Eva Seraphim Tandoh Quansah 
The Liberating Power of Income Generating Activities on Women’s Roles in Ghana 
Myth or Reality?

Women empowerment has been a global issue for some time now. The quest to alleviate poverty and raise the status of women in Ghana has led to many interventions from both government and non-governmental organizations. These interventions are mostly economic in nature. Although these economic interventions where women are provided with basic capital to engage in various income generating activities have yielded some positive results, there are still some gender gaps. Women are different and located in different geographical, cultural, social, and economic environments; thus, different women need different interventions. Putting all women under one umbrella and treating them as a homogeneous group does not help in solving women’s problems.

This study has explored how women’s income generating activities (dis)enable women’s agency, autonomy, and prompt an overlap in gender roles across urban and rural areas. It has brought out some contestation in gender roles due to a raise in economic status of women in the household, which juxtaposes gender inherited roles.