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The Impact of Microfinance on Poverty Reduction Amongst Farmers in Ghana

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The Impact of Microfinance on Poverty Reduction Amongst Farmers in Ghana The Impact of Microfinance on Poverty Reduction amongst Farmers in Ghana Fatawu Adesina Bakare A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Birmingham City University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2017 Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences, Birmingham City University i ABSTRACT The microfinance programme is largely deemed to be a mechanism aimed at reducing poverty particularly in developing countries. The prevalence of poverty is considered to have a negative effect on the health of an economy as well as the wellbeing of its people. Thus, this thesis investigates microfinance provision and its poverty reducing impact. In particular this study sought to investigate the relationships between microfinance provision and the wellbeing of the family including the agricultural activities of the borrowers. In this thesis, poverty is conceptualised from the perspective of “capability deficit”. Thus, the wellbeing of the family is considered to have been improved as a consequence of an increase in its capability. This thesis begins with a review of the state of knowledge within the domain of extant microfinance literature that focuses mainly on the effect of microfinance on poverty reduction. The empirical study of this thesis is based on 320 structured questionnaire responses from microfinance farmer borrowers. 10 semi- structured interviews were carried out with the microfinance loan officers and 40 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the service users. The study findings suggest that there is a significant relationship between microfinance provision and positive effect on the wellbeing of the microfinance clients and their families as well as their agricultural activities. The research finds that, microfinance clients’ perception of poverty focus significantly on maintaining a reliable source of income and the ability to meet essential family needs. The findings also show that, the selection of members into groups based on personal relation and trust as an embedded feature of group formation to hedge against moral hazard problems, suggests the likelihood of exclusion from benefiting from microfinance loans. The outcomes of this empirical study contribute significantly to the wider microfinance literature that shows microfinance leads to a positive effect on the holistic livelihood of poor service users (Hulme and Mosley, 1996; Armendariz de Aghion and Morduch, 2005; Adjei, et al., 2008). Moreover, the thesis provides significant methodological and theoretical contribution to the research in microfinance in both developed as well as developing economies. ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my father, Jimah Bakare (Late), mother, Abisatu Salami Ama. Their selfless and exceptional parental guidance to me and unceasing prayers no doubt contributed immensely to this achievement. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without God almighty’s guidance and direction. I give all praise and thanks to God for his favour, wisdoms, strength and valour throughout this research journey. I am extremely grateful to my supervisors; Professor Javed Hussain and Dr Navjot Sandhu for their excellent support and encouragement to complete this study. Most importantly, their in-depth knowledge and understanding coupled with their unflinching advice was the driving force for this thesis. During the last six years, I have learnt a lot from your experience. I am particularly grateful to all the administrative staff of the Business School especially, Cath Eden and Lovain Hynes for their support throughout my PhD study journey in the university. The completion of this thesis is also made possible by the assistance of the microfinance institution used for this study. I am indebted to you for your support during the data collection phase of this PhD thesis. In particular, I am thankful to Mrs Esther Larbi for her time and support. For all my colleagues especially, Dr Samuel Salia, Raymond Adu and Dr Samia Mahmood, I am immensely grateful for your immeasurable advice and encouragement. I can always count on you whenever I need help and guidance. I am most grateful to my family for their support and prayers most especially, my wife, Ayishatu Gariba and children, Sofia Bakare, Kudirath Bakare, Fridaus Bakare, Fareeda Bakare and Fareed Bakare for their unceasing prayers and patience. They are undoubtedly the source of my inspiration. Their sacrifice and understanding have made the completion of this thesis possible. To all my friends, I am deeply grateful for your words of encouragement and prayers iv Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………….ii Dedication……………………………………………………………………………………iii Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………………..iv Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 1.