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All Outputs (23)

Invisible in Plain Sight? Grandfathers Caring for Orphaned Grandchildren in Rural Malawi (2023)
Journal Article
Lazaro, M. C., Walker, L., & Robson, E. (in press). Invisible in Plain Sight? Grandfathers Caring for Orphaned Grandchildren in Rural Malawi. African Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/00020184.2023.2212616

Millions of orphans, created by parental deaths due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa, live with, and are cared for, by grandparents. Little research has considered how grandparents and, in particular, grandfathers, are caring for orphan... Read More about Invisible in Plain Sight? Grandfathers Caring for Orphaned Grandchildren in Rural Malawi.

Ethical Principles, Social Harm and the Economic Relations of Research: Negotiating Ethics Committee Requirements and Community Expectations in Ethnographic Research in Rural Malawi (2022)
Journal Article
Ansell, N., Mwathunga, E., Hajdu, F., Robson, E., Hlabana, T., van Blerk, L., & Hemsteede, R. (2022). Ethical Principles, Social Harm and the Economic Relations of Research: Negotiating Ethics Committee Requirements and Community Expectations in Ethnographic Research in Rural Malawi. Qualitative Inquiry, https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004221124631

Conventional research ethics focus on avoidance of harm to individual participants through measures to ensure informed consent. In long-term ethnographic research projects involving multiple actors, however, a wider concept of harm is needed. We appl... Read More about Ethical Principles, Social Harm and the Economic Relations of Research: Negotiating Ethics Committee Requirements and Community Expectations in Ethnographic Research in Rural Malawi.

Mobile phone use and the welfare of community health nurses in Ghana: An analysis of unintended costs (2021)
Journal Article
Robson, E., Hampshire, K., Abane, A., Kasim, A., Owusu, S., & Mariwah, S. (2021). Mobile phone use and the welfare of community health nurses in Ghana: An analysis of unintended costs. World Development Perspectives, 23, Article 100317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100317

The use of mobile phones is fast transforming the healthcare delivery landscape in Ghana. A substantial number of health facilities are now dependent on mobile phones to facilitate their work. Evidence of the use of mobile phones in Ghana's healthcar... Read More about Mobile phone use and the welfare of community health nurses in Ghana: An analysis of unintended costs.

Informal mhealth at scale in Africa : opportunities and challenges (2021)
Journal Article
Hampshire, K., Mwase-Vuma, T., Alemu, K., Abane, A., Munthali, A., Awoke, T., …Kasim, A. S. (2021). Informal mhealth at scale in Africa : opportunities and challenges. World Development, 140, Article 105257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105257

© 2020 The extraordinary global growth of digital connectivity has generated optimism that mobile technologies can help overcome infrastructural barriers to development, with ‘mobile health’ (mhealth) being a key component of this. However, while ‘fo... Read More about Informal mhealth at scale in Africa : opportunities and challenges.

Formalising ‘informal’ mHealth in Ghana: Opportunities and challenges for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) (2021)
Journal Article
Mariwah, S., Machistey Abane, A., Asiedu Owusu, S., Kasim, A., Robson, E., Castelli, M., & Hampshire, K. (in press). Formalising ‘informal’ mHealth in Ghana: Opportunities and challenges for Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Global Public Health, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2021.1874467

While mobile phones promise to be an important tool for bridging the healthcare gaps in resource-poor areas in developing countries, scalability and sustainability of mobile phones for health (mhealth) interventions still remain a major challenge. Me... Read More about Formalising ‘informal’ mHealth in Ghana: Opportunities and challenges for Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Mobile phones, gender, and female empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa: studies with African youth (2019)
Journal Article
Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Abane, A., Munthali, A., Robson, E., De Lannoy, A., …Owusu, S. (2020). Mobile phones, gender, and female empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa: studies with African youth. Information Technology for Development, 26(1), 180-193. https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2019.1622500

© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Data from qualitative and survey research with young people in 24 locations (urban and rural) across Ghana, Malawi, and South Africa expose the complex interp... Read More about Mobile phones, gender, and female empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa: studies with African youth.

