Augustine Tanle

Influence of social connectedness, communication and monitoring on adolescent sexual activity in Ghana.

This paper examines connectedness to, communication with and monitoring of unmarried adolescents in Ghana by parents, other adults, friends and key social institutions and the roles these groups play with respect to adolescent sexual activity. The paper draws on 2004 nationally-representative survey data and qualitative evidence from focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with adolescents in 2003. Adolescents show high levels of connectedness to family, adults, friends, school and religious groups. High levels of adult monitoring are also observed, but communication with family about sex-related matters was not as high as with non-family members. The qualitative data highlight gender differences in communication. Multivariate analysis of survey data shows a strong negative relationship between parental monitoring and recent sexual activity for males and females, and limited effects of communication. Creating a supportive environment and showing interest in the welfare of adolescents appear to promote positive sexual and reproductive health outcomes.

Youth, mobility and mobile phones in Africa: findings from a three-country study

The penetration of mobile phones into sub-Saharan Africa has occurred with amazing rapidity: for many young people, they now represent a very significant element of their daily life. This paper explores usage and perceived impacts among young people aged c. 9–18 years in three countries: Ghana, Malawi and South Africa. Our evidence comes from intensive qualitative research with young people, their parents, teachers and other key informants (in-depth interviews, focus groups and school essays) and a follow-up questionnaire survey administered to nearly 3000 young people in 24 study sites. The study was conducted in eight different sites in each country (i.e. urban, peri-urban, rural and remote rural sites in each of two agro-ecological zones), enabling comparison of experiences in diverse spatial contexts. The evidence, collected within a broader research study of child mobility, allows us to examine current patterns of usage among young people with particular attention to the way these are emerging in different locational contexts and to explore connections between young peoples phone usage, virtual and physical mobilities and broader implications for social change. The issues of gender and inter-generational relations are important elements in this account.

Mobility, education and livelihood trajectories for young people in rural Ghana: a gender perspective

This paper examines the gendered implications of Africas transport gap (the lack of cheap, regular and reliable transport) for young people in rural Ghana, with particular reference to the linkages between restricted mobility, household work demands, access to education and livelihood potential. Our aim is to show how mobility constraints, especially as these interact with household labour demands, restrict young peoples access to education and livelihood opportunities. Firstly, the paper considers the implications of the direct constraints on young peoples mobility potential as they travel to school. Then it examines young peoples (mostly unpaid) labour contributions, which are commonly crucial to family household production and reproduction, including those associated with the transport gap. This has especially important implications for girls, on whom the principal onus lies to help adult women carry the heavy burden of water, firewood, and agricultural products required for household use. Such work can impact significantly on their educational attendance and performance in school and thus has potential knock-on impacts for livelihoods. Distance from school, when coupled with a heavy workload at home will affect attendance, punctuality and performance at school: it may ultimately represent the tipping point resulting in a decision to withdraw from formal education. Moreover, the heavy burden of work and restricted mobility contributes to young peoples negative attitudes to agriculture and rural life and encourages urban migration. Drawing on research from rural case study sites in two regions of Ghana, we discuss ethnographic material from recent interviews with children and young people, their parents, teachers and other key informants, supported by information from an associated survey with children ca. 9–18 years.

Out of the reach of children? Young people’s health-seeking practices and agency in Africa’s newly-emerging therapeutic landscapes

Despite a dominant view within Western biomedicine that children and medicines should be kept apart, a growing literature suggests that children and adolescents often take active roles in health-seeking. Here, we consider young peoples health-seeking practices in Ghana: a country with a rapidly-changing therapeutic landscape, characterised by the recent introduction of a National Health Insurance Scheme, mass advertising of medicines, and increased use of mobile phones. Qualitative and quantitative data are presented from eight field-sites in urban and rural Ghana, including 131 individual interviews, focus groups, plus a questionnaire survey of 1005 8-to-18-year-olds. The data show that many young people in Ghana play a major role in seeking healthcare for themselves and others. Young peoples ability to secure effective healthcare is often constrained by their limited access to social, economic and cultural resources and information; however, many interviewees actively generated, developed and consolidated such resources in their quest for healthcare. Health insurance and the growth of telecommunications and advertising present new opportunities and challenges for young peoples health-seeking practices. We argue that policy should take young peoples medical realities as a starting point for interventions to facilitate safe and effective health-seeking.

Eking a living: Women entrepreneurship and poverty reduction strategies: The case of palm kernel oil processing in the Central Region of Ghana

In the previous four decades there have been changes in both the structure of, and employment opportunities in, Ghanas economy. Responding to the conditions, women have become involved in various economic activities, including the processing of agricultural products. Using the livelihood concept, the paper examines the conditions of women involved in palm kernel oil processing as they eke a living in the face of poverty. Based on a survey of 185 women in two districts in the Central Region of Ghana, the authors analyse the womens entry into the trade, working conditions and earnings. The labour-intensive activity is characterized by low capital outlay, irregular supply of inputs and long working hours. However, the women earn very little due to poor marketing strategies, lack of linkages with the modern economy, and lack of support. These factors make the women vulnerable to external environmental shocks. Nonetheless, the work provides them with some personal income, which is important for self-esteem. Such women are at the margins of survival and represent one of the faces of poverty in the country, yet do not appear in any national accounting system.

‘Informal Exceptionalism?’ Labour Migrants’ Creative Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Livelihoods in Accra, Ghana

Intra- and inter-regional migration is widely described. Prior studies have attribute varied reasons for this development including the quest for greener pastures and unequal development in northern Ghana. What has escaped critical scrutiny is some migrants’ ability to escape extreme rural poverty, albeit in harsh urban environment. Such a missing gap can potentiate high policy failures, hence the need for academic attention. Using a mixed method, we focus on two informal daily livelihoods as exemplars – exceptionalism – in Accra. We see their embedded organisational vitality and dynamic networks as illuminating for good livelihood practices, proper city governance and fostering economic empowerment. We call on city authorities to take cognisance of such complexities and heterogeneity of production–labour relations, failure of which can spell doom for policies ostensibly initiated to curb migration, as they are likely to be underpinned by factual inaccuracies and may result in ill-fated interventions.

Towards an integrated framework for analysing the links between migration and livelihoods

Tanle, A. 2015. Towards an integrated framework for analysing the links between migration and livelihoods. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift–Norwegian Journal of Geography. Vol. 69, 257–264. ISSN 0029–1951. Although migration is often perceived as a livelihood strategy for both poor and non-poor households in developing countries such as Ghana, most livelihood frameworks overlook the links between migration and livelihoods. The author therefore reviews literature on livelihood approaches and compares the differences between some livelihood frameworks. The findings show that although all of the studied livelihood frameworks focus on sustainable development they differ in terms of their core mandates, which range from integrated rural development through the environment to sustainable human development. The contexts in which livelihoods are practised are influenced by institutional structures, processes and elements of vulnerability, which could be both internal and external. In conclusion, the author proposes an integrated framework for analysing the links between migration (both internal and international) and livelihood which have been glossed over in the literature.