microfinance institutions in Ghana, and successive governments have identified and upheld microfinance as the means to reduce national poverty rates and close the gender gap in the country. The analysis also demonstrates that microfinance has both positive and negative impacts on poverty and female-headed households. Microfinance has contributed to narrowing the poverty gap between the female and male gender, and improving the quality of their lives. However, on its own, it is not sufficient and necessary means to poverty reduction, growth, and development. The extent to which microfinance impacts on poverty is not conclusive. This necessitates remedial measures such as regulation and monitoring, proper balance between needs of clients and commercial interest of institutions, incentives to microfinance institutions, and capacitation of the poor and institutions.