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The Cycle Trailer in Ghana:
A Reasonable But Inappropriate Technology
Mohammed Salifu *
Women, in addition to performing their elaborately defined household chores,
also constitute the backbone of agricultural production in the rural areas of
Ghana. But a large percentage of their time and effort is spent on
transportation because they have few alternatives to the strenuous practice of
headloading. Some recent programs have been developed to equip women with
appropriate technologies that alleviate this transport burden.
This article discusses the experience of the cycle trailer technology which
was designed to reduce headloading. Factors thought to have contributed to the
failure of the technology to win popular recognition are discussed and measures
recommended.
Rural transport of goods in Ghana is predominantly by headloading. Much
effort is spent daily in the basic domestic requirements of carrying water and
fuel, and visiting the farm and grinding mill. A substantial part of this
burden falls on women, who not only are responsible for some seventy percent of
total time and eighty percent of all effort spent on transportation, but
constitute the backbone of agricultural production in rural area.1 To
enhance these women's efficiency, and save time and effort for participation in
equally important social and recreational activities, there is an urgent need
to equip women with appropriate technologies to alleviate the transport burden.
The cycle trailer was one such "appropriate technology" response
to the rural transportation problem. It was designed as an attachment to the
bicycle, because the latter is best suited for the "footpath economy"
of the rural areas, is relatively affordable, and has a proven record of
versatility as an intermediate means of transport in northern Ghana.2,3
Implementation of the Technology
The cycle trailer technology began with the Intermediate Means of Transport
pilot program, sponsored by the International Development Association of the World
Bank. The primary objective of this project, which was implemented between 1981
and 1991, was to provide an alternative to the burdensome practice of
headloading prevalent among women in most parts of the country. To this end,
IDA undertook to develop "a two-wheeled Cycle Trailer to increase the load
carrying capacity of bicycles for use by rural households and for goods,
delivery, and collection in urban areas."4
Following field trials of two prototypes of the vehicle, one was selected
for improvement, mass production, and distribution mainly to women of
identified groups to demonstrate and promote the technology. Organizations
involved in the exercise were the 31st December Women's Movement and Amasachina
Self-Help Association, both NGOs with branches in Tamale, the main city of
northern Ghana, and Agents of Development for Rural Communities (ADRCOM) of
Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region. The Department of Feeder Roads, a government
agency, was also involved. Cycle trailers and new bicycles were supplied in
bulk quantities to these organizations for distribution. The conditions of
payment for, and eventual ownership of, the trailer and bicycle were
deliberately generous to encourage patronage. At this stage, the mood of
participants was generally ecstatic as more and more people were keen to take
part in the exercise.
Two engineering workshops in the Tamale Municipality (Goodman and Sons Ltd.
and Fatawu Bicycle Co. Ltd.) were subsequently commissioned to start commercial
production of the cycle trailer to cater to the anticipated high demand. With
little or no financial credits, these workshops have managed to build
respectable stocks of the cycle trailer, but to their complete disappointment,
are yet to receive any firm orders for their product.
With the benefit of hindsight, it is possible to surmise that the high
enthusiasm of participants in the demonstration and promotion exercise was
induced more by an ulterior motive--to take advantage of the liberal payment
conditions to own a bicycle--than by real confidence in the cycle trailer
technology. To some extent, it may also have been the excitement of
experimenting with something new. But more importantly, there were compelling
objective reasons for the stifled demand for the cycle trailer.
Why it Failed to Catch On
In northern Ghana, where bicycling is popular and exists side-by-side with
the equally prevalent but highly strenuous practice of headloading, it would
seem logical that any real solution to the problem posed by the latter would be
bicycle based. To this extent, it may be said that the cycle trailer technology
was a commonsense solution to headloading. That the technology failed to
achieve the desired objective was perhaps the first indication that its
appropriateness for the task was questionable. Sampled views of individual
participants and officials of the NGOs and other agencies involved in the
demonstration and promotion of the cycle trailer revealed that a number of
factors combined to render the technology inappropriate and unusable. These
factors are discussed below.
Financial Considerations
It was ironic that although the cycle trailer was priced in 1991 at cents31,000
(US$100), a new bicycle was being sold at and average price of cents27,000
(US$85). For most cyclists, it costs a fortune to acquire a bicycle, so to be
asked to pay more than this for the cycle trailer, which can only work in
tandem with the bicycle, is to ask too much of them even if the price were the
sole determinant of patronage. In fact, most prospective users of the cycle
trailer indicated that it would only begin to make sense if priced anywhere
below one-half and one-third the cost of the bicycle.
Some attempts were made to lessen this financial burden. A promotional price
of cents20,000 ($65) was offered to participants together with very liberal
payment terms during the demonstration and promotion exercise. The Department
of Feeder Roads experimented with a group purchase system for some employees on
its labor-intensive road construction projects. Monthly installments were
deducted at source from employees' salaries. But this scheme, like others
operated by the NGOs, had to be discontinued as the salaries themselves were
paltry and commitment of participants started to waver.
