‘Youthscapes’ and escapes in rural Africa: education, mobility and livelihood trajectories for young people in Ghana, Malawi and South Africa

Abstract

This paper focuses on the linkages between education, mobility and livelihood potential for young people in rural areas of three sub-Saharan countries: Ghana, Malawi and South Africa. Young peoples’ lives in rural locations are commonly shaped by both economic and political exclusions: poverty and lack of voice. Their labour contributions are usually crucial to family farm production from an early age, but the work is mostly unpaid and controlled by other household members. Moreover, the work contributions required of young people affect their educational attainment: school attendance is regularly delayed,impeded and curtailed by work demands. In the context of limited educational opportunities in rural areas and often very negative perceptions of agriculture among today’s youth, the competing attractions offered by escape to the city are enormous. However, as our case studies illustrate, in the context of work demands, restricted basic education and poverty, the potential for escape, whether to secondary education or city jobs, is limited and usually highly gendered. We draw principally on rich ethnographic material from recent interviews with children and young people, their parents, teachers and other key informants