BODA-BODA ECONOMY

ITS SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT ON RURAL BONDO

Tom Odera Omolo
Thesis, Spring 2015, Helsinki
Diaconia University of Applied Sciences,
Degree Programme in Social Services
Bachelor of Social Services (UAS)
Focus in Community Development Work

ABSTRACT
This research study was carried out in rural population of Nyang’oma sub-location of Bondo Division in Siaya County-Kenya. The study aims to provide relevant insights into how the boda-boda transport service has impacted the socioeconomic status of rural Bondo. The research investigates the phenomenon in its natural environment exploring its meaning and benefits to the rural population. Particular attention is paid to age, gender, education, income, household and community.
The paper discusses unemployment, poverty and poverty alleviation strategies in Kenya and transport sector as background study for the research. The paper goes on to describe its impacts at individual, household and community levels with emphasis to economic and social changes. It also examines and describes how it has changed the rural context in relation to income diversification, information flow, rural-urban access and development. 
This paper presents data material analyzed through thematic method, collected from boda-boda operators, service users, boda-boda associations and the local government administration. The paper attempts to demonstrate how the service has cushioned the rural poor against acute poverty and given them an opportunity to better their lives from the income generated by the business.
The findings of this study confirms that the socioeconomic status of rural Bondo has improved. That the boda-boda has impacted the economic and social conditions of the community positively. It has also highlighted the negative effects of the business on the rural population. 
Key words: Boda-boda, poverty, poverty alleviation, employment, transport sector, youth, household, community.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Aims and Research Question:
1.2 A Boda-boda
1.2.1 Emergence and growth of motorcycle taxi:
1.2.1 Kenya:
1.2.2 Kenya’s Economic Context:
1.3 Research Location:
1.3.1 Bondo Constituency:
1.3.2 Bondo Town:
1.3.3 Infrastructure:
1.3.4 Socio-Economic Perspective:
2. LITERATURE REVIEW.
2.1 Poverty:
2.2 World Poverty Trends:
2.3 The Concept of Poverty Alleviation:
2.3.1 Basic or Income Poverty Approach:
2.4 Relationship between Poverty and Unemployment:
2.4.1 Unemployment Situation:
2.5 General Employment Situation in Kenya:
2.6 Poverty Alleviation in Kenya:
2.6.1 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 2001-04:
2.7 Transport and Socioeconomic Development:
3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Qualitative Research Method:
3.2 Data Collection Method:
3.2.1 Participant’s Consent:
3.3 Sampling Technique:
3.4 Sample Size:
3.5 Data collection:
3.6 Data Analysis:
3.7 Research Challenges:
3.7.1 Time constraints:
3.7.2 Financial Constraints:
3.7.3 Data Transcription:
3.7.4 Data Collection:
4. RESEARCH FINDINGS:
4.1 Economic Impact:
4.1.1 Employment.
4.1.2 Financial Stability.
4.1.3 Savings.
4.1.4 Income Diversity.
4.1.5 Cost of Living.
4.1.6 Secondary Businesses.
4.1.7 Government Revenue.
4.2 Social Impact.
4.2.1 Education.
4.2.2 Mobility.
4.2.3 Interaction and Integration.
4.2.4 Rhythm of Life.
4.2.5 Sexual Habits.
4.2.6 Flow of Information.
4.2.7 Health Issues.
4.2.8 Crime.
4.3 Service Users:
5. CONCLUSION: Riding out of Poverty.
5.1 Human Potential:
5.2 Standard of Living:
5.3 Quality of life:
5.4 An Immediate Need:
5.5 Integration and interaction:
6. REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Appendices 1 : Questionnaire for boda-boda associations.
Appendices 2.  Questionnaire for boda-boda operators.
Appendices 3. Questionnaire for service user

1. INTRODUCTION 
This study examines how the motorcycle taxi commonly known as boda-boda in the eastern Africa region has socioeconomically impacted on a rural community. It will research the opportunities of self-employment, income generating opportunities and how it has changed the economic and social situation of the rural community. According to the American Psychology Association, socioeconomic status is commonly conceptualized as the social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income and occupation. Socioeconomic status indicates one’s access to collectively desired resources, be they material goods, money, power, friendship networks, healthcare, leisure time, or educational opportunities (Oakes and Rossi, 2003). And it is access to such resources that enable individuals and/or groups to prosper in the social world. Those with high socioeconomic status seems to thrive as the rest aim to improve on their statuses. It is during social interactions that various indicators are typically displayed or revealed in order to convey one’s socioeconomic status to other members of the social group. 
Socioeconomic status can be divided into three categories namely low, middle and high level and it is possible for people to move from one level to another during their lives. Many contemporary scholars appear interested in socioeconomic status because it serves as an indicator of the health of a social system or society, often measured against some egalitarian or meritocratic ideal. Informally stated, the meritocratic ideal is that regardless of birth right or inherited endowments, individuals may increase their socioeconomic status through effort, including but not limited to the development of their inherited endowments (Bowles, et al 1998). Therefore, any stratification based on birth like the caste system or on discrimination such as race or ethnic background is anathema but not insurmountable to social progress.  
Socioeconomic status can also pass as social class because it also aims to locate one’s position in the social hierarchy. Thus people with the same socioeconomic status tend to cluster together. Those taking part in this study are clustered together not necessarily due to economic factors but mainly land and cultural factors. Most of the land is ancestral and therefore, inherited. Their income, education, occupation and social status differ despite the fact that they are clustered together. Thus, the focus of this study is how the boda-boda phenomenon has impacted on their socioeconomic status.
The rural population of Kenya is the poorest due to a lot of factors including unemployment and underemployment. Unemployment due to lack of income generating activities. Underemployed are workers who are skilled but working in low paying or part-time jobs. This study analyzes the impact of the motorcycle taxi called boda-boda in rural parts of Bondo, and specifically how the service has increased its general welfare levels. 
The study will be based on the income factor. The study will measure the quality of life at individual, household and community levels generated by the boda-boda sector. The study will include boda-boda operators, service users and other stakeholders such as the financial institutions and local government office. In that way, the study hopes to capture how this income generating activity has impacted on the economic and social welfare of rural community and its place in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. This will be achieved by demonstrating the current unemployment trends and poverty levels if only to find evidence for association between socioeconomic status and income from boda-boda sector. To guide this study, the research will use related key words such as income, employment, empowerment, unemployment, and poverty in search for relevant information and material. 
This study will incorporate various facts and aspects of poverty and unemployment at international, national and local levels as a result of global trends and international efforts at poverty alleviation. Thus the study will be selective in use of reference material to include only what is relevant in relation to the topic and findings. The findings will be of benefit to various stakeholders including policy makers, financial banks and micro-finance institutions which advance financial loans and investment advice, the boda-boda associations which are working on improving service delivery and maximizing on profits, and the local government/authorities for organization, regulation, safety measures and tax benefits. 
1.1 Aims and Research Question:
Rural Kenyans are the poor of the poorest. Deprivation or unmet human basic needs characterize it. Lacks of resources, both material and non-material plague the rural regions. Such resources include income, housing, health, education, knowledge and basic human rights. Rural levels of poverty have in turn led to social exclusion of millions of Kenyans. Those that escape the rural poverty trap by migration to urban areas end up in informal settlements or slum which lack in minimum basic human needs. Participation in society becomes impossible due to lack of resources that are critical for human development resulting in poor health and low productivity levels. This has resulted in acts of survival to make ends meet, driving hundreds of thousand into the boda-boda business. The research find and document the positive aspects of the business without ignoring its negative impacts with the hope that they could be used to improve living conditions.
I not only wanted a topic that I could personally relate to but one that would enhance community development. I also chose to write on an issue that is not only Kenyan but one that is impacting on Africa. Boda-boda is a sector that is directly associated with the very poor and their efforts at escaping the poverty trap. Previous research studies have been carried out but under different topics and with different aims, leaving a gap for further research. Similar researches carried out in Kenya were based in urban areas. The research question is ‘What is the socioeconomic impact of the boda-boda business on the rural population of Bondo?’

1.2 A Boda-boda
Boda-boda is a corruption of the English word ‘border border’. The word was coined by cyclists who used to ferry passengers and goods through the Kenya-Uganda border. They would shout border ‘border to border’ to draw potential customers who needed their services between the border posts. The activity later spread from the border town of Busia to other parts of Kenya and Uganda. These service users had no proper paper work needed at the border crossing and making the bicycle taxi a way of smuggling goods through the borders. The bicycles have since been replaced with motorbikes which have retained the name boda-boda. Even the operators are known as boda-boda. It is hard to give an exact number of boda-boda taxis in operation as many are not registered as taxis and the industry is largely unregulated in Kenya. Compared, in Uganda, the sector is better organized and the returns are higher.
The boda-boda taxis have been with the East Africans for many years but it is not unique to the region. Asia and other parts of Africa also have a niche in this industry. China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Nigeria, Ghana, Indonesia, Cameroun and India among others have motorbike taxis. They are meant for carrying one passengers but up to four can be transported on one. The passengers hardly wear helmet and there is no speed limit for them but new traffic regulations and special lanes are being put into place to curb ease operation road accidents. They also bear a different kind of registration plates and special lanes are being created for them in major towns with heavy traffic. New regulations also demand designated pick up and drop off places in major towns and the wearing of luminous jackets to make the riders visible. 
The boda-boda are preferred by many over other forms of transport because they offer a cheap and adaptable mode of transportation. They beat traffic congestions, and are able to navigate roads, streets and alleys which cannot be accessed through other means of transport services. They have low purchase prices, low fuel consumption and maintenance is cheap. Poor and jobless people, many with little or no education, are taking up the business as a mean of gainful employment. 
It cannot, therefore, go without saying that the business has a sizeable customer niche in the informal transport industry. That it holds many advantages over the other service providers makes it popular choice and therefore a reliable source of income. The earnings are, basically speaking, enough to get by and that must be the reason why the business is popular in every town. It also suits the rural environment where infrastructure and public transport and near extinct. They are more reliable and penetrate the furthest parts of the countryside. That it is transforming rural Bondo’s economic and social status cannot be ruled out and that is what this research is generally about; the role of the boda-boda business in the reduction of poverty and social exclusion, and empowering the rural community.
1.2.1 Emergence and growth of motorcycle taxi:
Transport services have played a vital role in shaping the livelihood repertoires of rural people in sub-Saharan Africa over the last century but precise implications for poverty alleviation and growth have varied considerably over time and place and between different sectors of the population (Porter, 2013. Pg. 1).
The motorcycle-taxi is now changing the face of rural transport services in many parts of Africa, thanks primarily to the introduction of cheap motorcycles (Porter, 2013).
The fragile public transport and poor infrastructure in developing countries is a good reason for the growth of alternative means of transport. A decline in organized public transport systems has led to rapid growth in non-conventional means of public transport, initially provided by minibuses and shared taxi/vans, and more recently by commercial motorcycles. Unlike cities in South and East Asia, ownership and use of motorized two-wheelers as a personalized vehicle is very small in sub-Saharan cities. However, over the past decade there has been a significant growth in the use of motorcycles as a commercial public transport mode (Kumar, 2011. Pg. 1).
The most recent - and arguably the most dramatic - change in rural transport services in many countries has been the expansion of motorcycle-taxi services, which gathered pace in the 1990s. These are still penetrating remoter rural areas today, fuelled particularly by the availability of cheap imported Chinese motorcycles. For the first time in African rural transport history many –even very poor - rural dwellers may have the potential summon transport when they need it. For people living in remote areas the consequent new levels of connectivity amount to a transport revolution, because even if they cannot afford transport on a regular basis, many can now obtain it in emergency contexts and perceive this to be of crucial importance to their well-being (Porter, 2013. Pg. 7-8).
