Microfinance, Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction in Ghana

This book assesses the role of microfinance in the construction of livelihoods for poverty reduction in the Northern Savannah of Ghana, analysing the current microfinance landscape and financial services in the region. The book analyses the current microfinance landscape and financial services in Ghana. In doing so, it demonstrates the key factors for designing microfinance products and services to ensure greater uptake and outreach enhancing the sustainability of microfinance service providers. Chapters explore the impact of access to microfinance on livelihood diversification, asset accumulation patterns and welfare outcomes. In addition to assessing the role as well as of microfinance as an anti-poverty tool, the book presents new theoretical frameworks and models, including the microfinance livelisystem framework (MFL). This unique framework, which combines and goes beyond existing frameworks, situates the microfinance industry within national and international financial and economic ecosystems and presents the interrelationships between institutions providing services for the construction of livelihoods. Offering new theoretical frameworks and models developed for the microfinance industry with universal application, this book will be of particular use to students and scholars of Development Studies, Development Finance, Poverty and Inequality Studies, Rural Development and Sustainable Finance.

1Microfinance and Poverty Reduction: An Introduction 2 The Conceptual, Theoreticaland Epistemological Perspectivesof Livelihoods, Microfinanceand the Rhetoric ofPoverty Reduction 3 The Context of theGlobal Microfinance Industry 4 The Stateof Financial Servicesand Financial Inclusionin Ghana 5Designing Microfinance Productsand Servicesfor Financial Inclusionin Ghana 6 Determinantsof Microfinance Uptakein Ghana 7 Impactsof Household Accessto Microfinancein Ghana 8 Conclusions

Aaron Alesanelectured withthe Faculty of Business and Social Sciences at the Academic City University College, Ghana. He currently works with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Institute of Industrial Researchand is Head ofthe Business and Information Services Division.