Community Banking Services and the Fight Against Poverty in Ghana: Could this be the Panacea for Sustainable Community Development?

The general objective of this study was to assess the effects of a cooperative society on the livelihood of farmers in Ghana. The convenience and simple random sampling methods of data collection were used to select two hundred (200) out of two thousand and seventeen (2,017) farmers who were clients of the study institution, and four staff at the cooperative studied for the research. The major instruments that were used comprised a structured questionnaire in both cases and an interview schedule for only those farmers who were unable to read.  The data collected were analysed using the Statistical Product and Service Solution’ version 20 (SPSS) and Microsoft excel. The findings from the research indicate that services of the cooperative have led to significant improvements in the livelihood of the farmers. The conclusion reached was that the farmers were empowered by loans which enabled them acquire farms inputs, implements and other forms of assets. On the basis of these findings, it was recommended that establishment of financial cooperatives in farming communities should be encouraged by the government, district assemblies and community leaders to enable farmers improve on their productive entrepreneurial activities in agriculture to boost rural household incomes which implicitly fights rural poverty and improves national development.