Poverty in Neo-Liberal Ghana: Rethinking Social Remedial Measures

In the past few decades, poverty reduction has become a major social and economic issue that confronts the Ghanaian state. It is estimated that about 40 percent of Ghanaians are poor and 27 percent of that is classified as being extremely poor (Government of Ghana 2007 : 6). It is in this context that we can understand the critical role policy direction can play in reducing poverty in Ghana. The imperative to do so is not only determined by the country's strive for meeting the Millennium Development Goal 1 but it is also one determined by the drive for a democratic competitive multiparty system to operationalize social ameliorative programs. It is important, however, to note that the actors involved in poverty reduction programs are critical to the expected outcomes. The constitutive actors engaged in poverty reduction endeavor and their assigned role is an ideological issue; since the conviction in what works is a political one. This is the case because what is at stake is the fundamental question about a polity's values and its responsibilities to all its members (Mkandawire 2005).