The rural enterprises project 11 and the promotion of micro and small-scale enterprises in the Bawku West district in the Upper East region of Ghana

Abstract

The study attempted to find out the extent to which the Rural Enterprises Project 11 has promoted the activities of micro and small-scale enterprises in the Bawku West District in the Upper EastRegion of Ghana, during the period 2004-2009. The study used the purposive, simplerandom, cluster and the stratified sampling techniques in the selection of respondents. The interview schedule and questionnaire were used to solicit information from the beneficiaries ofthe project interventions and the project facilitators, respectively. Microsoft Excel was used in the data analysis while presentation of the research findings was done by the use of frequency tables. The findings of the study show that the Rural Enterprises Project 11 has provided training, equipment support, marketing support and business counselling services to promote the activities of MSEs in the Bawku West District, with resultant increase in the number of customers, productivity and sales volume of MSEs in the district. To enhance the performance of the Rural Enterprises Project in the Bawku West District, the study recommends that the project and the District Assembly should form a functional MSE sub-committee,whilst the District Assembly aligns the project activities to its overall development plan. Again, the project should use other accredited non-bank financial institutions to administer credit to entrepreneurs, review the criteria for the release of funds, conduct needs assessment before interventions, and monitor beneficiaries after interventions.