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This study uses a quantitative correlational design model to investigate the effects of human capital and economic growth on poverty reduction. The study sampled and analyzed 140 countries’ data from United Nations Human Development Index report, 2010 to 2018. Comparing data from Africa, Europe and Asia, the study found that human capital had a positive effect on economic growth, while economic growth had a negative effect on poverty. The study argues that poverty reduction in Africa matters in creating sustainable global futures and recommends investment into free universal pre-tertiary education as a strategy to combat poverty.

This case study of a Ghanaian rural school district uses a community-based participatory action research to engage with municipal officials, a rural community, and its local school participants to co-design culturally sustainable education strategies. The study triangulated community meeting discussion, interviews, field notes and document analysis to elicit grassroots policy approaches and community cultural capital driving rural education success. The study identified a strong correlation between community participation, educational improvement and reduction in inequality and poverty. The study found that policy interventions that remove financial and geographical barriers to education access, elicit community participation and improve rural livelihoods were effective strategies for improving education outcomes for Ghanaian rural communities. The study identified rich rural cultural capital facilitating education improvement which evident that the problem of rural education has more to do with marginalisation than being rural. The study argues that valuing rural spaces by thinking spatially and innovatively offers new possibilities to transform rural education. Therefore, rural education must be pursued as collective social good or socio-cultural process, entailing an endless interchange of shared aspirations, resources, and cultural capital for mutual survival. This approach must be ground-up, fuelled by community participation, decolonisation, culturally responsivity in designing and recovering contextually appropriate universal education and integrated development model for Ghana and Africa.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is globally acclaimed 21st -century business virtue by which the corporate organisations participate in community development. This case study investigates two rural banks’ CSRs and how they complement the local government in community development. The study rural banks’ CSRs were found to foster a win-win relationship, creating thriving business environment, while contributing to community development. The study’s banks’ CSR philosophy was driven by the desire for legitimacy, maintaining a business presence, promoting equity while responding to community needs. The case study banks’ CSRs drive which complemented the local government to improve the livelihood, education, health and social amenities were responsive to the needs of the rural communities.  However, a deeper community involvement and collaboration, and more attention to livelihood interventions were required to maximise local relevance in community development.

Historically, women in Africa have long been known to transport agricultural produce, firewood, and pots of water by way of the head for domestic use. This culture has been transformed into feminised unskilled labour termed Kayayei in Ghanaian cities as a fallout from poor education outcomes and its attendant lack of sustainable jobs in the rural areas. Kayayei is used in Ghana to refer to young female migrants between the ages of 8-35 years from the poverty endemic areas of northern Ghana engaging in head porterage business in the cities as a means of survival. The increasing incidence of kayaye and its attendant social, health and economic problems have attracted media and research commentary in Ghana in recent times. This study investigates contraceptive use among kayayei in the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana to inform strategies to improve the reproductive health of the low-income group. The study uses a mixed-method design. A structured survey questionnaire was administered to 121 kayayei. Further, 44 participants were selected from the 121 kayeyei to participate in focus group discussions (FGD). These were complemented with individual interviews of a pharmacist, a chemist shop attendants, and a drug peddler [unlicensed medicine walker]. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the quantitative data from the survey questionnaire, while descriptive coding was used to analyse the qualitative data from FGDs, interviews and field observation. The findings revealed that male partners’ approval was the major determinant of contraceptive use among the participating migrant female head porters. Some 90% of women who were less likely to use contraceptives are those who never discuss or get approval from their partners. Oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices (IUD) and condoms were the most used contraceptive among the kayayei. Participants’ choice of contraceptives was influenced by affordability, accessibility and their perceptions about contraceptive security. The study also identified that side effects from the use of contraceptives, including inconveniences on menstruation, weight gain, and weight loss, were a set of factors that demotivate contraceptives use among the research participants. The study also identified that, although culture has a significant influence on contraceptive use in Africa generally, in the case of migrant young women who have escaped from the cultural scrutiny of their home communities, their sexual partners, rather than culture, have a significant influence on their contraceptives use. The study, therefore, recommends an aggressive public education campaign on contraceptives use targeting both kayayei and their sexual partners in Ghanaian cities, while family planning services are accessible and affordable to this low-income group.