Child Porterage and Africa’s Transport Gap: Evidence from Ghana, Malawi and South Africa
Open accessAbstract
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.
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In some African societies, physically transporting goods, such as water, is considered a lower status activity and deemed more appropriate for females.
“In some African societies, physically transporting goods, such as water, is considered a lower status activity and deemed more appropriate for females [19].”
From An Analysis of Water Collection Labor among Women and Children in 24 Sub-Saharan African Countries (2016) · cites this paper as [19]
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An Analysis of Water Collection Labor among Women and Children in 24 Sub-Saharan African Countries
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“In some African societies, physically transporting goods, such as water, is considered a lower status activity and deemed more appropriate for females [19].”
BackgroundGeere, J.-A., Bartram, J., Bates, L., Danquah, L., Evans, B., Fisher, M. B., Groce, N., Majuru, B., Mokoena, M. M., Mukhola, M. S., et al. (2018) · Journal of Global Health · doi:10.7189/jogh.08.010406 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
- Authors
- Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Abane, A., Munthali, A., Robson, E., Mashiri, M., Tanle, A., Maponya, G., & Dube, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Cape Coast (GH)
- Venue
- World Development
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-10
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 2136-2154
- ISSN
- 0305-750X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2072655459
- Cited by
- 63
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 14.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- Locations
- World Development (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Repository@Hull (Worktribe) (University of Hull) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Repository@Hull (Worktribe) (University of Hull) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/D002745/1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Education and Labor Relations
- Keywords
- child labor, load carriage, transport gap, child transport, gender and work, generational analysis, child well-being, child health, transport policy, Ghana, Malawi, South Africa
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