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Road safety and women’s commerce in Cameroon – cause for concern

Women in Cameroon who buy goods in rural areas to sell at urban markets are known as ‘Bayam Salam’ women. The practice is important for many women’s income and economic independence. It is becoming more and more common as it requires little capital to start up this business. However, the women are reliant on transport that is often unsafe.

Women travel between rural areas, where they buy dry or fresh food from local producers and traders, and markets in towns where they sell it at a profit. Research from the International Forum for Rural Transport and Development, UK shows that in order to carry out this business, women rely on three main modes of transport: pick up trucks, taxis and motorcycles. These tend to be extremely overcrowded, with women sitting on their goods on top of cars and pickup trucks.

‘Bayam Salam’ is one of the few ways that women can earn an income, which is essential for those who head households. It also means that married women can have some financial independence from their husbands and improve their social status. They remain vulnerable, however, to the informal and unregulated rural transport system they rely on. This vulnerability to unsafe transport exists because:

It is cheaper to sit in unsafe positions such as on top of cars, but accidents are frequent.
During the rainy season accidents become even more common and costs of transport increase. Some women choose to suspend business because of this, choosing safety over income.
Many drivers do not have licences, vehicles are in a poor state of repair, overcrowding is the norm and transporters have no insurance or commercial license. Corruption at checkpoints is the norm, allowing unsafe transport to operate freely.
Perishable food has to reach market while fresh, so women are also economically vulnerable to unreliable transport if it does not get them there in time.
Women are exposed to sexual harassment when using community paths to access rural producers.
Sex in return for favours from drivers, or as a result of intimidation is common. This puts women at risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Women are also commonly victims of rape and robbery, especially when travelling at night.

‘Bayam Salam’ can therefore be a risky business, with most risks being caused by unsafe and unreliable transport. To minimise these risks, women tend to buy small quantities of a variety of goods and those with the money have rural storage facilities. Social support between women for protection is also strong. However, government, police, transport carriers and civil society need to work to improve safety. They should:

halt corruption at road checkpoints and ensur effective checks of documents and safe practices
regulate and enforce rules on commercial insurance and loading of vehicles
ensure goods and passengers are transported separately
create transport syndicates that all carriers must belong to
improve road maintenance
increase police numbers and resources
improve public awareness of the risks of poor transport.

Source(s):
‘Bayam Sellam: market women and rural highway insecurity in Cameroon’, International Forum for Rural Transport and Development (IFRTD), by Vivien Meli, 2007 Full document.
‘Time to Broaden the Transport Safety Debate. Study on various elements of rural transport safety. A synthesis of pilot case studies from Sri Lanka, India, Madagascar, Cameroon and Peru.’ IFRTD: London, by Didier Young, Granie R Jayalath, Ashoke Sarkar, Maria Gutierrez and Vivien Meli, 2007 Full document.

id21 Research Highlight: 22 January 2008

Further Information:
International Forum for Rural Transport and Development (IFRTD)
IFRTD Secretariat
113 Spitfire Studios
63-71 Collier Street
London, N1 9BE
UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 77136699
Fax: +44 (0)20 77138290
Contact the contributor: ifrtd@ifrtd.org

International Forum for Rural Transport and Development

Vivien Meli

Contact the contributor: melvivien_03@yahoo.fr

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