Youth livelihoods in the cellphone era: Perspectives from urban Africa (2018)
Journal Article
Porter, G., Hampshire, K., de Lannoy, A., Bango, A., Munthali, A., Robson, E., …Owusu, S. (2018). Youth livelihoods in the cellphone era: Perspectives from urban Africa. Journal of international development, 30(4), 539-558. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3340

Issues surrounding youth employment and unemployment are central to the next development decade. Understanding how youth use mobile phones as a means of communicating and exchanging information about employment and livelihoods is particularly import... Read More about Youth livelihoods in the cellphone era: Perspectives from urban Africa.

“My happiest time” or “my saddest time”? The spatial and generational construction of marriage among youth in rural Malawi and Lesotho (2017)
Journal Article
Ansell, N., Hajdu, F., van Blerk, L., & Robson, E. (2018). “My happiest time” or “my saddest time”? The spatial and generational construction of marriage among youth in rural Malawi and Lesotho. Transactions - Institute of British Geographers, 43(2), 184-199. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12211

Marriage among African teenagers is currently a central focus of campaigns by UN agencies and international NGOs. Yet, marriage has received only limited attention from geographers and has largely escaped the attention of geographers of youth. In thi... Read More about “My happiest time” or “my saddest time”? The spatial and generational construction of marriage among youth in rural Malawi and Lesotho.

AIDS-affected young people's access to livelihood assets: Exploring 'new variant famine' in rural southern Africa (2016)
Journal Article
Ansell, N., Hajdu, F., van Blerk, L., & Robson, E. (2016). AIDS-affected young people's access to livelihood assets: Exploring 'new variant famine' in rural southern Africa. Journal of rural studies, 46, 23-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.05.008

Southern Africa’s exceptionally high HIV prevalence and recurrent food crises prompted De Waal and Whiteside (2003) to hypothesise a 'new variant famine' (NVF) in which inability to access food is driven by the effects of AIDS. Among the tentative ex... Read More about AIDS-affected young people's access to livelihood assets: Exploring 'new variant famine' in rural southern Africa.

Intergenerational relations and the power of the cell phone: perspectives on young people’s phone usage in sub-Saharan Africa (2015)
Journal Article
Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Abane, A., Munthali, A., Robson, E., Bango, A., …Owusu, S. (2015). Intergenerational relations and the power of the cell phone: perspectives on young people’s phone usage in sub-Saharan Africa. Geoforum, 64(August), 37-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.06.002

Cell phones present new forms of sociality and new possibilities of encounter for young people across the globe. Nowhere is this more evident than in sub-Saharan Africa where the scale of usage, even among the very poor, is remarkable. In this paper... Read More about Intergenerational relations and the power of the cell phone: perspectives on young people’s phone usage in sub-Saharan Africa.

Informal m-health: How are young people using mobile phones to bridge healthcare gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa? (2015)
Journal Article
Hampshire, K., Porter, G., Owusu, S. A., Mariwah, S., Abane, A., Robson, E., …Milner, J. (2015). Informal m-health: How are young people using mobile phones to bridge healthcare gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa?. Social science & medicine, 142, 90-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.07.033

The African communications ‘revolution’ has generated optimism that mobile phones might help overcome infrastructural barriers to healthcare provision in resource-poor contexts. However, while formal m-health programmes remain limited in coverage and... Read More about Informal m-health: How are young people using mobile phones to bridge healthcare gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa?.

Context matters: fostering, orphanhood and schooling in sub-Saharan Africa (2014)
Journal Article
Hampshire, K., Porter, G., Agblorti, S., Robson, E., Munthali, A., & Abane, A. (2015). Context matters: fostering, orphanhood and schooling in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of biosocial science, 47(2), 141-164. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021932014000169

A growing body of research suggests that orphanhood and fostering might be (independently) associated with educational disadvantage in sub-Saharan Africa. However, literature on the impacts of orphanhood and fostering on school enrolment, attendance... Read More about Context matters: fostering, orphanhood and schooling in sub-Saharan Africa.

Reconceptualising temporality in young lives: exploring young people's current and future livelihoods in AIDS-affected southern Africa (2013)
Journal Article
Ansell, N., Hajdu, F., van Blerk, L., & Robson, E. (2014). Reconceptualising temporality in young lives: exploring young people's current and future livelihoods in AIDS-affected southern Africa. Transactions - Institute of British Geographers, 39(3), 387-401. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12041

In recent years, anxieties have been expressed that the impacts of southern Africa's AIDS pandemic on young people today will damage their future livelihood prospects. Geographers have been remarkably reluctant to explore young people's future liveli... Read More about Reconceptualising temporality in young lives: exploring young people's current and future livelihoods in AIDS-affected southern Africa.

