Saving Behaviour in Ghana: A Study of Rural Households in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to explore the savings behaviour of rural household in the Ho Municipality. The population used for the study was rural families in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region of Ghana. The sample size of 160 households was drawn from the population using the multi-stage cluster sampling technique. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data collected. The findings showed that in general, the family heads’ knowledge about savings is low and that the families save more in the informal forms than in the formal forms. The findings also revealed that personal, societal and organisational constraints inhibit the respondent families’ ability to save. The studied families also do not have any particular pattern for saving as they save as and when they have an excess income. Based on these findings, it was recommended that an outreach programme be instituted to help educate the rural families on the use of their income as well as on the savings avenues that are available for them. The findings have serious implication for eradicating rural poverty in the study area and in Ghana as a whole.