A hawker in Accra sums up the times in Ghana's capital city - hard and harsh.

The marginalised and poor bear the harshest brunt of any government policy. And although there is a Ministry of Gender and Social Protection, so much more needs to be done.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission has announced a 6.1 percent increase in water tariff and 12 percent in the tariff for electricity. The hike is expected to take effect from July 1, 2014.

The latest increases in utilities means that for people like this woman and her baby, the next meal will become tougher since any slightest increment affects everything in Ghana.

In this photo taken by myjoyonline.com's David Andoh, a hawker makes her bed in the very tool she uses to get fed - her head pan.

Her baby helps herself to nourishment, pretty oblivious to the hard times head. Ghana really needs to give this baby a chance, a plea you can be sure of if her mother is to wake up and speak.

Ghana's greatest escape route out of poverty remains education. Her mother didn't use that route but her child really must.

Scarce statistics show that in 2006, poverty in Ghana affects 28.5% of the population.

Ghana has some social interventions like the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP).

It is a social cash transfer program which provides cash and health insurance to extremely poor households across Ghana to alleviate short-term poverty and encourage long term human capital development.

As good as these initiatives may be, government would have to look at more aggressive ways to support the poor.