Child Porterage and Africa’s Transport Gap: Evidence from Ghana, Malawi and South Africa

Gina Porter, Kate Hampshire, Albert Abane, Alister Munthali, Elsbeth Robson, Mac Mashiri, Augustine Tanle, Goodhope Maponya and Sipho Dube

World Development, 2012, vol. 40, issue 10, 2136-2154

Abstract: Children’s load-carrying has been largely invisible in studies of African economies, being commonly subsumed under women’s or family labor. This paper, based on interdisciplinary qualitative and quantitative research in 24 sites, examines the role of child porterage in helping to fill Africa’s transport gap and considers its developmental significance for education, well-being, and health. It provides detailed information regarding the scale, nature, and perceived impacts of children’s load-carrying work in domestic and commercial contexts, indicates the importance of gender and generational analysis, and explores key policy challenges.

Keywords: child labor; gender; generational relations; education; health; cross-sectoral; head-loading (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:40:y:2012:i:10:p:2136-2154

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.05.004

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