Bus Passenger Movement in Ghana: A Case of Intercity State Transport Corporation (ISTC) Coaches Ltd.

The Intercity State Transport Company is one of the two state funded transport companies in Ghana competing with a range of other service providers mainly from the private sector in the industry. Once well respected and described as the pride of intercity travels in Ghana, it is currently a mere shadow of its former glory with rapid decline in passenger movements over the past years. This study sought to analyse passenger movements over the past five years and also explored challenges that have led to the steady decline of ISTC over the years. Secondary data was provided by the company and this was complemented with in-depth interviews with management. Findings of the study revealed that the service suffered a 60% decline in passenger movement between 2007 and 2011; however there was a high utilization of its services in January 2010 and December 2011. Finally, there was no statistically significant difference in the volume of passengers between 2010 and 2011. Keywords: intercity, intercity bus, passenger movement, ISTC

Drivers’ and Passengers’ Perspectives on Factors Influencing Intercity Bus Travel Time on the Accra-Takoradi Route, Ghana: an Exploratory Approach

The purpose of the study is to qualitatively ascertain the factors influencing intercity bus transport travel time on the Accra-Takoradi route in Ghana. The cross sectional study involved the use of in-depth interviews conducted on fourteen drivers and forty two passengers of GPRTU, VIP, VVIP, ISTC, MMT, DIPLOMAT and FORD on the route. This was supported with participants and non-participants observations. The identified determinants were time of departure,  purpose of travel, day/night journey, volume of traffic on the route, place of refueling, number of stoppages for  passengers, the nature of the road, the type of bus, approved rest stops, speed limit, the presence of MTTD officials, presence of toll booths, volume of passengers’ luggage and so on. Recommendations were proffered to reduce tension that might be generated by lack of understanding between the driver and the passengers on the travel time. Key words: Travel time, passengers, drivers, intercity bus

Context matters: fostering, orphanhood and schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa

A growing body of research suggests that orphanhood and fostering might be (independently) associated with educational disadvantage in sub-Saharan Africa. However, literature on the impacts of orphanhood and fostering on school enrolment, attendance and progress produces equivocal, and often conflicting, results. This paper reports on quantitative and qualitative data from sixteen field-sites in Ghana and Malawi, highlighting the importance of historical and social context in shaping schooling outcomes for fostered and orphaned children. In Malawi, which has been particularly badly affected by AIDS, orphans were less likely to be enrolled in and attending school than other children. By contrast, in Ghana, with its long tradition of ‘kinship fostering’, orphans were not significantly educationally disadvantaged; instead, non-orphaned, purposively fostered children had lower school enrolment and attendance than their peers. Understanding the context of orphanhood and fostering in relation to schooling is crucial in achieving ‘Education for All’

Youth livelihoods in the cellphone era: Perspectives from urban Africa

Issues surrounding youth employment and unemployment are central to the next development decade. Understanding how youth use mobile phones as a means of communicating and exchanging information about employment and livelihoods is particularly important given the prominence of mobile phone use in young lives. This paper explores and reflects on youth phone usage in Ghana, Malawi and South Africa, drawing on mixed-methods research with young people aged approximately 9-25 years, in 12 (high density) urban and peri-urban sites. Comparative work across these sites offers evidence of both positive and negative impacts. The final section of the paper considers policy implications

Informal m-health: How are young people using mobile phones to bridge healthcare gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa?

The African communications ‘revolution’ has generated optimism that mobile phones might help overcome infrastructural barriers to healthcare provision in resource-poor contexts. However, while formal m-health programmes remain limited in coverage and scope, young people are using mobile phones creatively and strategically in an attempt to secure effective healthcare. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected in 2012–2014 from over 4500 young people (aged 8–25 y) in Ghana, Malawi and South Africa, this paper documents these practices and the new therapeutic opportunities they create, alongside the constraints, contingencies and risks. We argue that young people are endeavouring to lay claim to a digitally-mediated form of therapeutic citizenship, but that a lack of appropriate resources, social networks and skills (‘digital capital’), combined with ongoing shortcomings in healthcare delivery, can compromise their ability to do this effectively. The paper concludes by offering tentative suggestions for remedying this situation

Connecting with home, keeping in touch: physical and virtual mobility across stretched families in sub-Saharan Africa

There is a long history of migration among low-income families in sub-SaharanAfrica, in which (usually young, often male) members leave home to seek theirfortune in what are perceived to be more favourable locations. While the physicaland virtual mobility practices of such stretched families are often complex andcontingent, maintaining contact with distantly located close kin is frequently ofcrucial importance for the maintenance of emotional (and possibly material)well-being, both for those who have left home and for those who remain. Thisarticle explores the ways in which these connections are being reshaped by increas-ing access to mobile phones in three sub-Saharan countries–Ghana, Malawi andSouth Africa–drawing on interdisciplinary, mixed-methods research fromtwenty-four sites, ranging from poor urban neighbourhoods to remote ruralhamlets. Stories collected from both ends of stretched families present a worldin which the connectivities now offered by the mobile phone bring a differentkind of closeness and knowing, as instant sociality introduces a potential substi-tute for letters, cassettes and face-to-face visits, while the rapid resource mobiliza-tion opportunities identified by those still at home impose increasing pressures onmigrant ki

Informal mhealth at scale in Africa: Opportunities and challenges

The extraordinary global growth of digital connectivity has generated optimism that mobile technologies can help overcome infrastructural barriers to development, with ‘mobile health’ (mhealth) being a key component of this. However, while ‘formal’ (top-down) mhealth programmes continue to face challenges of scalability and sustainability, we know relatively little about how health-workers are using their own mobile phones informally in their work. Using data from Ghana, Ethiopia and Malawi, we document the reach, nature and perceived impacts of community health-workers’ (CHWs’) ‘informal mhealth’ practices, and ask how equitably these are distributed. We implemented a mixed-methods study, combining surveys of CHWs across the three countries, using multi-stage proportional-to-size sampling (N = 2197 total), with qualitative research (interviews and focus groups with CHWs, clients and higher-level stake-holders). Survey data were weighted to produce nationally- or regionally-representative samples for multivariate analysis; comparative thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. Our findings confirm the limited reach of ‘formal’ compared with ‘informal’ mhealth: while only 15% of CHWs surveyed were using formal mhealth applications, over 97% reported regularly using a personal mobile phone for work-related purposes in a range of innovative ways. CHWs and clients expressed unequivocally enthusiastic views about the perceived impacts of this ‘informal health’ usage. However, they also identified very real practical challenges, financial burdens and other threats to personal wellbeing; these appear to be borne disproportionately by the lowest-paid cadre of health-workers, especially those serving rural areas. Unlike previous small-scale, qualitative studies, our work has shown that informal mhealth is already happening at scale, far outstripping its formal equivalent. Policy-makers need to engage seriously with this emergent health system, and to work closely with those on the ground to address sources of inequity, without undermining existing good practice

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

he 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 people's 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

Children as Research Collaborators: Issues and Reflections from a Mobility Study in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper reflects on issues raised by work with children in an ongoing child mobility study in three sub-Saharan African countries: Ghana, Malawi and South Africa. There are now 70 school pupils of varying ages involved in the project, but the paper is particularly concerned with the participation of those children 14 years and under. We examine the significant ethical issues associated with working with younger child researchers, and linked questions concerning the spaces open to them in African contexts where local cultural constructions of childhood and associated economic imperatives (which commonly drive family and household endeavour) help shape the attitudes of adults to children’s rights and responsibilities and inter-generational power relations