An ethnographic assessment of electronic cash transfers in Ghana's remote rural north
Eva Krah, Johannes G. de Kruijf · 2013
The study concerns the qualitative assessment of three e-payment methods that are tested to optimize cash transfers for the sake of social protection and poverty alleviation throughout Ghana. These methods include: (e-Zwich) smartcards with biometric identification; e-wallets using mobile phones; and cards with PIN to access a bank count 'in the cloud'. The pilot is joint venture of the government of Ghana, the United Kingdom's Department For International Development (DFID) and UNICEF. Besides the innovative use of technology, a unique trait of the project is the initiators acknowledgement of the crucial importance of a thorough and holistic understanding of the context and conditions of implementation. As a result, ethnographic fieldwork is conducted to maximize chances of success. Our presentation in Cape Town involves some reflections on the fieldwork as well as a contemplation of the potential of such applied anthropology in the field of ICTD, both contextualized by means of the ethnographic depiction of the complex transition from unbanked to e-banked in northern Ghana.