II Back to top Credit and savings available from small-scale projects are unlikely to be sufficient for all the production and consumption needs of poor people. Where possible they should also attempt to increase people's ability to use other formal and informal sources of credit to increase the range of options available to them. The Oxfam Handbook of Development and Relief, Vol. If we can get it right, I believe that we will be able to deliver financial services which will greatly enhance the productivity of the farmers and of Ghana. Dr Sakyi Dawson, Dept. of Agricultural Extension, University of Ghana Back to top A major problem arising out of the great emphasis on microcredit is that groups break up both when they do no get microcredit and when they misuse it.
Many people join the groups only to get credit.
This is not mobilisation of the poor. Groups of the poor are the cornerstones for their 'development'. If groups are formed for credit the whole effort becomes banking for the poor. This does have benefits but it does not replace other state and NGO initiatives. Even when women retain full or significant control over their loans, they commonly use them to provide for traditional women's activities, such as raising livestock and poultry, rather than new uses.