Microfinance improves child care in Ghana

In the central region of Ghana, in a town called Mankessim, one of Plan’s five programme areas in Ghana, women from several communities have decided to come together to tackle poverty head-on.

With support from Plan and a local bank, women have established a microfinance scheme known as Solidarity with a view to improving their livelihoods and enabling them to take better care of their children.

“I was left alone to care for our five children” said Efua, one of the first members of the association, whose husband left to look for a job in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire. Lack of financial resources and knowledge of children’s health needs contributed to the high infant child and infant mortality rate in the area. Malnutrition, malaria and diarrhoea were freqent and remained untreated and unprevented.

When the women from Mankessim expressed the desire to come together to form a co-operative credit union, Plan provided Akoti Rural Bank with financial support to help them start up the microfinance scheme. The bank helped the women manage their savings and credit through simple training.
 
With the credits, women carry out a variety of income-generating activities: some grow crops and sell food items like cassava, maize, rice and kenke (a local Ghanaian dish), others sell second-hand clothing or run local restaurants known as chop bars.

“With my credit, I was able to expand my farm and hire more labour. With the good rainy season, the yield was so good that I had enough money to take my children to hospital when they fell sick” said Georgina, a member of the association.

Although men are not directly involved in the association, they are regularly kept informed of the functioning of the micro-credit system, promoting their understanding and support of the scheme.

Most households see their income increase through the scheme and many husbands are returning home from their foreign jobs to the satisfaction of their wives and children. Given the encouraging results of this scheme, Plan’s office in Ghana is considering supporting other communities with similar needs.