Rural young people's opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship in globalised southern africa: The limitations of targeting policies (2013)
Journal Article
Hajdu, F., Ansell, N., Robson, E., & Van Blerk, L. (2013). Rural young people's opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship in globalised southern africa: The limitations of targeting policies. International Development Planning Review, 35(2), 155-174. https://doi.org/10.3828/idpr.2013.11

This paper is based on a study with rural young people in Malawi and Lesotho, focusing on their possibilities for accessing (self)employment in the face of the various constraints imposed by their poor rural situations. Participatory group exercises,... Read More about Rural young people's opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship in globalised southern africa: The limitations of targeting policies.

Heavy loads: Children's burdens of water carrying in Malawi (2013)
Journal Article
Robson, E., Porter, G., Hampshire, K., & Munthali, A. (2013). Heavy loads: Children's burdens of water carrying in Malawi. Waterlines, 32(1), 23-35. https://doi.org/10.3362/1756-3488.2013.003

This paper documents water carrying by children aged 9-18 years across Malawi in Southern Africa and evaluates impacts on health and school attendance. At 12 urban and rural field sites quantitative data were collected by questionnaire interviews wit... Read More about Heavy loads: Children's burdens of water carrying in Malawi.

The spatial construction of young people's livelihoods in rural southern Africa (2012)
Journal Article
Ansell, N., van Blerk, L., Robson, E., & Hajdu, F. (2012). The spatial construction of young people's livelihoods in rural southern Africa. Geography, 97(3), 135-140. https://doi.org/10.1080/00167487.2012.12094352

Young people in southern Africa, in common with young people around the world, are social agents, constructing their own lives, albeit within significant structural constraints. Unlike young people in some regions, for most the need to generate a liv... Read More about The spatial construction of young people's livelihoods in rural southern Africa.

Child porterage and Africa's transport gap: evidence from Ghana, Malawi and South Africa (2012)
Journal Article
Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Abane, A., Munthali, A., Robson, E., Mashiri, M., …Dube, S. (2012). Child porterage and Africa's transport gap: evidence from Ghana, Malawi and South Africa. World Development, 40(10), 2136-2154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.05.004

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... Read More about Child porterage and Africa's transport gap: evidence from Ghana, Malawi and South Africa.

Learning from young people about their lives: Using participatory methods to research the impacts of AIDS in southern Africa (2012)
Journal Article
Ansell, N., Robson, E., Hajdu, F., & van Blerk, L. (2012). Learning from young people about their lives: Using participatory methods to research the impacts of AIDS in southern Africa. Children's Geographies, 10(2), 169-186. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2012.667918

Methods of participatory research have become popular among children's geographers as they are believed to enable young people to speak openly about their lives in unthreatening contexts. In this article, we reflect on our experience of using partici... Read More about Learning from young people about their lives: Using participatory methods to research the impacts of AIDS in southern Africa.

Taking the long view: Temporal considerations in the ethics of children's research activity and knowledge production (2012)
Journal Article
Hampshire, K., Porter, G., Owusu, S., Mariwah, S., Abane, A., Robson, E., …Bourdillon, M. (2012). Taking the long view: Temporal considerations in the ethics of children's research activity and knowledge production. Children's Geographies, 10(2), 219-232. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2012.667921

Children are increasingly engaged in the research process as generators of knowledge, but little is known about the impacts on children's lives, especially in the longer term. As part of a study on children's mobility in Ghana, Malawi and South Afric... Read More about Taking the long view: Temporal considerations in the ethics of children's research activity and knowledge production.

Youth, mobility and mobile phones in Africa: findings from a three-country study (2012)
Journal Article
Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Abane, A., Munthali, A., Robson, E., Mashiri, M., & Tanle, A. (2012). Youth, mobility and mobile phones in Africa: findings from a three-country study. Information Technology for Development, 18(2), 145-162. https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2011.643210

The penetration of mobile phones into sub-Saharan Africa has occurred with amazing rapidity: for many young people, they now represent a very significant element of their daily life. This paper explores usage and perceived impacts among young people... Read More about Youth, mobility and mobile phones in Africa: findings from a three-country study.