Ease of entry, low capital requirement, employment potential, and ability to navigate congested and poor quality roads with relative ease are some of the factors contributing to the growth of commercial motorcycles. Before the 1990s, their operators were unknown in most cities. However, economic depression, factory closings, and mass retrenchments of workers, coupled with declining public transport services, proved fertile soil for the growth of this informal commercial business. The low capital requirement and the absence of any regulatory requirement other than to obtain a vehicle license (which could also be violated as in Lagos where over 50 percent are operating without a valid operating license) have facilitated their growth (Kumar, 2011).
In developing cities worldwide, the private sector is the dominant supplier of public transport services and provides employment to a large number of people. In Lagos for example, there are over 100,000 minibuses and 200,000 commercial motorcycles, providing direct employment to over 500,000 people. Assuming one public transport worker per household (with an average house-hold size of 5) then, well over two million people receives their sustenance from the sector (or 15 percent of the total population) (Kumar, 2011. Pg. 5).
The crisis of the 1990s and the resulting collapse of the state-owned or subsidized private enterprises led to the emergence of private provider services which take various forms of informal, privately operated public transport in African cities, ranging from the operation of second hand mini- and micro-buses, shared taxis (jitneys), and most recently commercial motorcycles. The number of private operators in African cities has grown dramatically in the last decade, well over 15 percent annually. The transition from a well regulated and organized public transport system to an unregulated system operated by single owner and operators did not result from a conscious decision to deregulate the public transport. Rather, it was an indigenous response to a growing demand and the commercial opportunity provided by the failure of state-owned or subsidized monopoly public transport enterprises.
The origin and growth of motorcycle taxis can fundamentally be traced to the collapse of bus transport services either directly provided by the state or contracted for, and the deregulation of the market leading to a growth in informal operators (Kumar, 2011. Pg. 7).
It is evident that both services fulfil important economic and social functions making it, the services, indispensable. They deserve the appellation industry because of their scale, and the backward and forward linkages they have with other sectors of economy.
In recent years, motorcycle use in Kenya has grown exponentially since the government duty. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 180,000 motorbikes on the country's roads, with the numbers rising rapidly. The move by the government to make motorbikes a more affordable mode of transport was designed to encourage their use on rural roads that are ill-suited to cars and buses, improving access to remote areas and reducing heavy congestion in urban centers (Kelley, 2013). 
According to World Health Organization, in the last six years, the number of registered motorcycles has increased dramatically. Between 2005 and 2011, motorcycle registration increased by almost 40-fold. In 2011, motorcycles made up 70 per cent of all newly registered vehicles (Kibogong, Kisia). 
According to the Economic survey (2010), motor and auto cycles which rose significantly, accounting for 56.3per cent of the total registered vehicle units. Motorcycles and Auto cycles have become popular across the country such that in rural areas, they have provided relief to limited transport options while in the urban areas they have supplemented both passenger transport and mail delivery. In Kenya, majority of the boda-boda riders do not have another form of employment. After the zero rating of all motorcycles below 250cc, the motorcycle prices went down. Therefore for some, motorcycles became an opportunity to get into the lucrative transport business (Nyachieo, 2013).
The majority of motorcycles in Kenya are used as taxis (Boda-boda) which are emerging as an important means of public transportation. These are still penetrating remoter rural areas today, fuelled particularly by the availability of cheap imported Chinese motorcycles (Porter, 2013).
1.2 Research Background:
According to current statistics, the population of the developing world is still more rural than urban: some 3.1 billion people, or 55 percent of the total population, live in rural areas. The largest segments of the world’s poor are the women, children and men who live in rural environments. These are the subsistence farmers and herders, the fishers and migrant workers, the artisans and indigenous peoples whose daily struggles seldom capture world attention. Despite improvements over the past 10 years that have lifted more than 350 million rural people out of extreme poverty, global poverty remains a massive and predominantly rural phenomenon – with 70 per cent of the developing world’s 1.4 billion extremely poor people living in rural areas (IFAD, 2011 Pg. 16).
The rural areas of Africa is home to some of the poorest people in the world. Economic and social progress has continued to elude those that are living under extreme poverty. It is a global fact that the rural residents have much less opportunities when it comes to economic diversification and formal employment where women have the least access to productive resources. This is mainly as a result of strong and evident patriarchal social structures, high rates of ignorance, ethnicity, marginalization, grand corruption, centralization of power and economic activities among others.
The East African rural community has traditionally and exclusively engaged in agricultural activity for their sustenance for years. In the recent years, this trend has been challenged and is changing with just about every rural household derive their income from a variety of non-agricultural activities either as their only source of income or to boost their daily income from the traditional activities (IFAD, 2011). 
Diversification from agriculture, fishing and mining is gaining more prominence in rural Bondo. Most homes engage in these activities to survive, some even bettering their economic and social status beating extreme poverty in the process. Boda-boda has given such diversification real meaning as the income is constant and from it, other businesses have been born. Unlike the traditional sources of income where one needed to have arable and sizeable land, fishing equipment which are expensive and mining which is mostly of no economic value, degrades land, diminishes in value with time and seasonal, the boda-boda has given chance to many more as it is an all season activity and does not require any technical skills.  
1.2.1 Kenya:
Situated on the equator on Africa's east coast, Kenya has been described as "the cradle of humanity". According to the 2009 census, the population of Kenya was 38,610,097 million. The population estimates for 2014 are 45,941,977 million. Kenya has a surface area of 580,367 square kilometers (224,080 square miles) making it the 47th largest country in the world in land mass. It is relatively sparsely populated. For every square kilometer of land, there is an average of 79.2 people (205 per square mile). Asians, Europeans and Arabs make up 1 percent of the total population. 
English, Kiswahili and forty-two indigenous languages are spoken in Kenya. Protestant, Catholic, Islam and indigenous beliefs makes up its religious composition. Life expectancy stood at 57.9 years in 2010 (World Population Review, 2014).
According to National Geographic (2005), forty-two ethnic groups including farmers and cattle herders crowd the countryside, a home to three-quarters of Kenya’s population. Intense competition for arable land drives thousands to cities, where unemployment is high. Kenyan economy is driven by industry which include small scale consumer goods, agricultural products and oil refining. Agriculture is taken up by tea, coffee, corn, wheat and dairy products while tea, horticultural products, coffee, petroleum products and fish makes up for exports. Pressing challenges include high unemployment, crime and poverty with droughts frequently put millions of people at risk (BBC Africa, 2014).
1.2.2 Kenya’s Economic Context:
Kenya has the largest, most diversified economy in the region. Known as “the gateway to East Africa,” Kenya’s role as a transportation hub is vital to much of sub-Saharan Africa. The second most populous country in the region, Kenya has a young, ambitious and well-educated workforce eager to contribute to the development of the country but the problems of underemployment and unemployment are bedeviling the country. 
Kenya’s GDP growth in recent years was moderate, remaining below the average of East African countries. Kenya’s economy is service-based, with a relatively small industrial sector: in 2013, agriculture contributed 20.7% of real GDP, the industrial sector 15.9% (of which manufacturing contributed only 9.5%), and services 63.4%. With regard to recent growth performance, GDP grew by an annual average of 3.7% over the last 5 years (Graph 2), with agriculture growing by only 0.6% and the industrial and services sectors by 4.0% and 4.5%, respectively. The short-term outlook is positive, with projected GDP growth of around 6-6.5% over the next three years, mainly driven by higher private-sector investments and increased exports. Services, especially finance and ICT, and construction, are expected to be the key drivers of GDP growth. The discovery of oil, gas and coal in 2012 might have the potential to boost Kenya’s overall socio-economic development, but exact deposit quantities as well as fiscal and economic impacts are yet to be fully estimated (Africa Development Group Bank, 2014. Pg.  2-3).
A free enterprise and an open political system and debate helped make Kenya one of Africa's most stable nations after independence but more recently, this has been overtaken by corruption which has been undermining efforts to pull Kenya out of unemployment and tackle poverty. Barriers to progress include among others, massive corruption, a high population growth and inefficiency in key sectors.
1.3 Research Location:
Motorcycle taxi is a national phenomenon. Every corner of the country has taken up to the business. From urban to rural areas, with or without proper infrastructure, the boda-boda taxi service is flourishing and changing the social and economic landscape of rural Kenya. My research is based in Bondo Constituency of Siaya County, Western Kenya region.
1.3.1 Bondo Constituency:
Bondo Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of the constituencies in Siaya County with Bondo town as its headquarters. With six county wards, Bondo constituency has an area of 593,000 square kilometers and a population of 157, 522. The constituency covers a total of 1,972 square kilometers out of which 972 square kilometers is land mass while the rest 1,000 square kilometers is water surface (DEAP, 2006. Pg.4).
Administratively, the constituency has a total of nineteen locations and forty-nine sub-locations. Nyang’oma, my area of study, is a sub-locations under Sakwa location. Population densities are high in urban centers, shopping centers and beaches where there are considerable economic activities and better infrastructural development. The District Development Plan cites that Rarieda has the highest population density estimated at 319 persons per square kilometer while Nyang’oma has the lowest population density estimated at 186 persons per square kilometer.
Agriculture contributes 79 percent to the household income due to massive unemployment especially among the youth. The water mass of Lake Victoria makes fishing another major economic activity. Though unregulated and in small quantities, mining and quarrying is also generating income in a number of households (DEAP, 2007. Pg. 5).
Bondo is one of the poorest districts in the country with poverty levels at 70.6 percent. The most affected are the women and youth whose percentage stands at 20.4 of the total population. Population distribution statistics shows that poverty levels are higher in rural areas (70.6%) compared to the urban centers (67.5%). This is mainly attributed to the availability of formal employment opportunities in urban centers compared to unprofitable farming which is the major economic activity in rural areas. Faced with unreliable farming, which is the major economic activity, many people in rural areas look for other ways of earning a living (DEAP, 2007. Pg. 6).
1.3.2 Bondo Town: 
Bondo town, headquarter of Bondo County, is located about 50kms north-west of Kisumu in Nyanza. Established as a market centre in the early 1920's, it attained municipality status in 1995. The population is projected at 54,000 in 2015. It covers approximately 80 square kilometers. The town houses various departmental heads, Municipal, County Council and offices of a few non-governmental organizations. The town is a major business convergence centre for the lakeshore (UN-HABITAT, 2008. Pg. 1).
1.3.3 Infrastructure:
Bondo is connected to Kisumu via a 70kilometres tarmac that extends to the lake fishing villages at Usenge and beyond. The town is connected to Siaya Town (25km) and Misori fishing beach (33km) to the south by all-weather murram roads. It has a good electricity power supply, fixed and two mobile telephone communication networks. There is an open market in the town, an unpaved bus stage and a slaughterhouse. The town has no physical plan but is seat to several government departments, many of which are now reasonably well established. The central part of the town is a poorly developed urban centre while the outlying areas are largely unplanned plots with low and middle in-come rental housing estates. There are no officially established industries apart from a number of informal sector enterprises, commonly referred to as ‘jua kali’, which include motor vehicle garages and fabricators run by individual entrepreneurs and community groups (UN-HABITAT, 2008. Pg. 1-2).
1.3.4 Socio-Economic Perspective:
The predominant community group in Bondo is the Luo, who occupy most of Nyanza and who practice fishing and small-scale farming. Growth of the town has been slow reflecting the development in the surrounding rural areas, which regularly receive funds from local people working away in towns and abroad. Local production has been limited resulting in little trade of locally produced goods in Bondo town. The town has basic services both in public and limited private sectors and is the main commercial centre in the constituency. It is no-table that gender imbalance pervades the population, whereby men own and control the main resources and means of production, whilst cultural attitudes inhibit women’s progress in all sectors of the economy (UN-HABITAT, 2008. Pg. 2).
