“They are my people, add them!” The politicisation of poverty reduction programmes in the Global South: Ghana’s Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty cash transfer programme in focus

ABSTRACT

Numerous impact assessments have shown that Ghana’s cash transfer programme, the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), has contributed to poverty alleviation and improved schooling. Although the LEAP programme has been extensively evaluated, its political dimensions have been under-researched. Within this context, the present article aimed at understanding the pathways of politicising the LEAP programme. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 25 LEAP beneficiaries and 5 programme officers, the data demonstrates how the political actors abuse the targeting system by prioritising “their people” at the expense of other beneficiaries in five districts of northern Ghana.

RÉSUMÉ

De nombreuses études d’impact ont démonté que le programme de transferts monétaires du Ghana, le Programme de revenu de subsistance contre la pauvreté (LEAP), a contribué à atténuer la pauvreté et à améliorer la scolarisation des enfants. Bien que le programme LEAP ait été étudié de manière extensive, ses dimensions politiques n’ont pas encore fait l’objet d’une analyse aussi poussée. Dans ce contexte, notre article a pour but d’étudier les différentes voies de politisation du programme LEAP. Nous basons notre analyse sur des entretiens semi-directifs avec 25 bénéficiaires et 5 administrateurs du programme LEAP. Nos résultats démontrent la manière dont les acteurs politiques abusent du système de ciblage du programme afin de donner la priorité à « leurs gens », au détriment d’autres bénéficiaires dans les cinq districts du nord du Ghana.

KEYWORDS:

• Social protection
• conditional cash transfers
• politicisation
• Ghana
• Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP)

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the research participants, especially the programme officers for agreeing to participate thin the study, despite the obvious risks involved.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Competing interests

The author hereby declares that the research has no competing interests. It was funded by the author.

Data availability

Data were solely collected by the author, and they were processed for analysis. The data is available upon request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Abdul-Rahim Mohammed

Dr Abdul-Rahim Mohammed is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Development Management and Policy Studies, University of Development Studies, Ghana. Broadly, his research interests include Analysing Development Policies and Programmes in general and Social Policies in the Global South in particular, Policy Implementation gaps, Qualitative Inquiries into food insecurity, and exploring the notion of children's agency in the Global South.