The third initiative of Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr that we are tasked with evaluating this summer are the Sustainable Waste Management Micro-Enterprise Groups, or tricycle groups for short.
Tricycle groups are vested with the dual mandate of household and public waste collection. The program model for the former is based on the creation of “waste micro-entrepreneurs”. Under this, independently formed groups are provided with tricycles by the Freetown City Council and given training on business development as well as waste collection. In addition, one person per group is also trained on driving the tricycle. The groups are responsible for registering households as customers and servicing them.
We have interviewed six tricycle group members in the past few weeks, four of which were women and two men. We also conducted a focus group with eight female tricycle group leaders (this was actually an impromptu focus group as we were expecting two women to come for individual interviews but to our surprise, a whole group showed up – collecting data is not always as simple and straightforward as it is made out to be in the textbooks).
Stuti conducting an interview with a tricycle worker in a community center in the Lumley area. Fasia (on the right) translated from krio when needed.
Through the interviews, we encountered some gendered barriers within the program. For example, the women reported that men predominantly rode the tricycles. As the tricycles are essential for household waste collection, and the individual who rides the tricycles does not always share the full amount collected from the households with the group, this gendered division of labor diminishes women’s income from the program. The reasons behind this gender gap are complex but some of the reasons might include a lack of training as well as cultural norms about gendered roles in Sierra Leonian society.
Despite this, we found that the program constituted an important income stream for both the women and men interviewed, enabling them to take care of their families. With the economy in decline in Sierra Leone, as in many places in the world, employment is very hard to come by. We found that having a stable income also increased the women’s self-respect, as they were more self-reliant and could sustain their families on their own.
As of now, we have concluded all data collection and analysis for our project. We are putting the finishing touches on the report and slide decks for both of our projects; the gender mainstreaming framework and gendered evaluation of the three programs. This week, we will be presenting our findings to the team at the Mayor’s Delivery Unit as well as the mayor herself. After that, we will be saying goodbye to Freetown, at least for now.
Tricycle workers, Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr and MDU staff. Picture from the MDU.