A majority of the population still live in the rural and peri-urban areas in low to middle income settlements. Only an estimated 25 percent (7,200) of the township population of 29,202 were living within the intervention area of Bondo town while the rest lived in the rural areas. Hence, majority of the people (about 75 percent) are part of the low and middle income sections of the rural population (UN-HABITAT, 2008. Pg.2).
Detailed information of the interior regions of Kenya, and Bondo in this case, are hard to come by. The government of Kenya has put out very little information on its rural regions. Available data comes from research work by Non-governmental organizations which is limited to the need of their research. Though not a major hindrance, it is hard to find infrastructural, economic and social data on Nyang’oma sub-location.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW.
It is certainly for a fact that unemployment is the primary cause of poverty. There is strong evidence that unemployment increases the risk of poverty and contributes to inequality, and that it also gives rise to a series of debilitating social effects on unemployed people themselves, their families and the communities in which they live. Poverty as a result of unemployment is not anymore temporary for those who experience it and the numbers affected are not small. According to Saunders (2002), what really reduces the risk of poverty is thus not (paid) work itself, but full-time work, and it is only when there is at least one full-time earner (in a family) that poverty rates fall. It is thus access to full-time work that is needed to protect people from the risk of poverty. He concludes his paper by saying that unemployment is a bad thing. It is bad for the economy and for society, for unemployed people themselves, for their families and for the communities in which they live.
2.1 Poverty:
Poverty is a global phenomenon, seen in low, middle and high income countries. The simplest of definition is captured by Brunswick (2009) when he defines poverty as not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter. UNDP’s International Poverty Centre (2006) defines it as failure to achieve certain minimal or basic capabilities, i.e. the ability to satisfy adequately certain crucially important functionings.  However, poverty is much more than not having enough money though a lack of (financial) income is the primary cause of it. It is a complex societal issue that requires everyone’s attention and effort.
2.2 World Poverty Trends:
According to the World Bank Organization (2014), the world attained the first Millennium Development Goal target of cutting poverty rates in half five years before schedule but the number of people living in extreme poverty remains high. In 2011, 17 million people in developing world lived at or below 1.25 dollars a day. That’s down from 43 percent in 1990 and 52 percent in 1981. This means that in 2011, just over one billion people lived on less than $1.25 a day, compared with 1.91 billion in 1990, and 1.93 billion in 1981. According to the report, if the current progress is maintained, 1 billion people will still live in extreme poverty in 2015. In all, 2.2 billion people lived on less than US $2 a day in 2011, the average poverty line in developing countries and another common measurement of deep deprivation. That is only a slight decline from 2.59 billion in 1981. In some developing countries, we continue to see a wide gap – or in some cases – widening gap between rich and poor, and between those who can and cannot access opportunities. It means that access to good schools, healthcare, electricity, safe water and other critical services remains elusive for many people who live in developing economies. Other challenges, such as economic shocks, food insecurity and climate change threaten to undermine the progress made in recent years. 
2.3 The Concept of Poverty Alleviation: 
Although poverty is one of the most familiar and enduring conditions known to humanity, it is an extremely complicated concept to understand. Historical definitions of poverty are numerous, but can be classified as relating to either lack of financial income or lower social status. Numerous factors contribute to the concept of poverty, including political, economic, social, and cultural forces (Carney, 2007. Abstract). 
Poverty is a complex issue but so is poverty alleviation as people experience poverty in relative and absolute terms. People move in and out of poverty at various times and under various conditions. According to the International Poverty Centre (2006 Pg. 10), poverty alleviation strategies and programs aim at increasing people's access to goods, services and opportunities; increasing people's ability to withstand the socio-economic shocks entailed in job loss, crop failure and illness, and expanding the horizon of opportunities for improving the quality life of the poor. One challenging fact is measuring poverty. People usually define poverty in relation to the factors that lead to increasing or reducing the economic standards of local people. Thus methods used could just capture part of the whole. According to The European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN), common methods for measuring poverty include deprivation indicators, poverty line, the budget standard approach, the food ratio method, The UN poverty index, the UNICEF report card on child well-being but I’d like to assume that work needs to be done to capture the diverse reality of poverty from the perspective of those suffering from it.
There are four approaches in the concept of poverty alleviation. According to UNDP’s International Poverty Centre (2006. Pg. 10) the ‘basic or income approach’ views poverty simply as lack of income (or consumption). Poverty exists when some persons in the society have so little income that they cannot satisfy socially defined basic needs. According to the World Bank Organization, poverty is ‘pronounced deprivation in well-being’ where well-being is primarily to command over commodities so that the poor are those who do not have enough income or consumption to put them above some adequate minimum threshold. This view sees poverty in monetary terms. 
The ‘capability approach’ to poverty defines poverty in terms of lack of capabilities, and as such, emphasized the role of social and political aspects of poverty besides the lack of income. Capability is what people can do and be and this is what determines their living standards. It emphasizes on the capability of an individual to function in society as poor people often lacks key capabilities like political freedom.  
The ‘sustainable livelihoods approach’ distinguishes between five capital aspects (human, nature, financial, physical and social capital) that determine household living standards where households may pursue different strategies in each of these five dimensions in order to secure or improve their livelihood. 
The ‘participatory approach’ concept addresses people’s participation in issues affecting them. It recognizes a need for development strategies which are not primarily capital-centred but which intend to include people more directly in developing process. According to Pouw (2000), the participatory approach concept generally aims at bringing in the voice and perspective of the poor in poverty eradication. 
Wong (2012) summarizes it when he says that the concept and definition of poverty needs a clear and practical definition. The approaches have diverse philosophical underpinnings and thus results in different definitions. Basic Approach focuses on consumption while Capability Approach focuses on people’s values and choices and the Participatory Approach focuses on the involvement of those affected. The International Labour Organization (ILO) also captures the concepts where it defines poverty as a condition in which people lack satisfactory material resources (food, shelter, clothing, housing), are unable to access basic services (health, education, water, sanitation), and are constrained in their ability to exercise rights, share power and lend their voices to the institutions and processes which affect the social, economic and political environments in which they live and work.
The research will follow the ‘basic or income poverty’ approach, an important concept in easing poverty without the other concepts coming into play. It is important to measure other factors which address the multi-dimensional nature of poverty and its eradication but it is for a fact that an income will certainly help ease poverty even before other measures are addressed. 
2.3.1 Basic or Income Poverty Approach:
The basic needs approach is one of the major approaches to the measurement of absolute poverty in developing countries. Many poverty measurements use household income, adjusted for household size, to find out who is in poverty. A level is set and those who fall below this are seen as being ‘in poverty’ and those above it are not. Income is the most commonly used proxy for well-being – being apparently objective, accurately measurable and readily available – and the most commonly used measure of poverty (Kingdon, Knight).
According to Poverty and Social Exclusion (PSE), these income-based measures have many limitations. They are only an indirect indicator of poverty; they do not measure need and deprivation. They do not take into account financial resources other than income, or other financial deductions such as debt. And they don’t take into account non-income-based resources, such as the level of service provision. These limitations are the characteristics that define them from the other approaches and they also define the researches approach to the boda-boda income and how it is impacting the socioeconomic aspects of rural Bondo operators. 
According to Santos, et al rural areas still present high levels of multidimensional poverty. People living outside the cities are not only more likely to be multidimensional poor than those in urban areas but also they are prone to experience multiple deprivations at the same time. This means that someone who falls short in one dimension of well-being (for instance, education) is quite likely to fall short also in another dimension (such as dwelling characteristics. This explanation captures the correlation of all the four approaches in the measure of poverty and its alleviation.  
2.4 Relationship between Poverty and Unemployment:
According to Economic Watch (2010), unemployment and poverty are the two major challenges that are facing the world economy at present. Unemployment leads to financial crisis and reduces the overall purchasing capacity of a nation. This in turn results in poverty followed by increasing burden of debt. Now, poverty can be described in several ways. As per the World Bank definition, poverty implies a financial condition where people are unable to maintain the minimum standard of living.

Poverty can be of different types like absolute poverty and relative poverty. There may be many other classifications like urban poverty, rural poverty, primary poverty, secondary poverty and many more. Whatever be the type of poverty, the basic reason has always been lack of adequate income. Here comes the role of unemployment behind poverty. Lack of employment opportunities and the consequential income disparity bring about mass poverty in most of the developing and under developed economies of the world.
Lack of effective aggregate demand of labor could be said to be one of the principal reasons for unemployment in rural Bondo translating into a lack of finances ‘to maintain the minimum standard living’. The boda-boda sector has created a basic income employment opportunity where thousands of jobless youths are making enough money for a standard living. The research intends to find out if this income is transforming their economic and social status against the background of rural poverty.
2.4.1 Unemployment Situation:
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) (2014), almost 202 million people were unemployed in 2013 around the world, an increase of almost 5 million compared with the year before. This reflects the fact that employment is not expanding sufficiently fast to keep up with the growing labour force. The bulk of the increase in global unemployment is in East Asia and South Asia regions, which together represent more than 45 per cent of additional jobseekers, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. By contrast, Latin America added fewer than 50,000 additional unemployed to the global number or around 1 per cent of the total increase in unemployment in 2013. 
Although unemployment data in Africa are hard to come by and what is available may be unreliable, reports have it that unemployment rates averaged 12.2 percent between 1994 and 1997, 15.5 percent in 2000-2001 and 14.2 per cent in 2005-2006. Youth unemployment rates were 25.1 and 26.7 per cent in the 1994-1999 and 2000-2006 periods respectively (WDI, 2009). High unemployment rates were not limited to ‘’unskilled and uneducated’’ workers; during the 2005-2006 period, unemployment rates among secondary schools and university graduates were 27 and 11 per cent respectively (ILO, 2009). The recent financial crisis threatens to slow economic growth drastically and exacerbate the already dire employment situation in Africa (UN, 2010). 
2.5 General Employment Situation in Kenya:
Kenya’s recent poor economic performance has translated into increased poverty and the aggravation of the country’s unemployment problem. The Kenyan labour market is one that is characterized by inadequate employment opportunities against a large and growing population of unemployed people. It is dual in nature, presenting formal sector alongside the informal sector. Long term trends and dynamics of employment in Kenya show a declining number of jobs being created in the formal sector as compared to the informal sector. It is faced by a number of challenges key among them being that the country’s economy is not creating enough jobs; 743,000 new jobs were created in 2013 against almost 2 million job seekers and another over one million new entrants into the labour force. There is mismatch between education and training and labour market requirements. A large number of people entering the labour market every year have no skills at all (Kaane, 2014).
Unemployment and underemployment have been identified as Kenya’s most difficult and persistent problems. 12.7% of the working age population is unemployed. About 67% of Kenya’s unemployed are youth between 15 and 34 years of age. The highest unemployment rates are for people around 20 years old at 35%. This makes unemployment in Kenya a youth problem. It is noted that the Kenyan labour market, just like in other countries, is always in a state of flux with people leaving and changing jobs while others are joining. With regard to employment, the target for total job creation in 2008 was 425, 000. Actual employment creation was 467, 300 which was above the target by 42, 300. Out of the 467, 300 new jobs created in 2008, the bulk, 433, 500 were in the informal sector, 33, 700 were wage employees in modern establishments and 100 were self-employed (Kenya, 2010). Data from the government’s annual economic surveys show that formal sector employment growth has been on the increase but at a very slow rate. On the other hand, informal sector employment increased by 10 per cent between 1998 and 2002, 6.4 percent between 2002 and 2005, and 12.3 per cent between 2006 and 2008 (Kaane, 2014).
