Utilisation of Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Transfer: Evidence from the Upper West Region of Ghana

Abstract

The emergence of social cash transfers, including Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) scheme, in Ghana was due to the need to mitigate poverty. However, prior assessment studies focused on the entirety of the programmes, and not solely on assessing the utilisation of grants from such programmes. Consequently, this study examined the utilisation of the LEAP grant, by employing a cross-sectional study design. A sample of 302 LEAP beneficiaries was selected by means of stratified random sampling. Data from beneficiaries were gathered via a questionnaire, while an interview guide was used to collect supporting evidence from key informants. Analysis of data involved descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, chi-square test of independence and thematic analysis. The study found that beneficiaries spent their LEAP grant on both consumption and investments, with consumption appearing dominant. Overall, beneficiaries utilised the grant in meeting their basic needs. It is, therefore, recommended that in order to develop self-sufficiency, beneficiaries must be advised by the programme officials to invest part of their grant in income generating activities to earn extra income to supplement the LEAP grant, and eventually wean them of the programme.

Coverage of non-receipt of cash transfer (Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty) and associated factors among older persons in the Mampong Municipality, Ghana – a quantitative analysis

“…Evidence relating to factors associated with older persons' non-receipt of cash transfers is scarce. Most studies focused their analysis on only beneficiaries, hence, missing out on the extent of coverage and the associated factors concerning non-participation in cash transfers among older persons [30,[35][36][37]. Much of the earlier work concentrated on the importance and impacts of these transfer programmes on old age and ageing in developing countries [25,26,[37][38][39][40][41][42].…”

“…Most studies focused their analysis on only beneficiaries, hence, missing out on the extent of coverage and the associated factors concerning non-participation in cash transfers among older persons [30,[35][36][37]. Much of the earlier work concentrated on the importance and impacts of these transfer programmes on old age and ageing in developing countries [25,26,[37][38][39][40][41][42]. Though there have been studies on older persons' participation in cash transfers in Ghana [36,41,42], there is limited available data on the coverage of non-receipt of cash transfer and the associated factors among older persons in LEAPtargeted communities in Ghana.…”