Pall-Ex
Fact-finding trip, Hilary Devey
Ghana, April 2006
In April, I visited Ghana to learn how the health system there had benefited from the simple transport management systems that Transaid has helped to put in place, and about some of the new work that is being planned. Though there have been some dramatic improvements in the quality and efficiency of health service transport, there is still much to be done. Transport & logistics plays an important part in improving the health and wealth of people in developing countries and we, as an industry, can help to achieve this through Transaid.” Hilary Devey, MD, Pall-Ex
Day 1 - Women and Transport
At Makola market, Accra’s biggest, you notice immediately that all the stalls are run by women. It’s hot, hectic and exhausting just walking round. There are many sellers, but few buyers.
These women are usually the main breadwinners: responsible for the production, trading and marketing of food but not it’s transportation. There’s a strong gender barrier.
Most of them source their produce locally and rely on taxis or “tro-tro’s” (passenger minibuses). They pay over the odds because they’re carrying a load. On average, transport costs represent 40% of their turnover.
The women are now forming transport co-ops, through which they plan to acquire small fleets of reliable vehicles. Transaid wants to help them to develop the skills to manage scheduling maintenance, rates setting and finance, enabling them to operate their own cost-effective transport system. We were told that, every day, the women ask “When is the project starting?”. One of the first tasks of Transaid’s new regional programme manager Ekow Fletcher, who’ll be based in Accra, is to move it forward.
Day 2 – Commercial driving
In Ghana, in common with most of Africa, driving is seen as a low-paid, last resort rather than a desirable career and there are no internationally recognised professional driving standards. As a result, operational standards are poor, unit freight costs are high and serious road accidents common.
More and better quality work opportunities could be created if transport was professionalised, the economy and inward investment could be given a boost by a more competitive transport sector, not to mention the lives saved by safer roads.
There’s a clear commitment in Ghana to change things for the better by improving professional standards. C W Musah, the Head of the DVLA, told us “The (driving) profession is a privilege and not a right.” By improving standards he was confident that “the ugly behaviour you see on the road will be changed.”
In 2003, Transaid arranged a small Commercial Vehicle driver training, focusing on road safety. But everyone we spoke to, at the DVLA, the Driving School and the CILT, agreed that there was a need for an ongoing programme to establish professional driving standards which, with funding, Transaid aims to develop. They also agreed that sharing UK best practice was important – a clear endorsement of Transaid’s skills- sharing methodology.
Thursday 20th April - Healthcare
About 70% of Ghana is rural, so the majority of healthcare is delivered by outreach. We visited the district health office at Amasaman, where health workers were out in the villages to spread the word that they would be coming round to immunise children the following day. In such remote areas, word of mouth is the only way to convey such important news.
The complementary links between Transaid’s work with professional driving and the health service were highlighted twice today. Dr Cynthia, who runs the Amasaman District Office, told us that although nurses are trained to ride motorbikes they are often unwilling to because they’re afraid of getting knocked off by reckless truck drivers. And George, the Head of the Ambulance Service, told us that they had recently acquired a fleet of ambulances but that finding skilled drivers was a big hurdle to getting them on the road.
Transaid doesn’t fund vehicles directly, but we heard that having the transport management policy that it helped to put in place has enabled the Ministry of Health to attract serious funding for them. The World Bank gave a $2m grant for vehicles because the ministry could demonstrate that they would be well managed.
This policy has also delivered proven efficiencies. Health workers now travel 70% further, using 13% vehicles at the same cost as before the system was in place. The key to success has been to ensure that all health personnel who need a vehicle to do their jobs are trained in transport management.
In addition to being incorporated into the central transport policy Transaid’s Transport Management scheme is now on the syllabus at Kintampo Rural Health Training Centre. Kintampo is attended by rural health trainees including nurses, disease control assistants, community health officers and, with 55 successfully assessed students, Transaid is now seeking funding to expand the scheme to other health training institutions.
Having seen the Ghanaian’s passion and commitment towards improving their country, they deserve no less than our help and support. With the arrival of Ekow, Transaid will be pushing forward the initiatives we learned about on our visit and calling for the UK industry’s support to enable it to push forward the women’s transport, healthcare and professional driving programmes.
Ghana was the first country in which Transaid’s Transport Management System was implemented. Transaid has since completed a nationwide project in South Africa, and it is currently working to adapt the system for Health Ministries in Kenya and Sierra Leone. And the Ghanaian transport professionals that Transaid has shared skills with now travel with the charity to other African countries to share their expertise.
