ALABARU: HEAD PORTERAGE IN IBADAN, NIGERIA

• Authors: Akanle Olayinka , Chukwu Chioma
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The informal economy has remained a major part of the Sub-Saharan African economic systems. Critical to this are market place transactions where people meet to purchase and sell wares. Due to the socio-cultural, geographic and economic infrastructures of many traditional African societies, goods to be sold and purchased are transported from one location to another for various purposes. The head porters (alabaru) are thus needed to transport market goods and wares particularly since the African urban market spaces are mostly un-motor able and heavily congested, and the adoption of related technologies is mostly traditionally and culturally determined. Also, against the backdrop of huge unemployment, especially of women, in Nigeria and Africa, head porterage has become and remained an important leeway. Unfortunately, head porterage is poorly studied in scholarly literature. Through comprehensive qualitative data collection and analysis, this article explores head porterage in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Keywords

EN

ALABARU; PORTERAGE; PORTER; INFORMAL ECONOMY; NIGERIA; AFRICA; IBADAN

• Publisher: Institute of Oriental Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Asian and African Studies
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 49 – 64

Contributors

author

Akanle Olayinka

• University of Ibadan, Faculty of the Social Sciences, Department of Sociology, Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria

author

Chukwu Chioma