The cycle of poverty and early marriage among women in Ghana (A case study of Kassena-Nankana).

This study examined the cycle of poverty among women from the Kassena-Nankana district in the Upper East region of Ghana. Poverty has been entangled around women from the three northern regions of Ghana. Negative practices such as early marriage and the challenges of underdevelopment and poverty, and north-south migration are revealed in this study, and have served as constraints to women's development. In this thesis, a mixed methods research approach was employed for the purpose of analyzing qualitative data by incorporating quantitative approach for better understanding of the research problem. The researcher adopted a phenomenological study design and art-based research method in collecting primary data from the semi-structured questionnaire administered to participants. Twenty-five individual interviews were conducted, together with 2 focus group discussions. Thematic analysis was used and the results showed evidence of early marriage's negative effects on education, household finances, and health care. Based on the findings collected, recommendations are made for advocating the eradication of early marriage practices, enlarging northern industrial territories, improving girl-child educational scholarships, and improving skilled-based programs for women. More importantly, greater enforcement of the law should be placed on distasteful traditional practices that create harmful outcomes for women's development. --Leaf ii.