Graduating from Extreme Poverty into a Sustainable Livelihood: A Case Study of LEAP programme in the Kpandai District, Ghana.

Abstract

This paper examines the policy and the implementation gaps of the LEAP program in in tackling poverty sustainably in Ghana. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect empirical data from respondents by using purposive sampling to collect data from the Social Welfare Department, Ministry of Gender and Social Protections through interviews, District LEAP Implementation Committee Members, and administering of questionnaires and conducting Focus Group Discussions to LEAP beneficiaries in the Kpandai district of northern, Ghana. The key findings from this research reveals a lot of shortcoming such as; political pressure to add more beneficiaries amidst budgetary constraints, inefficacious of the LEAP programme in its current form as far as sustainable poverty alleviation is concern. Subsequently, this paper proposed the   graduation module as an alternative strategy of alleviating people from the quagmire of extreme poverty into sustainable livelihoods.

Keywords: LEAP; sustainable poverty reduction; graduation; Kpandai.