2.6 Poverty Alleviation in Kenya:
Unemployment has remained Kenya’s biggest hurdle in its quest to become a middle income economy. Successive governments have been unable to create enough job opportunities for university students over the years. Since independence the creation of productive and sustainable employment opportunities has remained a central policy priority of the Kenya government. A number of policy interventions have been formulated and variously implemented in that period (Omolo, 2010).
According to Uwezo Fund (2015), Kenya’s Vision 2030 aims to create a socially just and equitable society without extreme poverty and hence puts Social Equity and Poverty Reduction as one of the main development agendas. This is as a result of the existing unequal and inequitable society on many fronts. Inequity in entitlement to political, civil and human rights, and large disparities in income and access to education, health and land, as well as basic needs (clean water, adequate housing and sanitation) has been experienced since independence.
It further say that to address the inequalities, the Government has been implementing various initiatives that include raising average annual incomes, avoiding gross disparities while rewarding talent and investment risks, reducing poverty levels, implementing policies that minimize the differences in income opportunities and access to social services and increasing community empowerment through devolved public funds weighted in favour of the most disadvantaged communities.
2.6.1 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 2001-04:
The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) outlines priorities and measures necessary for poverty reduction and economic growth. It is a product of broad-based consultations undertaken in 70 districts of the country. The consultations included Sector Working Groups, Thematic Groups, public hearings and National Consultative Forums. The Paper is also informed by in-depth Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA) studies undertaken in 10 districts. The Paper therefore presents the views and aspirations of all Kenyans.
The PRSP has the twin objectives of poverty reduction and economic growth. It identifies measures geared towards improved economic performance and priority actions that will be implemented to reduce the incidence of poverty among Kenyans. Specific economic policies aimed at promoting a robust economy are outlined in a three-year macro-economic framework. Specific measures to reduce poverty are identified and set out in the implementation matrix which shows costing of each indicated policy measure, the implementing agencies, a specified time frame and indicators for monitoring expected outcomes. The Paper was developed through partnership initiatives between government, civil society, the private sector, religious organizations, women, youth, people with disabilities, and the poor and it hopes to achieve its objectives through the participation of the same players (Government of Kenya, 2011).
2.7 Transport and Socioeconomic Development:
Transport is one of the most important factor of socio-economic development of any society and for competing on the global markets thus making transport is an unalterable pre-condition for every individual household for water and fire-wood collection, marketing of agricultural and non-agricultural products, formal and informal business (Heyen-Perschon, 2006).
Evidence suggests that transport and connectivity are highly instrumental in the delivery of social welfare outcomes by increasing individual access to facilities and supporting income generation. There are studies linking connectivity with measurable poverty reduction. Transport directly benefits many poor people through employment in the sector. Connectivity also provides indirect benefits. It can improve agricultural profitability and facilitate income diversification. Reliable and affordable transport services also facilitate access to markets and basic services. Research shows that it is not merely the lack of road infrastructure which limits mobility. For women in particular, safe/secure, cheap, reliable/predictable and efficient transport services are vital in relieving the time burden of their work load and facilitating economic empowerment. 
It is important to note the employment opportunities that work operating motor-cycle-taxis has brought to hitherto unemployed young men. This is of particular significance in poor families. A growing pattern in rural areas is for motorcycle taxis to act as feeder services, linking off-road villages to other motor transport at the paved road (Porter, 2013).
According to Porter (2013), transport services have certainly impacted on poverty alleviation and growth among rural populations in diverse ways. In the first place, there are the many very poor rural people who obtain a direct income from providing transport services. Cart pushing, commercial pedestrian porter-age and similar activities [bicycle repair, minibus call boys etc.] have long been an important employment niche for some of the very poorest young men and boys. Now, they also drive motorcycle taxis for employers, usually on some form of hire basis.
He goes on to say that regular, reliable transport services also provide a key de-isolating function, helping to change perceptions of rural life and thus improving service quality. They not only enable access to services for the rural residents per se who need them, but also encourage and enable key service personnel [teachers, health workers and extension agents, among others] who are so often determinedly urban-based, to at least travel to work in rural areas on a daily basis, and thus provide regular services in rurally-located service sites.
The widespread development of motorcycle taxis system in southern Uganda is changing the mobility habits of the rural populations. The need for a reliable and effective transportation system is increasingly met by an organization of young men called boda-boda (Gian, 2014). 
Gian (2014) further argues that the transportation system is, generally only a tool for enhancing the already established socio economic activities. It must be noticed, however, that during the years the development of the boda-boda transportation systems allowed rural and remote population to get in contact with a broader social and economic network and, more importantly, it is reasonable to assume that in the future it will allow those populations to have access to a larger amount of information. His research shows how the service is utilized as a fundamental tool for improving social interaction which is a key element of the welfare shared in the area.
Transport, whether informally provided, can still play a big role in the creation of wealth in rural areas or slums. It can be argued that this form of livelihood is socially productive. It is the market place which decides so that if enough customers are willing to pay enough for self-employed operators, such as the boda-boda operators, then society as a whole gets much better than before. It just needs proper organization like in Uganda to make it an economic source of livelihood.

3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Qualitative Research Method:
According to Key (1997), Qualitative Research is a generic term for investigative methodologies described as ethnographic, naturalistic, anthropological, field, or participant observer research. It emphasizes the importance of looking at variables in the natural setting in which they are found. Interaction between variables is important. Detailed data is gathered through open ended questions that provide direct quotations. The interviewer is an integral part of the investigation (Jacob, 1988). Its aims relate to understanding some aspects of social life with its method generating words rather than numbers as data for analysis. With it, the research will try to understand experiences and attitudes.
In it, the human person will be the primary collection instrument as it seek to understand their interpretation of the phenomenon. Data collected are the perception of the people in the research environment as investigations are con-ducted under natural conditions. The research, thus, hopes to produce more in-depth and comprehensive information as it seeks a wide understanding of the entire situation. 
3.2 Data Collection Method:
The research combined questionnaire, interview (notes and audio recording) and limited observation methods of data collection. Recording was done with interviewee’s permission. Tape recording is more accurate than taking notes only though notes are equally important in the case of tape malfunction and to check if all questions had been answered. The tape also came in handy because of language barrier as some household participants were not conversant in English or Kiswahili. Later, an interpreter was engaged to decode the information. The research has no intention of collecting too much data due to unforeseeable constraints. A Semi-structured interview was conducted. Some questions were prearranged to allow for spontaneity and more questions to develop during the interview .For the questionnaires, closed and open-ended questions were used. Closed questionnaires were for fixed facts or time factor while the open-ended questionnaires were for a variety of ideas and feelings. Closed questionnaires were easy to quantify compared to open-ended questionnaires. General information such as age, tribe, sex, education, marital status among others were asked. Apart from the financial institution questionnaires, I made sure that they were all completed and handed back. Three sets of questionnaires were used for data collection each for the boda-boda operators, boda-boda service users and county government authorities. A fourth questionnaire meant for the financial institutions that the operators borrowed from and banked with were not used neither was an interview successful the reason being that both would go against the banking ethic, and especially that of bank-customer confidentiality.
 3.2.1 Participant’s Consent:
According to Silverman (2013), central to most ethical guidelines is the idea of informed consent. A straightforward statement of this idea is provided by Ryen who says Informed consent…means that the research subjects have the right to know that they are being researched, the right to be informed about the nature of the research and the right to withdraw at any time… In general, deception is only acceptable if discomfort is believed to vanish by itself or removed by a debriefing process after the study (2013: 97). In that context, and according to Silver-man (2013: 98), information about the research, making sure that the subject understood the information and that the participation was voluntary were adhered to by the researcher. The chairpersons of the boda-boda associations were first approached. They later consulted with the operators under their associations and explained the intention and nature of research work. Consent was granted, arrangements were made and the process carried out. The same applied with household and government officials interviews. I also had an opportunity of talking to the market people. This was random and I got both positive and negative responses about the boda-boda sector. Boda-boda operators below the age of 18 years were not included in data collection because this research paper consider them as underage and, therefore, an act of child labour.
3.3 Sampling Technique: 
It is simply the selection or making of a sample. The online Free Dictionary describes it as the selection of a group of people, events, behaviors, or other elements that are representative of the population being studied in order to derive conclusions about the entire population from a limited number of observations. Purposive and snowballing sampling methods were used. Snowballing was used for locating information-rich household cases that have directly benefited from the boda-boda business. Key names mentioned repeatedly by boda-boda association officials, operators and service users to some extend were contacted for face to face interview. Interviewing ended when new information wasn’t forthcoming. Purposive sampling was used to pick a sample of boda-boda operators and service users. It helped to provide the best information to achieve the objectives of research. The officials of the boda-boda associations were approached who in turn spoke to members of the association and came up with operators suitable for data collection. The operators in turn helped target service users who would provide the best information for research objectives which was to describe the economic and social impacts of the boda-boda phenomenon. Out of the operators and users presented, every second person was picked for interview.  It was meant for adding credibility to the sample because the boda-boda sample was too large to handle. Its advantage to the research was that it uses small sample sizes, making research goal credible not general. Two things were considered in selecting sampling techniques namely saturation in household interviews and a representation of the diversity within target population.
3.4 Sample Size:
My data collection was carried out in Nyang’oma sub-location of Sakwa location, Bondo Constituency in Siaya County. Motorcycle owners were the basic unit of observation. Out of Snowballing, 8 households with an average four occupants were interviewed. Also 12 rural and peri-urban boda-boda operators, 10 boda-boda service users were provided with respective questionnaires and 2 public officers including 1 traffic police inspector and 1 youth development fund officer were interviewed. 2 boda-boda operators, 2 service users did not satisfactorily complete their questionnaires while two local branches of financial institutions did accept a request for to either complete a questionnaire nor a take an interview. One boda-boda organization completed a questionnaire and her office bearers were also interviewed. I also had an open talk with the operators and household members especially their spouses and people in the market place about their experiences of the boda-boda business.
3.5 Data collection:
Data collection took place between 14th December 2013 and 6th January 2014. It was collected from primary sources. Secondary data sources were not part of this research study. As explained earlier, primary data was obtained through questionnaire administration, interview guides, and observation. Interviews by questionnaire administration were carried out through field visits of the study area during which motorcyclists, service users and boda-boda associations completed them. Structured questionnaires were used during interviews with operators’ households and the public officers’ where an answer led to the next question but within context of data required. Household members were either interviewed early morning or late evening and the public office was interviewed during office hour. This made it possible for the household members to be interviewed as one unit.
The data gathering exercise was made possible through the use of unstructured structured questionnaires. Three kinds of questionnaires were produced and used for different sector players. Besides questions related to specifically capture data relating to the boda-boda sector, all three captured the general information of the respondents. The questionnaire for the operators had 40 questions divided into four sections. The questionnaire for service users had 34 questions divided into four sections, and finally the questionnaire for boda-boda associations had 28 questions divided into three sections.
3.6 Data Analysis:
It included data analysis from the completed questionnaires, audiotapes and from observation. There was also a general interactive talk with the research population. Throughout the process, the most was done to provide honest and accurate analysis from the data collected.
Thematic analysis method of data analysis was applied. According to the University of Auckland, thematic analysis purposes to identify patterns of meaning across a dataset that provide an answer to the research question being addressed. Patterns are identified through a rigorous process of data familiarization, data coding, and theme development and revision. Guest et al (2012) adds that it focus on identifying and describing both implicit and explicit ideas within the data, that is, themes. Generally speaking, reliability is of greater concern with thematic analysis than with word-based analyses because more interpretation goes into defining the data items (i.e. codes) as well as applying the codes to chunks of text. It is the participants’ perceptions, feelings, and lived experiences that are paramount and that are the object of the findings of this study. 
