Poverty Assessment and a Comparative Study of Rural Microfinance Institutions and Government Programmes in Ghana

This data collection assessed the delivery strategies of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ghana with the aim of identifying best practices to guide operations of the industry. The specific objectives of the study were to assess the socio-economic profiles of clients of selected MFIs and non-client households, assess the poverty levels of MFIs' client households in relation to the non-client sample, and to make recommendations for policy and planning with a view to strengthening the delivery of MFIs poverty-related programmes. Demographic information collected includes sex, age, education and health status of all household members, marital status, religion and occupation of adult household members aged 15 and above and ethnic group of household head. Other components of the study instrument were: footwear and clothing expenditure, food-related indicators, dwelling-related indicators, other asset-based indicators, and other living standards indicators.