Abstract:
In recent years, the issue of poverty reduction in Ghana has become a central
theme in major policy discourse. Despite the formulation and implementation of
several policies to address poverty issues, poverty continues to persist and the living
conditions of Ghanaians continue to deteriorate. Although capacity development
is critical to poverty reduction, policy actors tend to overlook this important factor
to address poverty in Ghana. Using a qualitative research approach, this study
analysed the factors that militate against capacity development efforts towards
poverty reduction, using Ghana as a case study. The article uses secondary data
collected from government and conference reports, journal articles, newspapers,
and books. The data was analysed using the content analysis method. It was
found that poor leadership, lack of ownership of poverty reduction programmes,
inadequate data, political corruption and inappropriate training militate against
capacity development efforts. The study recommends pragmatic measures to
address these capacity development weaknesses.