DRIVERS OF RURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NORTHERN GHANA: A COMMUNITY CAPITALS FRAMEWORK APPROACH

Abstract

This article critically examines the entrepreneurial potentials of rural northern Ghana within the Community Capitals Framework context to establish which capitals are drivers and barriers to rural entrepreneurship development in the study area. The study adopts a qualitative research approach (n = 58) to examine the community capitals within three case study districts and communities. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted, gathering two different data at the district and community levels, using the Trans-TMM model to obtain reliable data through translation at the community level. The findings reveal that the cultural, social and political capitals and aspects of the research communities’ human capital offer significant entrepreneurial potential. However, in contrast, the scarcity of financial capital and low quality of the human capital in the communities poses a considerable challenge to significant entrepreneurial development and sustainability and therefore required attention. The article provides insight into entrepreneurship resources in rural northern Ghana for the government and organisations perceiving entrepreneurship as a development model towards poverty reduction, recognises the barriers, and addresses such deficiencies to guarantee the chances of success of such a programme.