Contributions of village savings and loans associations to rural livelihoods’ development in the Upper West Region, Ghana

Efforts at reducing poverty have chalked modest success in developing countries. This is partly because of the limited access to formal and informal financial services, especially in rural communities. The village savings and loans associations (VSLAs), therefore, serve as a leading conduit for increasing investment, economic empowerment, and poverty reduction. However, this assertion has no empirical evidence in the Upper West Region—the poorest region in Ghana. This study examined how VSLAs contributed to farming activities and assets accumulation of participants in the two poorest districts in the region. The study deployed the mixed research approach and the after-only study design as the strategy of enquiry. Using random simple sampling, the study selected 206 respondents for the survey, while purposive sampling was relied upon to select discussants of focused groups. Questionnaire, focus group discussion guide and camera were used to elicit quantitative and qualitative data. The study used assets, farm investment, investment in education and health, and household food as benchmarks for measuring the contributions of the associations. Descriptive statistics and Mann–Whitney U test were adopted to analyse the quantitative data, while the thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data. The study found that participants procured productive and non-productive assets after joining VSLAs. They also spent on food, health insurance, and education materials. Thus, the funds were thinly spread on many investment items, which hinder the realization of the full potential of the associations. The study recommends that participants should direct their investment towards procuring more productive assets.