The normal process of editing data, identifying themes and coding the themes was used. Editing data mainly included going through data to make sure it made sense against the questions asked. Little errors were visible but not warranting corrections though a question or two were not fully completed. For example, instead of explaining an answers, some respondents were too brief with their answers giving little insight into the question asked.  Major emerging themes were identified from responses of interviews and observatory notes from the field of research. Coded data was analyzed manually because the sample was small and with a few variables. 
3.7 Research Challenges:
3.7.1 Time constraints:
It limited data collection. It meant that a small sample was selected and data quickly analyzed. 
3.7.2 Financial Constraints: 
The research is academic. It is part of my degree course and as a student, I had to fly over 7,000 kilometers to collect data. It also limited material needed for research work limiting it to a small sample. 
3.7.3 Data Transcription:
Another challenge was the time a transcription of the tape recording consumes. There was also too much data from the three unstructured interviews. Manually coding data was time consuming, at times confusing making progress slow and frustrating.
3.7.4 Data Collection:
I intended and prepared to collect data from five sources. That was not possible because the financial institutions did not participate due to the nature of business. They cited bank-client confidentiality. This meant that I had to get a written permission from the clients in order for them to avail information I was seeking.
4. RESEARCH FINDINGS:
No data was collected from operators who had been in the business for less than six months. However, operators who had taken a break from the business for whatever reasons but had been back for less than six months were involved in the study. Any public officer from the government who had been in Bondo for less than six months were also no recruited for the interviews. Findings were discussed and drawn under Youth, Household and the larger Community.
According to the findings, 99.8 percent of boda-boda operators are male for rea-sons ranging from cultural issues to physical demands of the business. Culture restrict women from taking up specific jobs but also the physical demands caused by distance covered, road conditions and safety went into restricting the percentage of women operators. The approximate 0.2 percent women operators were those that from the peri-urban part of the constituency or closer to home and clients included people personally known to them and mostly women. Unlike men, the women operated short distances most of which were under 2 kilometers.
The age of operators ranged between 18 years and 40 years but the average age was 25 years. Majority of operators were youths because it was their primary source of income unlike the older operators who were supplementing in-come from other sources. The exercise also found that most of the youths did not own the motorcycles but were employed by motorcycle owners either on a daily, weekly, monthly or permanent contract. Most of the permanent contracts were given to family members or persons with long term ties for not only for security reasons but to also help them in getting started in life. These work contracts are not written down but are verbal and based on a gentleman’s agreement meaning each person in the sector is known to another. During the household interviews, the research found out that there were multiple operators in one household whereby there were more than one motorcycle and operators respectively. There was also another household compound where the business had four motorcycles operated by brothers whereby a part of the income were divided up and another part saved or re-invested.
60 percent of the respondents were married and approximately 45 percent have children. Children ranged between 1 and 6 per family. 2 families were polygamous with two wives each. 80 percent of their spouses were housewives but managed small scale farming and small scale businesses. 20 percent were in direct employment. Most of these businesses were rental houses, public bars and pubs, market place businesses selling vegetables, piped water, fuel, fish, beauty salons, culinary hotels and retail shops. Most of these businesses were started or expanded with income from the motorcycle business.
80 percent of the operators managed primary education, 30 managed secondary education while the other 10 percent have no education at all. 60 percent of the sample spoke two languages, the local dialect Luo and the national language, Kiswahili. The other 40 percentage spoke Luo, Kiswahili and English. A lack of language skills tends to limit their customer base because it limits negotiations and instructions. Those who speak all three languages are better placed to attract more customers as they are also referred by service users. A personal client relationship is created between operators and service users to the levels of sharing phone numbers whereby operators can dialed anytime for immediate or reserved services. All day hire services are also available.
4.1 Economic Impact:
These are effects of the levels of economic activities in a given area. Value added will also be considered as an economic gain. It will record findings at individual, household and community levels.
4.1.1 Employment.
It can be defined as the state of having paid work whereby the satisfaction received or derived in this case-boda-boda-is making money. This money is an income to the recipient and also a national income in taxes, duties and levies.
Youth Employment:
The data collected confirms that the phenomenon has created direct jobs to jobless youths considering that the average age of participants is 25 years. That the job does not require an education has opened it up for the energetic and ambitious youths who would otherwise spend most of their time idling. It also does not necessarily need a startup capital to get into the business. There are those that own motorcycles and but for those who cannot afford one, there are those that lease them out to operators at a daily fee. Established boda-boda associations are also leasing out motorcycles to interested operators. The only requirement is for someone to have a national identity card proving one is over 18 years old and a certificate of good conduct from the police. For those who want to be members of an association, a bank account with a financial institution and 3 months as an operator are also required. One must also register as a member of the boda-boda association which is completed with a membership fee, an agreed deduction or contribution on a daily, weekly or monthly basis which goes into the organization’s Sacco or bank accounts. Other associations do not take deductions but encourage members to save with a financial institution of choice. 
Household Employment:
I’ll call it the spillover of the boda-boda income. Its finances have been used to diversify and expand on other sources of income. It has been used to open small-scale businesses which are ran by household members. In two instances, the families invested in more motorcycles from financial loan facility generated by savings from the sector. Small-scale or market businesses include beauty salons, retail shops, food kiosks, vegetable vending, spare part shops among others. One family invested in selling piped water after making a connection from the main water supply line. Asked how he came up with the noble idea, he replied that ‘’water has been a problem in the region and an official of the water department not only suggested but helped me with the process. I sell 5 litres of water at 2.50 shillings, which is affordable to household members and yes, I am making a good profit margin even to employ a tap attendant’’. After paying his water bill and the tap attendant, the balance goes to his savings as he looks into growing his investment.
Community Employment:
The boda-boda association has also brought employment in the community trough office bearers and lending out motorcycles. The water vendor above has brought employment in the community and piped water within the reach of many. The small-scale businesses such as the beauty salons and retail shops have brought employment in the community. Apart from employing directly, boda-boda sector is also employing indirectly. As the sector expands, gets more organized and profitable, the community gains and grows. It is as little as selling doughnuts to an operator who is waiting for the next customer to a cold drink to a customer waiting for service. I call it growing a community brick by brick.
4.1.2 Financial Stability.
Among the Youth:
Gainful employment equals financial stability. In this context, it does not mean becoming rich or wealthy but the ability to live within their means. The returns from the boda-boda sector are favourable and that is why the sector is growing exponentially. That is why financial institutions are encouraging the operators to bank with them. That is why micro-finance institutions are extending loan services to the operators. That is why some are able to further their education as others diversify their income using funds from the business. The youth are focused enough to re-invest it elsewhere for long-term financial security as no one wants to remain in the trade for many years. On a good day, earnings have been reported of up to 1,500 shillings (15 euros) per day. One thing that data captured in this area of financial empowerment is that operators still lack in financial management skills and are therefore unable to manage their in-comes/wages in ways that would help them in the long term. It is instead wasted unnecessarily with the mentality that they’ll create more tomorrow. The boda-boda associations and the financial institutions banking their money are helping them in financial management and investment skills. There is also table banking right in the village where the operators make a little contribution for saving and investment.
Among the Households:
It has been said elsewhere that the household has the power to influence the overall economy due to its size and significant exposure to the financial sector. Like a corporate sector, the household is a real sector in the economy acting as a surplus and a deficit sector. This means that households play a role in financial stability. Its stability translates to the stability and growth of an economy be it local or national. No doubt that a healthy financial situation of a household reflects on the surrounding community. At a glance, you can tell the socioeconomic status of a household by how its community looks. Better and bigger houses made of iron sheet roofing and cemented walls are becoming common. A variety of fresh foodstuff can be found in the village market. Mobile phones have become the norm especially because operators have personalized their operations via phone calls. It can be concluded that many households have a good financial cushion to face shocks from droughts or poor harvests. A husband and a father of three said during an interview and I quote, ‘I am no longer worried about what my family will eat when I stay out late. My wife has enough petty cash on her and credit facilities in the market are available to us because the traders know that we are capable of paying up.’’ It is such confidence that arises out of household financial stability. Still, a few women complained that their husbands and mostly bread winners are not open about their incomes status and do not fully include them in financial management but they are happy when needs are met.
In the Community:
Individual and household financial health translates into a community’s financial stability. A robust village economy benefits not only the direct players but those within it. A robust economy means direct or indirect opportunities for others. One trader in the market centre has opened a phone recharging shop and gets business from operators and other mobile service users. He saw the opportunity in the lack of household electricity as many cannot afford the cost of connection. The small-scale businesses, piped water, private school education among others are a testimony to a financial stability. Can be said that the productivity of the community is growing or stable when new jobs are available, new market businesses are opening up but it does not mean that there are no struggling households, even those that are benefiting from the sector are still categorized as low-income though their general economic conditions has improved tremendously.
4.1.3 Savings.
A standard definition is the money that one has saved through a bank or an official scheme. Thesaurus defines it as a provision for future. It is part of an income that is not spent. There are many methods of saving but we will speak of deposit accounts. 
Youth Savings:
Data indicate that savings have grown among operators and especially the youth who never had accounts before. Sacco societies and banking institutions have gone a long way in helping operators understand and utilize this culture thus saving and growing, even investing their little money. This encourage saving because the more you have, the higher the loan facility. Operators can also use their savings to acquire loans at minimal interest rates. The Sacco or micro-finance banks offer pocket friendly interest rates and in other situations no security in the form of assets is required. In other instances, boda-boda organizations have acted as security for their members. Those who do not bank with registered financial institutions for one reason or another still bank their money in orthodox ways. There is also ‘table banking’ and ‘merry-go-round’ systems of saving. With table banking, everyone gives their contributions to a trusted member who then records and keeps it. Members can get small loans or advances which are paid back with interest. These interests are further used to grow loans. In other situations, they choose an investments which they run jointly. In ‘merry-go-round’ members collect an agreed amount of money from everyone after a certain period of time. This collection is given to one member to one member of the group. The collection continues in that way on every collection day until everyone has received a contribution. That way, people have enough money to meet a need or get started in business.
According to the operators, the dark side of Sacco and bank loans is when a borrower fails to meet the repayment requirement, property is always attached to redeem the loan leaving them without tools of business. 
Households Savings:
This saving involves reducing expenditure. An amount is agreed upon so that what is left after this deduction is what’s consumed. The locals call it ‘tightening your waist belt to fit your pants’. The same saving is later invested to grow the household income. Still, in case of an emergency, the saving become handy. According to the data collected, household savings is not only in cash but asset form. One family man told the interview that these assets have been sold or given out as security in exchange for cash when conditions demanded. Out of the households interviewed, only three had a joint account. Men generally take care of the purse. A boda-boda business family of brothers was also interviewed. They too had a joint account with all as signatories for security reasons. After deducting the amount agreed on for saving, the balance is divided up according to each operator’s income from the day. Each also have personal savings accounts. One said that it makes it a little tight on his personal savings considering that he had a bigger family but he was happy with the arrangement. They have mechanisms of borrowing from the joint account.
4.1.4 Income Diversity.
Technically speaking, it is to engage in varied operations and in the context of this study, it is means to increase income. It generally aims at managing risks and expanding into new areas of income.
