Ghana Graduation from Ultra Poverty Program

Implementers: Presbyterian Agricultural Services, Innovations for Poverty Action

Pilot Overview

This program provides the ultra-poor (usually earning less than US$1 per day) with consumption support, livelihood training, transfer of productive asset, health education, and financial education with savings options over 24 months. The objective of the pilot is to help participants escape extreme poverty and graduate into sustainable livelihood and economic stability. The information gathered will inform development actors and policymakers in Ghana and around the world on the best methods of alleviating extreme poverty.

For more information on this pilot please contact: enaah@poverty-action.org

Implementing Organization Overview

Presbyterian Agricultural Services (PAS) provides innovative participatory and continuously proven agricultural extension services to farming families in their efforts to attain sustainable household food and income security in a sustainable farming system through collaborative partnership with farmer groups and other development actors. Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a nonprofit organization that creates and evaluates approaches to solving development problems and works to scale up successful projects through implementation and dissemination to policymakers, practitioners, investors, and donors around the world.

Targeting: The pilot relies on members of the local community to identify the poorest people in the area through a careful Participatory Wealth Ranking. Representatives of the project then visit the homes of potential participants to verify their eligibility using a Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) and applying inclusion/exclusion criteria, ensuring only the ultra-poor are selected.

Consumption support: The program provides a small weekly stipend for consumption support varied by household size during the lean season (generally 6 months). The consumption support amount varies from 4 to 6 Cedis per week according to household size (US$2.5-3.75).

Livelihoods: The pilot project provides four options in each location based on the recommendations from a livelihoods analysis. Options are: goat and poultry rearing, guinea corn processing and goat rearing, maize production and poultry rearing, maize and pig rearing, poultry and goats rearing, goats rearing and maize production, rice processing and poultry rearing, shea butter processing and poultry rearing, and shea butter processing and maize production.

Financial service: Participants save on individual accounts at rural banks on a fully voluntary basis, typical about 0.6 Cedis per week (US$ 0.3).

Additional services: All participants are registered for the National Health Insurance Scheme. Field staff will provide health education during weekly visits.

Research: IPA is conducting a randomized control trial impact assessment at the extended household (“compound”) level with the household as the unit of analysis. On top of the participants, the impact assessment will also evaluate 250 people receiving assets only and 850 households in a Savings out of Ultra Poverty Program (required to save a minimum of 0.5 Cedis [US$0.25] per week).. IPA is also conducting qualitative research using anthropological methodologies.

Graduation criteria: After twenty-four months participant s will be evaluated along a series of criteria such as asset ownership, savings and food security (indicators yet to be determined).

Graduation rate: Graduation is expected in 2013.

Scale up: Plans for scale up are yet to be determined.