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………1 1.1 Introduction and Statement of the Problem………………………………………..1 1.2 Aim (s) and Objectives……………………………………………………………….2 1.2.1 Aim of the Study…………………………………………………………………..2 1.2.2 Objectives………………………………………………………………………….3 1.3 Key Research Questions…………………………………………………………….3 CHAPTER 2 2.0 The Financial Landscape in Ghana and the Study Context………………………..8 2.1 The Background and Political Structure of Ghana…………………………………10 2.2 Poverty Dynamics in Ghanaian Context and the Economic Background………..13 2.3 Microfinance: The Ghanaian Context………………………………………………..17 2.4 Microfinance: The Role of the Government…………………………………………21 2.5 Challenges Facing Microfinance Sub-sector in Ghana and Institutional Policy…23 2.6 The Ghanaian Financial Sector, Conduct, Structure and performance………….26 2.7 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...28 CHAPTER 3 Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………..30 3.0 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..30 3.1 The Design of Microfinance Interventions and its Directional Relation to Poverty Alleviation……………………………………………………………………………….30 3.2 .1 Poverty: Historical Perspectives………………………………………………….30 3.2.2 Multi-Definitional Approaches to Poverty……………………………………..32 3.2.3 Decomposing the Causes of Rural and Urban Poverty……………………..35 3.2.4 Consequences of Poverty: Rural and Urban…………………………………37 3.2.5 Measuring Poverty: Methodological Perspective and Trajectories………...38 3.2.6 Poverty: Policy and Initiatives Dimensions…………………………………...41 v 3.3.1 Agricultural and its Relations to Poverty Reduction……………………………..43 3.3.2 Emerging Challenges in the Agricultural Credit market……………………….45 3.4.1 The Development of Microfinance: Concept and its Trajectories………………48 3.4.2 Microfinance: Interventions and the Credit Market…………………………….50 3.4.3 Rotating Savings, Credit Association (ROSCA) and Credit Cooperatives: Are they Potential Alternatives?...........................................................................52 3.4.3 Conventional Banks and the Credit Market Inefficiency………………………53 3.4.5 Microfinance: Antecedent and Historical Perspectives……………………….55 3.5.1 Microfinance and its Directional Relations to Poverty Alleviation Disaggregating the Concept………………………………………………………..58 3.6.0 Microfinance Innovative Mechanism and Impact on Poverty…………………..61 3.6.1 Group Lending Scheme…………………………………………………………..62 3.6.2 Individual Lending Scheme………………………………………………………67 3.6.3 Dynamic Incentives lending Scheme……………………………………………67 3.7.1 Microfinance Impact on Women’s Empowerment……………………………….70 3.8.1 Disaggregating the Dimensions and Conceptual Framework for Assessing the Impact of Microfinance……………………………………………………………………73 3.8.2 The Intended Beneficiary School……………………………………………….75 3.8.3 The Intermediary School…………………………………………………………76 3.8.4.0 Level or Unit of Assessment…………………………………………………...78 3.8.4.1 Disaggregating the Household as a Unit of Assessment………………...78 3.8.5 Household Approach to Impact Assessment…………………………………..79 3.8.6 Theory and Concept of Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA)…………….82 3.8.7 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………..88 CHAPTER 4 Research Methodology……………………………………………………………………91 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………91 4.0 Analytical Framework and Selection of Research Methods………………………91 4.1.0 Research Philosophy…………………………………………………………...91 4.1.1 Positivist Paradigm…………………………………………………………...92 4.1.2 Interpretivist Paradigm……………………………………………………….93 4. Philosophical Implications for the Study – Microfinance in Perspective…...95 4.2.0 The Research Design and Methodology…………………………………….97 vi 4.2.1 Qualitative Method……………………………………………………………98 4.2.2 Quantitative Method…………………………………………………………..99 4.2.3 Triangulation (Mixed Methods) Approach…………………………………102 4.2.4 Rationale for the Triangulation Approach…………………………………103 4.3 Pilot Study………………………………………………………………………..107 4.4 Sample and Sampling Techniques……………………………………………108 4.5. Data Collection Instruments – Design of Questionnaire Survey and semi- structure interviews…………………………………………………………………..111 4.5.1 Questionnaire………………………………………………………………….111 4.5.2 Interview: Semi-structured for Microfinance Institution and Participants...113 4.6.0 Processes involved in Administrating Questionnaire, Interviews and Degree of Response…………………………………………………………………………..114 4.6.1 Questionnaire Administration…………………………………………………114 4.6.2 Qualitative Interviews………………………………………………………….116 4.7.0 Data Analysis…………………………………………………………………..117 4.7.1 Quantitative Data Analysis…………………………………………………117 4.7.2 Qualitative Data Analysis…………………………………………………..118 4.8 Rationale for the Area of Study and Sample Population…………………….119 4.9 Reliability and the Validity of the Questionnaire and Issues pertinent to Accessibility and Ethical Consideration…………………………………………….120
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