The successes of the Economic Recovery Programme in Ghana are now well-known. Nevertheless, as recognized by the Government of Ghana, many individuals remain in acute poverty. Furthermore, the process of adjustment by its very nature is likely to cause short run hardship for certain vulnerable groups. The first requirement for planning a poverty sensitive strategy of short run adjustment and long run growth is information on the nature of poverty. The object of this paper is to present a baseline poverty profile for Ghana in 1987‐88.