Getting Ghanaian women to ride bicycles

Rural women and children in Africa carry heavy loads many times a day and have little money to pay fares on buses or taxis. Those who do not live near a good road face particular difficulties since transport services on bad roads are irregular and expensive.  Intermediate Means of Transport (IMTs), such as bicycles and push trucks, have the potential to help women gain access to markets, health and other services.

However, IMTs are mostly owned andoperated by men.  So far, women seem tohave gained little benefit. Researchers from the Universityof Durham, working with the GhanaMinistry of Food and Agriculture, set up a study in Ghana’sCentral Region to find out whether an IMT scheme specifically targeted at womenwould improve their lives.  A creditscheme was established to help purchase various technologies. By increasing thenumber of IMTs in villages, the project hoped thatenough people would own and use them to bring prices down, make maintenancesimpler and cheaper, and improve the cultural acceptability of women usingthem.

The researchers found that when IMTswere introduced:

• Women preferred to buy and use transportfamiliar to them, in this case locally-made push trucks. Bicycles are not consideredsuitable for women’s use or for carrying loads; bicycles owned by women aremainly used by male family members.
• Women refused to buy cycles designed for women.IMT schemes are sometimes criticised for only providing men’s cycles. Herewomen specifically selected cycles with a cross-bar, saying they were stronger(but probably because they never intended to ride them).
• Taking produce to markets was one use amongmany. IMTs were also used for personal visits,carrying loads within the village, from the farm to the home and hired out toothers.
• Group purchase of IMTswas unsuccessful because of lack of trust and problems around responsibilityfor maintenance and repairs.
• Children use IMTs alot and buying one often depends on the availability of a child to operate it.Children preferred using them to carrying loads themselves. However, somesafety problems occurred with child labour.
• After 18 months, 25 percent of the new equipmentwas out of use because of lack of maintenance, overloading and inappropriateuse.

Although, overall, men benefited more than women from theintroduction of IMTs, women did gain. Using IMTs reduced the loads women carried and increased the areaof land some women were able to farm. Relations between men and women oftenimproved where men helped women with traditionally female tasks. For example,men use pushcarts to carry firewood, saving women time. To improve women’s useof IMTs, programmes should:

• Offer a range of IMTs,including familiar technologies that people are comfortable with and understand,and integrate programmes with road and path improvements, to enhance theirusability.
• Train users in maintenance and budgeting forrepairs at the beginning of the programme.
• Improve the status of IMTsamong decision makers. They can be considered backwards and undesirable.
• Women’s organisations should promote women’s useof IMTs, for instance by riding bicycles themselves. Girlscould be taught at school how to ride and maintain bicycles, since there isusually no time or opportunity for girls to learn at home.
• Transport planners should be trained to considerthe needs of women, children, elderly and disabled people.
• Subsidised hire centres should be set up whereindividuals that cannot afford IMTs can rent them forparticular uses.