Technological Factors
The advantages offered by the cycle trailer technology were marginal and
therefore could not reasonably justify its introduction. A close observation of
bicycle transport in the Northern Region of Ghana reveals that considerable
experience has been gained over the years in the use of the flat bicycle
carrier for goods transport. It is used to carry loads ranging from water,
grains, and farm inputs to firewood (Figure 1).
Figure 1: The flat carrier takes the load.
For most cyclists, the flat carrier manages loads which are within the
limitations of the human effort required to move them and they see the cycle
trailer as a rather clumsy and redundant addition to the bicycle. In several
cases, cycle trailers which were supplied together with bicycles were detached
and conveniently parked away to collect dust while the bicycles were being
hired out to pay back the cost.
Available evidence suggests that the projected maximum load of 200kg to be
handled by the cycle trailer was over-optimistic. Broken wheel spokes, which
may suggest excessive loading, were widely reported, and some cycle trailers
collapsed instantly after being loaded with two maxi-bags of maize with an
approximate total weight of 200kg. It is reckoned that, perhaps, the provision
of a mechanism to reduce the human effort required to move large loads could
have enhanced the image and proper use of the technology. Such mechanisms could
have prevented the use of the cycle trailer as a hand cart, as was the case in
some isolated instances (Figure 2).
Figure 2: The cycle trailer being used as a hand cart.
Socio-Economic Considerations
The problem of headloading was rightly identified as essentially the
"rural women's burden," but the proposed solution was completely out
of tune with the immediate economic, social, and cultural environment of the
rural Ghanaian woman. Consequently, the problem was unaffected and continued
unabated (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Headloading continues unabated.
The socio-economic disposition of the average Ghanaian woman has ensured
that she does not own any means of transport except her feet. Thus,
notwithstanding the prevalence of bicycles in northern Ghana, women do not own
any, nor do they ride. This male-dominated society is only now beginning to
grudgingly accept the few women who venture out on the bicycle. Against this
background, it was clearly unrealistic to expect women to patronize the cycle
trailer, since the minimum precondition to this is at least to be able to ride,
let alone own, the bicycle.
Because of the conservative Islamic dressing style of the northern Ghanaian
woman (see Figure 3), a "woman's bicycle" would have been a better
choice (Figure 4).
Figure 4: A woman's bicycle.
This is of medium height without a crossbar, but this type of bicycle was
not available, even though the cycle trailer was supposed to meet the needs of
women, first and foremost. Paradoxically, the bicycle used for launching,
demonstrating, and promoting the cycle trailer, was too high and had a crossbar
(Figure 5).
Figure 5: A man's bicyle with crossbar.
This presented considerable mounting problems to women and was therefore
effectively beyond their use.
Conclusions
The cycle trailer was conceived as an appropriate technology solution to a
rural transport problem--headloading. But this objective was not achieved. The
technology failed to win popular recognition because it was unaffordable and
not entirely relevant to the needs of its intended users.
Even though the project identified women as the target group, the packaging
of the technology completely ignored their vulnerable socio-economic status and
the virtual absence of any "bicycle culture" amongst them. At the
same time, given the demonstrated capacity of the flat bicycle carrier, the
predominantly male cycling population was not particularly keen to invest its
hard earned extra income in the cycle trailer. In fact, with the elaborate
division of labor between males and females in Ghanaian society, it is
difficult to imagine how a favorable patronage of the technology by male
cyclists could have affected the incidence of headloading in any significant
manner. It would take thorough socio-cultural changes to reverse or influence
these roles. Until this is done, technologies designed to address women-related
problems, such as headloading, need to be specifically tailored to suit their
direct use.
Recommendations
In spite of the poor implementation in this case, bicycles have the
potential to ease the burden of headloading, and must be allowed to play this role.
To do so, the following important prerequisites must be met:
- Improve the holding capacity
and load stability of the flat bicycle carrier.
- A long term strategy to
promote cycling amongst women to enable them take advantage of the bicycle
and ease the headload. This will involve education to change current
attitudes towards women cyclists, ensuring that bicycles suited for use by
women are widely available and affordable, and putting in place measures
to uplift the socio-economic status of women.
______________
* Mohammed Salifu is a Research Officer at the Building and Road Research
Institute, Traffic and Transportation Division, P.O. Box 40, UST, Kumasi,
Ghana.
References
1. Harrison, P. and J. Howe. "Measuring the Transport
Demands of the Rural Poor: Experiences from Africa." GATE: Questions,
Answers, Information. No. 1/89 May, 1989. pp. 3-6.
2. Salifu, M. "Bicycle Safety--Sustaining Mobility and
Environment." IATSS Research. Vol. 17 No. 2, September 1993. pp. 60-66
3. Barbara, G. K. "Bicycles for Mobility." GATE:
Questions, Answers, Information. No. 1/89 May, 1989. pp. 35-36.
4. Technology Consultancy Centre (UST). "Transport
Rehabilitation Project--Intermediate Means of Transport Pilot Project."
Final Report. August 1991.
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