Poverty in Ghana
www.ruralpovertyportal.com
In recent years, Ghana has emerged as a leading country in the Western and Central Africa region. It has developed its economy on a scale that could enable it to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before the 2015 deadline. It also managed a smooth and peaceful political transition in 2008 and 2009, and has created a political and policy environment conducive to economic and social progress and poverty reduction.
The Ghanaian economy has grown at an average annual rate of 4.8 per cent over the past two decades. By 2008 GDP growth had reached 7.3 per cent. The agriculture sector, which contributed 33.5 per cent of GDP in 2008, remains the country’s major engine of economic growth. Rapid economic progress has all but halved national poverty rates, which have fallen from approximately 50 per cent in 1991 to 28.5 per cent in 2006. In the last decade, poverty rates dropped by 8.6 per cent in urban areas and by 10.4 per cent in rural ones. Ghana’s growth and poverty reduction rates are probably the best that have been achieved throughout sub-Saharan Africa in the past 15 years.
Where are Ghana's rural poor people?
Although there has been a substantial overall decline in the incidence of poverty in Ghana, poverty still has a firm grip on rural areas, especially in the north. There is a wide disparity in income between people living in the drought-prone northern plains, and those living in the south, where there are two growing seasons and greater economic opportunities.
Who are Ghana's rural poor people?
Just over half the country’s population lives in rural areas. The poorest parts of Ghana are the savannah regions of the north (the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions), where chronic food insecurity is widespread and livelihoods are more vulnerable. Poor rural people have limited access to basic social services, safe water, roads that are accessible year round, and electricity and telephone services. Poverty is most
In recent years, Ghana has emerged as a leading country in the Western and Central Africa region. It has developed its economy on a scale that could enable it to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before the 2015 deadline. It also managed a smooth and peaceful political transition in 2008 and 2009, and has created a political and policy environment conducive to economic and social progress and poverty reduction.
The Ghanaian economy has grown at an average annual rate of 4.8 per cent over the past two decades. By 2008 GDP growth had reached 7.3 per cent. The agriculture sector, which contributed 33.5 per cent of GDP in 2008, remains the country’s major engine of economic growth. Rapid economic progress has all but halved national poverty rates, which have fallen from approximately 50 per cent in 1991 to 28.5 per cent in 2006. In the last decade, poverty rates dropped by 8.6 per cent in urban areas and by 10.4 per cent in rural ones. Ghana’s growth and poverty reduction rates are probably the best that have been achieved throughout sub-Saharan Africa in the past 15 years.
Where are Ghana's rural poor people?
Although there has been a substantial overall decline in the incidence of poverty in Ghana, poverty still has a firm grip on rural areas, especially in the north. There is a wide disparity in income between people living in the drought-prone northern plains, and those living in the south, where there are two growing seasons and greater economic opportunities.
Who are Ghana's rural poor people?
Just over half the country’s population lives in rural areas. The poorest parts of Ghana are the savannah regions of the north (the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions), where chronic food insecurity is widespread and livelihoods are more vulnerable. Poor rural people have limited access to basic social services, safe water, roads that are accessible year round, and electricity and telephone services. Poverty is most