Youth Income Diversity:
Traditionally an agricultural community but with dwindling land acreage and unforeseen situations like drought, poor farming methods, low yields, unpredictable markets among others, young boda-boda operators are diversifying their source of income. Resources from boda-boda business has made this a reality whereby the youth have opened up other businesses besides operating a boda-boda. During a one by one with operators, one youth showed us a barber shop business he had started. Though without enough equipment and therefore slow, he was optimistic that it was going to pick up with time. It was the second barber shop in the market place. More talk revealed that not all new business ventures were a success and recovering from a failed project meant extra hours of hard work. Still, and according to the data, a couple of boda-boda owners are investing their income in new farming techniques on the shores of Lake Victoria. This is done in groups because it is a costly and a risky venture because many are not familiar with modern farming techniques. Small-scale irrigation and greenhouse farming is resulting in a round the year yields of vegetables which are sold locally and in Bondo town. 

Household Income Diversity:
From the household data, women are the centre of diversity. Most out-of-boda-boda businesses are owned by them. From beauty salons to retail shops and food kiosk, women are seen as the branch of boda-boda operators. To shore up on income and keep them busy, the operators are opening up varied businesses for their spouses. It has given women some level of independence and a voice in the household income turning them into visible actors and important players. An operator’s wife concluded a household interview by saying and I quote, ‘’I can look forward to the day knowing that I have a major responsibility in the financial affair of my house. That my husband has delegated part of the family investments makes me feel an important and productive family member in every sense of it. I am not only a wife but a business partner.’’
Community Income Diversity:
New and previously unknown businesses have been opened in the community. Initially businesses were either in or tied to farming and fishing products, the traditional source of income. But with a little money to invest for better financial returns and to address the risks that come with traditional sources of income, many operators are setting up businesses which are in turn creating an income generating employment for others. Most players in the sector concluded that ‘’our community is growing in ways we’ve never seen before thanks to boda-boda.’’ 
4.1.5 Cost of Living.
The cost of transport, cost of food, cost of education, cost of leisure and the cost of information have become manageable for many operators, the households and community. This is not to say that the cost of living has gone down but they can afford today what was beyond their means yesterday. 
According to the research data, cost of movement can be said to have reduced and time management of the same improved. That fares are negotiable and can also be shared out between users has made it easy for the poor to use boda-boda services for easy movement. The cost of moving goods has also reduced due to competition and availability of transport. Round the clock services are also available as services have been personalized. You only need to dial a boda-boda operator because they live within the community making services available at all hours. 
Financial stability has made sources of information affordable. Televisions are mushrooming in households and for those that cannot afford one, entertainment and business centers have one or two on offer. Mobile phone data is affordable and network available even in the remotest regions of Bondo making information available to those that wish to have it. Better and varied diets away from the traditional staple food grace meal times resulting in better health for everyone. Medical service costs and private school education are within the reach of a few as more are working towards gaining the same social status. Families boast of three meals a day, something unheard of in the past. The national inflation rates are not improving but there is an income to match it. A wife to a polygamist operator said and I quote, ‘’compared to one year ago, I can say that we are not over the hill yet but life is far much better than it was. We will get there someday. It is now possible’’. The cost of living is much more bearable for boda-boda operators.
4.1.6 Secondary Businesses.
These are businesses that own their existence and success to the boda-boda sector. From observation and interview data, motorcycle mechanics, spare parts dealers, cleaners and fuel dealers exist due to the boda-boda sector. These, too, put money in the pockets of the rural poor and counts towards the economic improvement of rural society. Earlier, the study mentioned smaller businesses further down the chain like the woman baking and selling doughnuts to operators own their livelihood to this sector. It doesn’t seem to count for much but it is putting much needed revenue into the pocket of a rural poor. A participant described them as ‘’the ‘flies’ that buzz around landing, picking and flying away!’’
4.1.7 Government Revenue.
If and when the sector will be better organized as an economic activity, regulated and streamlined by the local government authority, it will count as a fully-fledged source of government resources. Defined, it is what the government takes or collects in taxes and other sources to finance its expenditure. The immediate beneficiary in the boda-boda sector is the county government. These collections go into its current expenditure thus improving salaries and creating more jobs, improving infrastructure, healthcare, and education among others. These are collected from registration of motorcycles, public service permit, and insurance cover among others. They also pay road levy per trip when they are using major roads. These are collected at designated points along major routes but those operating on smaller or interior routes do not pay. Other revenues come from driving schools and traffic offences fines. According to data collected from the public office, regulation of the sector would result in organized operation, better service provision and enhance revenue collection but until then, corruption is the norm. All in all, the operators are making a direct contribution to what we call building the nation.
4.2 Social Impact.
Online Business Dictionary has defined social impact as the effect of an activity on the social fabric of the community and well-being of the individuals and families. I want to believe that every effort or resource from the boda-boda business, regardless of size, contributes to the social good of individual, family and society. Keeping the youth busy and out of idleness no matter the financial returns is already a positive social impact.
4.2.1 Education.
Education for the Youth:
Data indicates that up to 60 percent operators have attained primary education and above. Those that have primary education certificates have a minimal chance of continuing with higher education unless they join secondary schools. Still, they have a chance of joining tertiary colleges which train in basic skills like driving, welding and construction at affordable rates and most of which do not exceed six months. Most that rejoin school tend to work part time so as to meet school deadlines. 
Most of the secondary education certificate holders were not in the business for the long term. Their intention is to save enough money to further their education in diploma colleges. Few make it because education is quite expensive. Others use the business to supplement whatever little they get from their sponsors. Still, others use it to fill in between school time for pocket allowances, stationaries, school uniform, and transport money. This mostly happen over weekends and during school holidays. It is not all positive in education as many youths drop out of school for lack of finances or choose not to continue to the next level because of availability of jobs in the boda-boda sector. They have seen its benefits in the form of wages and are willing to venture into it for financial gains and economic empowerment. One young operator said and I quote, ‘’what is the use of completing primary education when it will not get me gainful employment? Why don’t I use this time to gain some money and grow my life?’’ Such thinking is common despite the fact that primary education is compulsory but hard to enforce.
Education in the Family:
Data indicate that many households can now afford their children better education in private schools as opposed to public schools where education is free but poor. Children to 10 kilometers away to attend private day schools. Some have managed to join the only private primary boarding school around though this is mostly done in the final two years for better grades and a place in high school. A parent said and I quote, ’’it is still expensive and beyond us to put them in boarding school for all the academic years, so we prefer they join in their final two year of primary school education in the hope that they will attain the cut-off points for joining secondary schools.’’ Though little, they believe it is still better than public schools around. Households can also meet education requirements like books and school uniforms, even better meals before and in-between classes. Studies are possible at night because of better lighting systems.
Education in the Community:
Individual academic gains translate into community gains. The benefits of education are shared by all. Education as a cultural institution can be used to perpetuate values of a community. It is an empowering process that allows for a holistic development of a society even though attained individually. Its main aim in Kenya is to produce employable citizens hence the saying that if you educate one, you have educated a whole community. The income from the boda-boda sector is helping the community attain one of the most valuable assets-an educated people-in the process improving on the socioeconomic status of a community. The numbers of educated counts but I believe that the few that have acquired a better education as a result of income from the boda-boda sector also counts for the community. 
4.2.2 Mobility.
It refers to the movement of people from place to place. According to the data, boda-boda has enhanced rural mobility whereby people and goods can move faster, further and within time. Motorcycles have the capability of reaching places that other motor vehicles could not reach. Service delivery has improved tremendously and distances has been shortened. Compared to other means of transport, they are available at all times as operators and service users are not only known to each other but share mobile phone details for dial-a-boda-boda services. Mobility has also fostered the rural-urban economy resulting in economic growth. Movements of good from the rural interiors to the urban centres has had positive effects on the rural population. Lombard (2006) sums it well when he says that motorbike taxis have provided answers to the shortage of transport supply without the need for investment from the local or national authorities. Their contribution to the daily travel of the population has come to be recognized by the local authorities.
Mobility among the Youth:
Mobility results in interaction thus strengthening their general qualities and improve their learning in a non-formal way. These young men move different kind of people who share different information and experiences and to some levels open up better opportunities for them. There is a saying among the operators and I quote, ‘’you never know whom you’ll carry tomorrow. It could be the president of Kenya and with it your chance to make things better!’ It can be said that their work also improves their employment prospects especially if you have the technical skills or the academic qualifications. I stand to be corrected but I think that this idea is based on the fact that many are in gainful employment not necessarily because of your qualifications but from the person you know. Employment through networking is common in Kenya and every opportunity counts. Still, operators interact as they go about their business, exchanging information and ideas. One operator even found a wife from a service user.

Mobility in the Community:
These operators connect the community with the outside world bringing in new ideas and ways of improving their well-being. They also take out products of the community to the market and bring back what the community needs from other markets. This has made greenhouse farming flourish as transportation of perishables like tomatoes and onions is now possible and is done in time. Mobility has thus made the community busy and on its feet. Like one operator said, ‘’we do not sleep. When I am asleep, he is working and when he is asleep, I am working.’’
One area of interest is the mobility of civil servants or locals who work in Bondo, which is 14 kilometers away. Most have stopped renting houses near their work place and prefer to commute to work because transport is available. What they do is two people share a boda-boda thus cutting on commuting costs. Compared to renting a house in Bondo town, they save more money when they commute.
Data point to the fact that mobility imports new culture and behavior and social entertainment facilities especially bars are finding their way into the community with lots of negative results. Financial capability draws all kinds of players including trading in illegal commodities. Women especially complained of moral values going down fearing for their spouses and children. Many operators have gone under due to what others called ‘a reckless lifestyle’. An operator’s wife in a polygamous marriage said and I quote, ‘’in this life, you will win some and lose some. Having a vision complete with a plan is what counts at the end of the day.’’ Her husband, and an operator, had acquired a second wife because of his better economic status. 
4.2.3 Interaction and Integration.
Poor infrastructure has affected rural human mobility for years even leading to marginalization. Data collected pointed to the fact that boda-boda mobility has increased interaction and integration of the rural community thus facilitating the development of the personal well-being of their community and increasing the quality of life. Places that seemed far and out of reach are now accessible bringing richness of diversity and a spirit of togetherness that lacked before. Boda-boda social organizations and events are common in the rural areas. Such organize cultural and sports activities in their specific areas. There is a boda-boda football team though it does not consist of boda-boda operators but common problems and goals bring them together and are tackled in such events. Ideas, information and experiences are also shared.
4.2.4 Rhythm of Life.
According to those interviewed, boda-boda business broke the cycle of a monotonous life built around fishing and farming seasons-rainy and dry seasons. All that farming rural folks used to do was sit and wait for the next planting seasons thus wasting months doing nothing. The same applied to fishing when government closed the activity for fish to replenish in the lake. Boda-boda has in turn kept them busy and also helped open up other secondary employment or trades.  The youth operators are involved in an income generating activity. Though not much, it offers them much in many aspects. Their minds are fully engaged which is a good sign of productivity. The idling, and negative activities that result from it, have gone down. Other youths do not want to be left behind as others make it in life, thus the operators are a motivation and their success stories an inspiration to the rest. Youths who have cleared high school and are waiting to join public university colleges also engaged in the business. The waiting period is over one year. One youth said and I quote, ’’the young used to sit around waiting for our parents and politicians to get us going but that is not practical anymore. We have found out that we can do something meaningful and as you can see, we are succeeding. It is not easy but it is better than idling because no one pays you from idling’’.
4.2.5 Sexual Habits.
Youth Sexual Habits:
Out of idleness, youths not only engaged in reckless sexual habits but got married early. Women moved from one marriage to another due to poverty or when abandoned. Income from boda-boda business and other boda-boda related activities has made it possible for some young families to stick together. Young men are also getting into the boda-boda business instead of marriage and those that were already married are opening up small scale businesses for their spouses thus keeping them busy and earning. With all these positives returns, all is not well as some youthful operators indulge in dangerous sexual activities due to their better financial standings. They easily and successfully use their financial resources to procure for sex sometimes with bad results such as teenage pregnancies, even diseases.
