Mobile technology has gained prominence in the development
agenda of the government of Ghana. This is because mobile technology has the
potential to reduce poverty by providing access to financial services like
savings and money transfer to users. This research employs a participatory approach
to examine local self-sustaining eco-systems, cognition, and perceptions about
mobile money systems as a means of enhancing livelihoods in Ghana. The study
was carried out among one hundred rural women traders, randomly selected and
interviewed from the Kasena Nankana Municipality in the Upper East region of
Ghana. The study results showed that 90% of the traders interviewed rely on
home savings for both trade transactions and household sustenance. About 77% of
the traders interviewed use mobile phones and have done so for a period between
1-5 years. The MTN mobile network (the local mobile service provider) was
reported as the most commonly used communication network. Poor network
connectivity remains the biggest challenge to traders, and 82% still have no
idea about mobile money or its perceived risks. Almost 81% of the traders
reported that they do not use a barter system in their trading. Mobile money
systems are still largely unknown among rural women traders. This may be
attributed to the fact that rural areas lack the necessary communication
infrastructure to support efficient money transfer. Only 2% of the respondents
use mobile money and their use is only limited to sending money to their wards
in schools as well as receiving assistance from relatives but not for trade.
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| Traders in the market. Photo by authors. |
We spoke with a rural
woman trader dealing in millet and pito malt who put the value that mobile
phones bring to rural trade in perspective. Speaking in the local language
(Kasem) she said:
“The coming of the mobile phones have
significance for us as rural traders. I for one, I am trading in millet and process
and sell pito malt to pito brewers. I will usually join the lorry to Fumbisi
and Gushegu where I buy the millet on the market days. Most of the market
trucks that usually ply on these routes are not road worthy and at times we can
spend two days on the road due to truck breakdowns. With the mobile phones it
has made my trade transactions a lot easier and cheaper to do. Now I can call
the millet sellers from the markets prior to the market day to discuss prices,
quantities I need and to introduce a person who will deliver my cash or even
arrange to buy on credit. With this prior arrangement, the seller is able to
arrange for the millet to be loaded and delivered to me on Navrongo Market day
in Navrongo. The phones have therefore helped us cut down on the cost of doing
business and by that increase our profits. It also helps us to save time by not
traveling to distant markets to buy food. This way the time is used to engage
in farming and household chores. The only dark side of the phones too is when
the network is bad and you try several times without success to connect to your
trade partner from the distant markets.”
At the
interface session, where the concerns of rural traders were presented to mobile
network service providers and local authority officials, she reiterated the
need for the service providers to seriously address the challenges so
identified and to make their services more reliable and accessible to rural
women traders.
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| Traders in the market. Photo by authors. |
Nevertheless,
given the high mobile phone usage among rural women traders in the study area, and
the reported transportation of cash in rural trade transactions and the
potential risk associated with bulk cash handling across long distance trading
markets, the need and potential for mobile money usage is high among rural
women traders. The focus of subsequent research will need to be targeted at
designing mobile money systems that are appropriate, inclusive, and responsive
to the savings and trade transaction needs of poor and marginalized rural women
traders.
The final report from the project can be viewed here.
The final report from the project can be viewed here.
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