Assessing the Impact of Community Life Improvement Program (CLIP) on the Livelihood Assets of Women in the Sheabutter Processing Business in Karaga District of Northern Ghana

Abstract

The poverty situation in Northern Ghana is a major challenge to sustainable development. As a result of socio-cultural factors, women are vulnerable and their poverty situation is even more overwhelming. Development agencies, Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations have adopted and implemented different strategies aimed at reducing poverty in these areas. Micro-credit delivery to the poor especially women is one of these strategies that seems to be making impact towards improving the livelihoods of the rural poor women. The Community Life Improvement Program (CLIP), a Non-Governmental Organization has instituted a micro-credit scheme to help the poor rural women in Karaga district of Northern region to expand their sheabutter processing micro-business. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of the CLIP Project on the livelihood assets of sheabutter processing women in Karaga district of Northern region. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to select 110 respondents (80 beneficiary and 30 non-beneficiary women) who were interviewed for the study. Interview guide and focus group discussions were tools used to obtain information from the sheabutter processing women. The results of the study revealed that the livelihood assets of the beneficiary women have been improved. The study further revealed that the livelihood assets of the beneficiary women were far better off as compared to that of the non-beneficiary women of the CLIP Project. The study recommended that, the CLIP Project should extend its financial services to many more non-beneficiary sheabutter processing women in the target communities.