Household Sexual Habits:
Interesting enough is that as household economic situation and financial security increases, married men tend to get into polygamy. The study interviewed two polygamous households each with two wives. It used to be a sign of wealth and a good social status but polygamy does not carry such importance today. Asked why he was in a polygamous marriage, one operator said that he was making enough money and as a result had enough wealth to cater for a second wife. He also argued that culture allowed him to have a second wife. Increase does not necessarily improve but maintain the status quo. 
4.2.6 Flow of Information.
Generally speaking, it is the distribution of information to the general public. According to the data collected, dissemination of information has improved with better and frequent mobility. These could originate from the government or any agency with information for the public sector. The Ward has used the operators on several occasions to distribute information which does not need feedback. Once an international NGO used the boda-boda operators to distribute information on the distribution of free and treated mosquito nets in the fight against malaria. Information is guaranteed to reach some of the remotest regions where it would take days, financial and manpower resources to disseminate. At a little fee and proper coordination, boda-boda has been used to deliver information in time.
4.2.7 Health Issues.
The business is physically demanding to the body according to data collected. Interview with the Boda-boda Association revealed that many operators have quit due to road accidents, exhaustion from the heat of the day and the cold of the night, and dust-related diseases. Heavy loads, either of goods or human, tricky and difficult routes has not made this business not a long term employment plan. The long hours over long distance and tasking work has its negative impact on the body and the mind. Many push themselves hard to make quick money and invest it elsewhere. A common problem is backache which most if not all operators suffer from. The public safety issues generated by the motorcycle taxis are a major concern according to the users and the public authorities with the highest concern being operators without professional training. Many, including the service users, do not wear protective gears like helmets.
4.2.8 Crime.
As much as the data from the operators, users and associations all point to the fact that crime rates has gone down due to creation of employment, new kinds of crime have emerged and some old ones increased. Operators and clients are mugged especially in lonely routes and at night. According to the users, some operators abate or are involved in crimes against them. Interview with the public office revealed reports of attacks and thefts mostly from women by some operators. There were no statistics to back the public office’s claim that over a third of the motorcycles are stolen from another location and operated from a different location. Motorcycles are stolen, broken up and sold as spare parts. Policemen have become corrupt targeting boda-boda for easy money through threats or trumped up traffic offences. Every operator is expected to part with fifty shillings on a daily basis. Route cartels are also mushrooming, taking up whole routes and demanding a daily fee from operators at specific stops. This drives up service costs or operators abandon whole routes all together denying them maximum profits. 
4.3 Service Users:
The findings above have been derived from the questionnaires, interviews and observation. I have added this part of the structured interview responses to authenticate and compliment the above findings. I thought that sharing them separately is good for the study as it explains in their own words the above findings. Any further explanations in the findings are all derived from data collected as seen below.
Out of 10 questionnaires, 8 were completed and returned. In the general section of user’s questionnaire, all agreed that fishing, farming and boda-boda were the main economic activities in Bondo. On other economic activities, farming and boda-boda were overwhelmingly mentioned. All users personally knew a boda-boda operator and slightly over half had a relative in the boda-boda sector. On how the sector has benefited them, all agreed about transport availability, convenience, reliability and easy access in the movement of people and goods. One user said that it has helped him grow his retail and farm business ‘’due to availability of affordable and reliable boda-boda transport.’’ All respondents agreed that the boda-boda sector has brought development in Bondo. Developments mentioned included economic empowerment of the youth, transportation of local produce to major markets and better living conditions of rural household among others. Political empowerment was also mentioned by one of the users. Over 80 percent of respondents said they know or have heard of a boda-boda association. The rest had not heard of one. They all agreed that these associations are beneficial to the operators and gave varied reasons. One service user said that they can be used to defend their rights as hard working citizens while another said it was good for the general organization of the business. Another captured it well when he said and I quote, ‘’an association will represent their interests and concerns as an economic group that contributes to economic growth in the rural/urban areas.’’ Except for two, all the other respondents disagreed that the sector has increased insecurity in Bondo. One of those that agreed said that ‘’there have been reported cases of attacks in people’s homes by those on a boda-boda who after committing a crime easily disappear with the use of a boda-boda.’’
Asked if the sector has worsened road safety in Bondo, half of the respondents say yes with the major reason being that most of them lack in basic training on how to operate the motorcycle and on road usage especially over speeding, overloading and reckless driving.  The other half brought in a mixed result of no and neither. On boda-boda having affected family life in Bondo, all but two respondents strongly disagreed with reasons being employment and economic empowerment not only for the operators but also their families. One respondent said and I quote, ‘’boda-boda activities have to the contrary had a positive economic effect to the families of the operators in the form of enhanced income levels.’’ On if the sector has positively affected the economy of Bondo, all respondents strongly agreed that it indeed has. One user said that ‘’youths are able to be economically engaged because of boda-boda. Employment has been created to a group that was previously jobless with no income.’’ Asked whether the business has caused pupils to drop out of school and join it and if it has negatively affected education standards in Bondo, except for two, all the respondents strongly disagreed. Those that agreed gave varied reasons with one saying and I quote, ‘’poor families are not able to provide school fees for their children forcing many to join boda-boda operation.’’ Another respondent said that ‘’one does not need an education to acquire a driving license, so many see this as a shortcut to employment.’’ On if the sector has affected the education standards of Bondo, one respondent said that there is neither data nor statistics to prove that. On whether the sector has increased trade in Bondo, all respondents totally agreed. One gave an explanation and I quote, ‘’Yes, easy access to markets for agricultural and commercial goods and opening up of areas previously inaccessible.’’
On the County Affairs section of the questionnaire, all the respondents agreed that the county government was not doing enough to help small business people and boda-boda operators in Bondo. On the overall perception of the operators one respondent said that they need support from all players and mostly from the government. All also agreed that they need professional training in driving and customer care.
It can be concluded from the above response that boda-boda has positively impacted the Bondo rural population. Economic and social status has improved tremendously and still is growing. That it is all without the help of government agencies goes a long way to debunk the belief that it is only the government that can better the lives of rural populations. This has made the population stop looking to politicians for economic empowerment and development and involve self in anything little but which can better their lives. It is, thus, not surprising to see politicians joining operators in their quest to better their socioeconomic status in the rural setting.
5. CONCLUSION: Riding out of Poverty.
A shortage of public transport and gross unemployment explains the commercial use of motorcycle as taxis. The boda-boda sector no doubt represents the mobility problems facing many Africans countries but for the boda-boda operators, it has turned into a source of income where there was none. The study provide a qualitative analysis of the impact of boda-boda phenomenon on the socioeconomic aspects of life in rural Bondo. Results of study show that the boda-boda is used exclusively as a source of income for the operators and as a mean of mobility for the service users. Mobility here is the movement of people and their goods. 
Up until the emergence of the boda-boda service, isolation had been an obstacle to the development of rural Bondo. Isolation due to bad road networks which in turn resulted in lack of adequate public transport. Whatever little transport that was there was in high demand, unreliable and thus very expensive and out of the reach of a majority of the rural population creating with it isolation. Isolation, thus, became an impediment in the advancement of the rural population economically, socially and politically and in every other manner possible. This cut them from integrating and interacting with a wider network of opportunities resulting in poor socioeconomic conditions. 
The boda-boda sector does not need any technical skills making it open to all who are willing to put in a few hours of hard work. The rural population of Bondo has a low literacy rate where majority do not hold any technical skills limiting them to unscientific methods of farming and fishing, their two major occupations which are not profitable anymore. Most of those who hold high school or diploma certificates tend to move to urban areas for better job opportunities where most end up without work and into informal settlements such as slums. The immediate gains of the boda-boda sector has renewed hopes and spurred many into productive lives. It is not enough, though, to calculate human gains only on monetary terms but there is no doubt that monetary gains born out of the sector has given hundreds another chance at making something out of their lives. 
According to the data generated, primary beneficiaries of boda-boda are operators who include youths between the ages of 18-35 years. All are in it for various secondary needs but the primary need is an escape from poverty born out of acute unemployment. That it has brought economic freedom and social opportunities besides other benefits is not in doubt. 
It has been muted that human development is the result of the social structure, the individual capabilities and the opportunities that every person can enjoy among others. The opportunities that come with the boda-boda phenomenon are far and wide especially for a society that does not have steady economic activities that provide income.  The profitability of the taxi has drawn many people into the business. The returns in boda-boda investments are high thanks to individual capabilities. The business has provided many young men with a source of income without much input of the local or national governments.
The primary benefits of the boda-boda are the creation of employment and mobility out of a need for transport that the public transport system could not meet, opening up interior areas and in the process extending transport services beyond official working hours. Besides moving people, they also move goods thus enhancing small-scale businesses. 
5.1 Human Potential:
This phenomenon has realized how much human potential lies untapped due to a lack of opportunities. It is said that if you empower a woman, you have empowered a while community. Opportunities and not a lack of capabilities is what many people lack. Given a chance in such situations, immediate profits is what direct the effort of human beings.  This has spread into other areas of profiteering involving more people into the benefits of boda-boda. With proper organization of the sector, benefits are abundance to those that have made it their source of employment. It has brought out how much potential we have within us that is laid to waste due to a lack of opportunities.
5.2 Standard of Living:
The degree of wealth and material comfort has increased for individuals and the community in general. Goods, services and luxuries available to the rural population is better. There is no doubt that needs and wants which could not be met before are now within reach of many individuals and households that was not there before. This has changed the levels of poverty in rural Bondo.
5.3 Quality of life:
It is generally speaking the well-being of individuals or society. It cannot go without mentioning that quality of life has been enhanced for a majority of boda-boda operators. The standards of health, comfort and happiness experienced by individuals and households has improved. There is a general satisfaction among those who participated in the research that the sector has improved their quality of life.
5.4 An Immediate Need:
From the research outcome, we can quantify that the immediate need of the research community was an income. Most did not have it or whatever it was they were involved in did not earn them enough. Boda-boda changed this state for most of them. This goes for poverty too. Its presence in rural Kenya is obvious. It has been measured and quantified without tackling it at the meso-level. What is needed is something to eradicate its causes, which include widespread unemployment, and efforts to alleviate its effects need to be addressed. There is no another way of addressing poverty except directly. There are indeed no easy answers but sitting back and hoping that entrepreneurship will eradicate it among the youth is a pipe dream. Causes of poverty such as inequality need to be addressed effectively and steps to achieving inclusiveness taken. That is what should be next in line and thus need to be addressed immediately, not poverty eradication programmes which have failed to address poverty since independence.
5.5 Integration and interaction:
Mobility has resulted into two outcomes namely social integration among the community and interaction between the rural and urban economy, both opening up the community to economic and social possibilities. Interaction increases cohesiveness and there is always strength in diversity and numbers which could be used to influence national issues to the benefit of the community. Integration also overcomes segregation and enhances equality in the community thus building an unrestricted and equal society. The rural-urban economic interaction enhances economic growth and employment leading to a reduction of poverty. 
The importance of boda-boda in enhancing the life of Bondo rural population and its implications in their development process has been established with the help of this research paper. Though the research was small, it managed to capture and explain the effects or impact of the business on the livelihood of the operators and the community. The efficiency and effectiveness of boda-boda mobility has not only improved interlinkages but has increased opportunities for the rural area. 
