Looking Beyond Cash Transfers for Optimizing Poverty Reduction and Livelihood Sustainability in Rural Ghana: Comparative Analysis of Two Social Policy Interventions Against Poverty

In this article, we argue that, if the poverty reduction inroads recorded from the declaration of the Millennium Development Goals could be optimized and sustained particularly in rural areas experiencing higher incidence of poverty and livelihood vulnerabilities, policymakers and development practitioners ought to look beyond cash transfer measures to embrace skills and technology transfer policies and programs. This approach has a greater tendency of creating appropriate context for the empowerment and enhancement of the production capacities of the poor in ways that guarantee their independence to engage in self-help initiatives and resilient local livelihoods. This conclusion is drawn from comparative study outcomes of two Government of Ghana social policies for poverty reduction, namely—the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty and the Rural Enterprise Program.