In development dialogues, poverty alleviation, eradication and reduction are contemporarily used in policy designs. Public Policy programs have focused on charity, welfare dependency, targeting, drawing poverty and setting global goals to alleviate people from poverty. The global goals such as the Millennium Development Goals, Sustainable Development Goals, and welfare economics have been embraced as the potent development commitment to taking people out of poverty.
In a technocratic model of governance, the government takes feedback from appointed representatives. It is then communicated to the central government what problems have been identified and the “hows” of solving them. The government would put together policy programs with or without broad consultations to address the gaps.
This comes with two problems: the knowledge and incentive problems on rights and material needs to solve the reported challenges. Knowledge, although complex, is often localized.
The knowledge about what the people want to take them out of poverty is always not what governments would implement but often what could keep them in power.
The debate about whether poor people prioritize individual rights or material needs is central to public policy and democratic governance.
In Ghana, where poverty, inequality, youth unemployment, and service delivery gaps persist, understanding these priorities are important for designing development strategies that are responsive to citizens’ realities.
What Poor People Want: Evidence From Ghana
Studies in Ghana consistently show that poor households emphasize two broad categories of needs:
Material Needs (High Priority)
The poor is more concerned about the access to jobs, stable income, and livelihood opportunities. It is a daily dream hoping to be realized in the shortest possible time. Reliable and affordable healthcare, clean water, sanitation, electricity, and social amenities are crucial for the survival of modern civilization and poverty alleviation.
Education for children and access to agricultural inputs cannot be overlooked with excuses. The poor also want to be educated and have the inputs to farm and feed themselves. A primary function of the state if such exist, is the security and protection from crime. Justice must be equally and fairly distributed. The poor feel belonging when justice is distributed equally and fairely.
The Simple Statistics that Speak Volume
According to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS, 2023), 24.3% of Ghanaians are multi-dimensionally poor. Youth unemployment stands between 12% and 19.7% depending on the region (GSS Labour Survey). Again, 1 out of 3 households experience irregular access to clean water. As Ghana make inroads to expand the electrification, 14% of Ghanaian households still lack access to electricity in rural areas.
Individual Rights (Important but Less Tangible)
The poor want to be recognized through freedom of speech, association, and participation in decision-making. Various policy consultations engage the elite community over the poor who are supposed to benefit from the policy intent.
It is an acceptable norm that the opulent and politically powerful individuals are able to buy their ways out of justice. One important actions the poor need is the protection from abuse or arbitrary actions by authorities.
Access to public service is always expensive for the poor. Persistent corruption and extortions often abort the appetite to engage public institutions. The poor is excluded and denied the same opportunities at all levels of state institutions. The vulnerable need transparent governance and accountability in public service delivery to take themselves out of poverty.
Afrobarometer (2022) shows that 73% of Ghanaians support democracy, but only 48% are satisfied with how it works. At the same time, 72% believe corruption is increasing, and 60% report that public services are not equitably distributed.
Which Comes First?
Surveys suggest that poor people do not see rights and needs as mutually exclusive. However, material needs often take priority because they are immediate and survival-related. Rights matter when they affect access to material resources, such as the right to property, fair treatment, and voice in local governance.
In poor communities in northern Ghana, for example, farmers frequently cite the need for roads to transport produce, access to fertilizer, and Protection from land disputes.
The poor also emphasize rights, fairness in selecting beneficiaries of government programmes, freedom from political discrimination, and accountability in how district assemblies use public funds. This denotes how rights and needs are interconnected.
Examples from Ghana
The LEAP Programme
The Livelihood and Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Provides cash transfers to the poor households. Households report improved food security—but also demand fairness in selection, showing the need for both equity (rights) and subsistence (needs). This was observed in selecting party stalwarts as beneficiaries over those who deserve.
Free Senior High School
The intention of the distributive policy is to reduce financial burden on poor families. However, parents often demand accountability in education quality, showing a rights-based concern.
Illegal Mining (Galamsey) Communities
Poor households depend on mining for income. But they also demand protection from environmental degradation (a rights issue). Households and the broader Ghanaian society depend on the environment for survival. Food, water, and game are crucial for human existence. The right to enjoy what the environment has for man does not mean that right must be abused and further violated by the state.
For Ghana’s poor, material needs are immediate and often dominate short-term priorities. But rights remain essential because they determine whether poor people can access services fairly and hold authorities accountable. Effective policy must therefore combine social protection and economic opportunity, strengthening of individual rights, rule of law, and accountability.
Poor people in Ghana want both—but survival comes first.
Author
Peter Bismark Kwofie
Peter is a renowned public policy activist/analyst, and the Executive Director at Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILAPI) in Ghana.
References:
https://medium.com/@sbmintel/hand-to-mouth-8dfb3dc8b688
Image Source: https://www.publicagenda.news/2-8-million-ghanaians-living-in-extreme-poverty-report/
