ABSTRACT
The chapter is an introduction to the background and motivation upon which the book is written, based on the author’s PhD thesis. The chapter explained the role of financial sector development and poverty reduction efforts within the context of the microfinance, livelihoods and the rhetoric of poverty reduction nexus globally, with a special focus on sub-Saharan Africa. The Northern Savannah of Ghana, West Africa, is the case study region. The chapter addressed other objectives, including filling in gaps, both in theory and practice, in the livelihoods, microfinance and poverty reduction literature. In theory, the book addressed the absence of single conceptual frameworks situating the microfinance industry within domestic and international financial systems, and also the interactions within households and localized societal welfare promoting institutions in the process of livelihood construction. Empirically, the book first addressed the absence of a single study simultaneously identifying specific macro-economic, macro-institutional, MFI level factors, clients and household characteristics influencing uptake from the demand side of the industry; and second, the gaps between product design and the needs and wants of clients, including diversification, asset accumulation patterns and welfare outcomes. Additionally, the book addressed financial sector developments of developing countries, where Ghana is the case country.
