Assessing the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Programme (LEAP) in the Nabdam District of Ghana

Cash transfer programmes which began in the 1990’s in Mexico and Brazil, have become one of the most popular means through which countries seek to eradicate poverty. Most countries not only in Latin America but Africa have as well adopted cash transfer programmes. Cash transfer programmes vary from country to country but all have one similar aim, which is providing the extremely poor population with grants to support their households hence lessening their vulnerability. Ghana, a developing country in Africa has as well adopted this mode of poverty alleviation. With high rates of poverty in the rural savannah regions of Ghana, there is however the need to work towards curbing it. Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) a cash transfer programme in Ghana, therefore seeks to empower the poor financially by providing them with grants. In so doing improving the living conditions of the extremely poor. It as well aims at improving human capital of the poor especially children. With growing interest on cash transfer programmes this paper seeks to examine LEAP in the Nabdam district (located in the rural savannah regions). Using the capabilities approach, asset vulnerability framework and looking at targeting. The paper attempts to understand how LEAP serving as a means to curb poverty has influenced the extremely poor as well as using both quantitative and qualitative data to decipher whether the extremely poor have actually been targeted. In conclusion of this paper, LEAP has influenced lives of the extremely poor therefore has lessen their vulnerability but in comparison to non-beneficiaries the impact is very minimal, also LEAP was unable to target majority of extremely poor persons in the district. LEAP therefore needs to improve upon its monitoring system, be more conscious of targeting the most vulnerable and also consider the feasibility of the long term aim of LEAP.