Gina Porter

Living in a Walking World: Rural Mobility and Social Equity Issues in Sub-Saharan Africa

Accessibility and mobility are embedded in the development nexus in far-reaching ways. Field studies of mobility among women and men in rural settlements with poor road access illustrate the frustrations and costs of living off-road. They are frequently marginalized and invisible, even to local administrations. State decentralization appears to have had little positive impact in reducing “tarmac bias” and improving rural service delivery. A range of potential interventions, from Intermediate Means of Transport to electronic communications is reviewed, and opportunities for building social capital in off-road areas through nurturing improvements in state–civil society relations are considered.

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.

Trust, accountability, and face-to-face interaction in North–South NGO relations

Janet Townsend is a Research Fellow in Geography at the University of Durham. Her interest in NGOs came from women pioneer settlers in Latin American rainforests, when Mexican respondents proved to see NGOs as the best prospective outside help. Emma Mawdsley lectures at Birkbeck College, University of London. In addition to her NGO research, she is working on the environmental beliefs and behaviours of Indias middle classes. Gina Porter is working with Emma Mawdsley and Janet Townsend on a joint study of NGO–state relations in Ghana and India. Her other current research focuses on market access, market institutions, and related urban food-supply issues in Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia.Janet Townsend is a Research Fellow in Geography at the University of Durham. Her interest in NGOs came from women pioneer settlers in Latin American rainforests, when Mexican respondents proved to see NGOs as the best prospective outside help. Emma Mawdsley lectures at Birkbeck College, University of London. In addition to her NGO research, she is working on the environmental beliefs and behaviours of Indias middle classes. Gina Porter is working with Emma Mawdsley and Janet Townsend on a joint study of NGO–state relations in Ghana and India. Her other current research focuses on market access, market institutions, and related urban food-supply issues in Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia.

‘I think a woman who travels a lot is befriending other men and that's why she travels’: mobility constraints and their implications for rural women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa

This article is concerned with the implications of practices, politics and meanings of mobility for women and girl children in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Women and girls commonly face severe mobility constraints which affect their livelihoods and their life chances. The article reflects on their experiences in rural areas where patriarchal institutions (including the gender division of labour, which places great emphasis on female labour contributions to household production and reproduction), and a patriarchal discourse concerning linkages between womens mobility, vulnerability and sexual appetite, shape everyday social practices and material inequalities. This compounds the physical constraints imposed by poor accessibility (to services and markets) associated with poor roads and inadequate transport in both direct and more complex ways. The article draws on field research conducted in diverse socio-cultural and agro-ecological contexts in western and southern Africa (principally southern Ghana, southern Malawi and northern and central Nigeria) to explore the impacts of relative immobility and poor service access on women and girls. Three (interconnected) issues are examined in some detail: access to markets, access to education and access to health services. Possible interventions to initiate positive change are considered.

Where dogs, ghosts and lions roam: learning from mobile ethnographies on the journey from school

This paper draws on mobility research conducted with children in three countries: Ghana, Malawi and South Africa. It has two interlinked aims: to highlight the potential that mobile interviews can offer in research with young people, especially in research contexts where the main focus is on mobility and its impacts, and to contribute empirical evidence regarding the significance of everyday mobility to young peoples lives and future life chances in sub-Saharan Africa. During the pilot phase of our research project on children, transport and mobility, the authors undertook walks home from school with teenage children1 in four different research sites: three remote rural, one peri-urban. As the children walked (usually over a distance of around 5 km) their stories of home, of school and of the environment in-between, gradually unfolded. The lived experiences narrated during these journeys offer considerable insights into the daily lives, fears and hopes of the young people concerned, and present a range of issues for further research as our study extends into its main phase.

NGOs and Poverty Reduction in a Globalizing World: Perspectives From Ghana

This paper is concerned with the factors that influence and constrain NGO contributions to poverty reduction in a globalizing world, focusing on their role as transmitters of grounded knowledge about poverty in very poor countries. Interviews with staff in 33 NGOs in Ghana, a country where the NGO sector is heavily dependent on overseas funding, indicate that local understandings about poverty are being overridden by so-called programmes of partnership support that erode local confidence in home-grown ideas about poverty and how to combat it. This is illustrated by reference to the common donor preference for working with groups and for ‘Asian’ development approaches.

‘Doing it right?’: working with young researchers in Malawi to investigate children, transport and mobility

This paper explores involving children in Malawi in research about young people, mobility and transport, respecting their rights of participation, education, and protection from exploitation. The Malawi study forms one component of a research project taking place in three sub-Saharan African countries. A foundation of the larger project was the conviction that children are experts on their own lives; therefore seeking childrens views was essential, thus respecting the UNCRC. We also embraced an ethical approach, that ‘the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration’. We reflect on challenges in putting ethical principles into practice in the inevitably messy real-world.

The impact of road construction on women's trade in rural Nigeria

This paper explores the impact of road construction and consequent reorganization of the periodic market system on rural traders in two regions of northern Nigeria: the Jos Plateau and Borno. It focuses primarily on the fortunes of women traders in off-road communities. The decline of off-road markets appears to be particularly disadvantageous to women in Borno. The study emphasizes the significance of road construction and maintenance programmes for rural women, shows the importance of an appreciation of the specificities of cultural context, and makes tentative policy recommendations.

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.

Increasing children's participation in African transport planning : reflections on methodological issues in a child-centred research project.

This paper examines the potential for applying child-centred research methodologies which involve children doing their own research (with adult facilitators) within a transport and mobility context in West Africa. Relatively little attention has been paid to the transport needs of the poor and powerless within African transport policy and planning: the specifics of children and young peoples transport and mobility needs are essentially unknown and unconsidered. Using evidence from a small pilot study in Ghana, we reflect on both the opportunities and the challenges of work in this field. Although the paper is focused on the specific issues raised by child-centred research, it raises broader questions regarding the potential for research partnerships with vulnerable groups and, more specifically, the challenges of developing more collaborative research processes within transport studies, where technical priorities still regularly triumph over social concerns.