Livelihood Options for Rural Poor Households in Ghana: A Case Study of the Asutifi District

Abstract

About 87 percent to 89 percent of rural households in Ghana engage in small scale farming. However, rural poverty in Ghana is deepest among food crop farmers due to the vulnerable nature of their livelihood. Food crop farmers depend on single weather oriented agriculture and find it difficult to avoid or withstand livelihood stress and shocks such as drought, crop failure, pests and disease infestation among others. This study therefore focused on the need for rural households to develop additional livelihood options to provide vital income diversification, spread risk and provide means to cope when farming and other sources of income fail. Data from 138 heads of household who have adopted either Grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus), edible Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) and edible Snail (Achatina achatina) production as an additional livelihood activity to augment their livelihood options in the Asutifi District revealed that these supplementary livelihoods yields more income benefits than farming and other traditional livelihoods. The study concludes that rural households must be assisted to diversify their livelihoods if they are to overcome poverty.

Keywords: Rural Livelihoods, Poverty, Ghana.