Commercial motorcycle taxi has emerged as an important mode of road transport in many developing countries. In Kenya, it is only in the last one decade or so that this mode of transport, known popularly as boda boda gained prominence following a shift in economic policy geared towards reinvigorating growth. In this paper, we reviewed the phenomenal emergence of this mode of transport in Kenya using data from two urban areas – Kakamega and Eldoret municipalities, both located in Western part of the country. We focused specifically on earnings from the enterprise, ownership structure and the mode of operation. It has been established that the informal commercial motorcycle operation is an important source of livelihood to many poor urban households as it brings in a steady flow of daily income both to operators and motorcycle owners who happen to rent out their motorcycles. The boda boda operations also creates employment opportunity to many unskilled urban labour and further job opportunity to informal sector workers who wish to switch jobs in search of higher rewards. Boda boda business can be done on full-time or part-time basis. Those who work on full-time basis accounted for 82.1 percent while those who work as part-time operators accounted for 17.9 percent. The paper recommends further research on this informal transport sub-sector along rural-urban divide to ensure a more targeted approach aimed at improving livelihoods and eradicating poverty among the youth and other economically disadvantaged groups such as women.
Arosanyin, G. (2010). Earnings from commercial motorcycle operations in Ilorin, Nigeria: A Study on Determinants. Ghana Journal of Development Studies, 7(2). Retrieved from http://www.ajol.info/index.php/gjds/article/view/66882
Arosanyin, G., & Olowosulu, A. (2011). Employment Generation and Earnings in the Informal Transport Sector in Nigeria. International Business and Management, 2(2), 139–148. https://doi.org/10.3968/j.ibm.1923842820110202.015
Behrens, M. (2011). BODA BODA. “BODA BODA” BICYCLE TAXIS AND THEIR ROLE IN URBAN TRANSPORT SYSTEMS: Case Studies of Kisumu and Nakuru, Kenya.
Bradley Raynor. (2014). Informal Transportation in Uganda?: A Case Study of the Boda Boda. Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection, Paper 1923.
Government of Kenya. (2003). Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation 2003-2007. Retrieved from siteresources.worldbank.org/KENYAEXTN/Resources/ERS.pdf
Government of Kenya (2014). Economic Survey, Nairobi: Government Printers.
Howe, J., & Davis, A. (1999). Boda Boda-Uganda’s rural and urban l-capacity transport services.
Kaumbutho, P. M. P. (2013). Agricultural Market Demands A planning framework for improving the efficiency of transport services in the high value agricultural sub-sector , replicable in other values chains.
Singoro, B. W., Wakhungu, J., Obiri, J., & Were, E. (2016). Causes and Trends of Public Transport Motorcycle Accidents in Bungoma County, Kenya. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic Research, 4(1), 36–42. Retrieved from www.multidisciplinaryjournals.com
Starkey, P. (2016). The benefits and challenges of increasing motorcycle use for rural access. International Conference on Transportation and Road Research, Mombasa, 15-17 March 2016, 1–17.
Yakubu, A. T. (2012). Determinants of Earnings among Commercial Motorcycle Operators in Kwara State , Nigeria. International Journal of Economics and Management Sciences Vol. 2, No. 2, 2012, Pp. 11-1, 2(2), 11–17.
In-Text Citation: (Nyabuta & Muindi, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Nyabuta, O. J. S., & Muindi, K. (2018). A Review of the Motorcycle Phenomenon on Livelihoods in Eldoret and Kakamega Municipalities. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(2), 576–586.
Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