The socioeconomic status of rural Bondo has definitely improved as a result of the boda-boda business. Individuals and households have improved in their social and economic status through efforts and opportunities borne out the boda-boda phenomenon. That they can work at determining how their future should be is a testimony of what people can do given an opportunity, a conducive environment and tools of production. 
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Millennium Project, 2006. United Nations Development Group. MDGs, What they are. Accessed 16th January 2015. http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/.
National Geographic, 2005. Kenya Facts. Accessed 16th December 2014. http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/kenya-facts/
Nyachieo Gladys Moraa M., 2013. Creating employment Through Transport; The Youth and Motorcycle (Bodaboda) in Kitengela and Kajiado County-Kenya. Research Journal In Psychology and Educational Studies 2 (4) 154-157, Emerging Academic Resources (2013). Accessed 10th January 2015. http://rjopes.emergingresource.org/articles/CREATING%20EMPLOYMENT.pdf
Omolo Jacob, 2010. Institute of Economic Affairs 2010. The Dynamics and Trends of Unemployment in Kenya. Accessed 14th January 2015. http://www.ku.ac.ke/schools/economics/images/stories/research/the-dynamics-and-trends-of-employment-in-kenya.pdf
Poverty and Social Exclusion (PSE), 2010. Income Threshold Approach. Accessed 17th March 2015. http://www.poverty.ac.uk/definitions-poverty/income-threshold-approach
Porter Gina, 2013. Transport Services and their Impact on Poverty and Growth in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa. Accessed 26th December 2014. http://dro.dur.ac.uk/14126/1/14126.pdf?DDD5+dan1rep+d700tmt+dan1rep.
Pouw Nicky, 2000. The Characterization and Monitoring of Poverty: Small Holders Farmers in Rural Uganda. Accessed 8th February 2015. https://books.google.fi/books?id=cYDRDz9ObEoC&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=P+CARNEY+THE+CONCEPT+OF+POVERTY&source=bl&ots=eF39sGo1AF&sig=7nEK0z3EB7WOhv5uCTUjj9cJTtc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=AzPXVPKUFqPkyAOUh4Ew&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=P%20CARNEY%20THE%20CONCEPT%20OF%20POVERTY&f=false
Saunders, P. 2002 Pg. 12, 25. The Direct and Indirect Effects of Unemployment on Poverty and Equality. Published by Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Australia. Accessed 14th March 2015. https://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/media/SPRCFile/DP118.pdf
Silverman, David, 2013. Interpreting Qualitative Data. Sage Publications
The Free Dictionary. Sampling. Accessed 17th March 2015. http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/purposive+sampling
The European Anti-poverty Network, 2015. What is Poverty? Accessed 18th February 2015. http://www.eapn.eu/en/what-is-poverty/how-is-poverty-measured
The World Bank, 2014. Poverty. Poverty Overview. Accessed 24th February 2015. http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview
UN-HABITAT, 2008. Lake Victoria Region Water and Sanitation Programme, Appraisal Report, Bondo Town. Accessed 26th December 2014.  http://mirror.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/7362_5441_Bondo%20appraisal%20report%20July%202008%20_6%20Aug_.pdf
United Nations Organization, 2010. Economic Report on Africa 2010. Promoting High Level Sustainable Growth to Reduce Unemployment in Africa. Accessed 23rd December 2014. https://books.google.fi/books?id=z0h6r4FdQu0C&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=employment+situation+in+africa&source=bl&ots=uzPmdF-9Ew&sig=InShlbUw tP4Vtnb3QczXtj2Xuw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ql3LVKSMKMG4ygOMu4DADg&ved=0CFkQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=employment%20situation%20in%20africa&f=false
UNDP International Poverty Centre, 2006. Pg. 10, 11. Poverty in Focus Accessed 8th February 2015. http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCPovertyInFocus9.pdf
Uwezo Oversight Board, 2015. About Uwezo Fund. Accessed 9th February 2015. http://uwezo.go.ke/about-uwezo-fund
World Health Organization. Trade, foreign policy, diplomacy and health. Globalization. Accessed 16TH December 2014. http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story043/en/
Wong Shing Yip, 2012. Understanding Poverty: Comparing Basic Needs Approach and Capability Approach. Accessed 8th February 2015. file:///C:/Users/Tom%20O/Downloads/SSRN-id2066179.pdf
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APPENDICES 
Appendices 1 : Questionnaire for boda-boda associations.
INTRODUCTION AND CONSENT
We are currently conducting an impact assessment survey on the Boda-boda industry. This questionnaire is meant to obtain your opinions on the impact of your organization to the growth of this industry. Whatever information you may provide us with will be kept strictly confidential and will not be shared with anyone other than for the purposes of this survey. You are free to ask any question regarding this survey and not to respond to any question you feel uncomfortable with. The interview will take approximately 30 Minutes to complete and your participation is voluntary. We hope you will participate in this survey since your views are very important. 
Would you like to participate in this survey?
YES . . . 1 [Thank Respondent and Continue]        
 NO . . . 2 [Thank Respondent and Terminate]
INSTITUTION:	
Interviewer’s Name:
Date:       /       /2013
DESIGNATION:
Respondent’s name 
Respondent’s Contacts: Tel:                                                   
A. MEMBERSHIP
1. How old is your association?
(  ) 0-6 months
(  ) 7-12 month
(  ) 1 yr-3 yrs
(  ) 3 yrs-5 yrs.
More than 5 yrs.	
2. What are the criteria used to join and be a member of your association?
……………………………………………………………………………………..
3. How many members do you have in your association?
(  ) 0-25 
(  ) 26-50
(  ) 51-75
(  ) 76-100
Other (specify) ………………………………………..
4. What are the objectives of your association?
5. On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is very dissatisfied and 10 is very satisfied, to what extent are you satisfied that the objectives of your association have been achieved?
Very dissatisfied. Dissatisfied. Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied. Satisfied. Very satisfied   
    1           2           3           4           5          6          7          8           9         10
6. Please give reasons for satisfaction/dissatisfaction rating
…………………………………………………………………………………………
7. Are there rules that your members have to adhere to in order to remain in your association?		YES		1
			NO		2
8. If YES, please mention some
9. What happens to those members who do not adhere to these rules?
B. LOAN FACILITATION AND TRAINING
10. Do you provide your members with the following facilities?
ACTIVITY	RESPONSE
Capacity building ie. (Training and empowerment of members)	YES	NO
Provision of credit facilities	        	                    YES	 NO
11. Please give reasons for your answers.
Activity: …………………………………………..	Reasons: …………………… 
Capacity building: ……………………………..	
Provision of credit facilities: …………………………………………………………
12. Do you have a formal process used to define and identify those that can get loans with the association?	
Yes                                     1		No                                      2                                                                
13. What do your members take out loans for?
(  ) Expansion of current business
(  ) Venture into a new business
(  ) Payment of school fees
(  ) Buying land
(  ) Payment of rent
(  ) Hospital bills
Other (specify) : …………………………………….
14. On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is very inadequate and 10 is very adequate, how adequate do you find the criteria you use to define and identify the   members to disburse the funds to?
Very inadequate. Inadequate. Neither inadequate nor adequate. Adequate. Very adequate  
1         2	   3        4	 5             6	            7	           8	          9   	      10
15. Please give reasons for your answer?
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
16. What impact do you think the loans have had on the members you lend to?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
17. Are the members paying back their loans on time?  
YES                1			 NO	               2
18. If NO, please tell us why?
19. What happens to those members who do not adhere to these rules?
20. What sort of trainings have your members benefitted from courtesy of the association?
(List)
21. Very inadequate Inadequate Neither inadequate nor adequate Adequate   Very  adequate  
1     2    3	  4             5	              6	            7	         8	         9	      10
On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is very inadequate and 10 is very adequate, how you would rate the benefits the training has had on your members
22. Please give a reason for your answer
…………………………………………………………………………………………
C. COMMUNITY STRENGTHENING AND DEVELOPMENT
23. As a stakeholder in the Boda-boda industry, do you feel that the industry has directly benefitted the community?	
YES                        1 			  NO	            2
24. Please give a reason for your answer
25. What impact has your association had on the following issues within your community?
ISSUE					IMPACT
Crime 	
Underage boda-boda operators	
Infection of diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB and other venereal diseases
Stability of family	
Economic empowerment of the community
Employment levels 	
26. Have you received any form of support from any government organ or any external institution?	
Yes 			1  No 	    		2
27. If YES, please tell us its name and the assistance you received
NAME	
ASSISTANCE
28. If you’ve not received any support, please tell us what sort of support your organization would find beneficial and from whom?
……………………………………………………………………………………………

THANK THE RESPONDENT AND END INTERVIEW

Appendices 2.  Questionnaire for boda-boda operators.
We are currently conducting a small survey on Boda-boda operations in Bondo Constituency for a school project. This questionnaire is meant to obtain your opinions on the industry as an operator. Whatever information you may provide us with will be kept strictly confidential and will not be shared other than for the purposes of this survey. You are free to ask any question regarding this survey and not to respond to any question you feel uncomfortable with. The interview will take approximately 30 Minutes to complete and your participation is fully voluntary. We hope you will take time to participate in this survey since your views are very important.  
Would you like to participate in this survey?
YES .1 [Thank Respondent and Continue]     NO.2 [Thank Respondent and Terminate]
SCREENER
S1	Are you a Boda-boda operator?	
NO 	1 [Terminate]		YES	2 [Continue]
Region: 		County: 		Respondent Name: 
Constituency: 	Ward:		Respondent Contact:
     		DEMOGRAPHICS	
Gender		Age			Tribe
1 Male 
2 Female 
	
Setting
 1. Urban                         		   2.  Rural	
Level of Education 	Marital Status	Religion	No. of children
1.  Primary		1.Single 
2.  Secondary	2.Married 
3.  College		4. Divorced/ Separated 
4.  University	5. Widowed
5.  Post graduate
6.  None	 
A.GENERAL INFORMATION
1. How long have you been a Boda-boda Operator?
1-2years			 1
3-4years			 2
5-7years			 3
8+ years 			4
2. Is this your main of livelihood?	
Yes 		1		No	 2
3. Are you the breadwinner in your home?	
Yes 	1			No 	2	
4. If NO then who is?	
( ) My husband 			1
( ) My wife				2
( ) My father 			3
( ) My mother			4
( ) My sibling			5
( ) My children			6
( ) Other (specify) 			7
………………………………………………………………………………..
5. If NO, please tell us what your alternative sources of income are?
……………………………………………………………………………….
6. How many dependents do you have? (Immediate family, extended family and others)
		B.OPERATIONS
7. Do you own or hire your bicycle?	
Own	1(skip to Qs.8)		Hire 	2
8. If you are hiring, how much do you hire it for in a day/month? (Skip to Qs.11)
9. If owned did you buy it new or pre owned?	
New 		1		Pre-Owned		2
10. How much did you buy it for?
Amount………………..KSHs
11. Was it a cash or credit transaction?	
Cash	1		Credit	2(skip to Qs.11)
12. If CASH, where did you acquire it from?	
( ) Savings 			1
( ) Loan 			2
( ) Gift 			3
( ) Other (specify) 		4
13. If CREDIT, have you cleared your debt or are you still paying for it?
Fully paid 			1
Still repaying		2
14. Where do you operate your business from?	
( ) From the stage 		1
(  ) From the mall 		2
(  ) From the market		3
(  ) On the highway 		4
(  ) Town Centre 		5
(  ) Other (specify) 		6
15. Which day of the week do you receive the most clients/customers?
(  ) Monday 			
(  ) Tuesday 			
(  ) Wednesday			
(  ) Thursday 			
(  ) Friday 			
(  ) Saturday			
(  ) Sunday 				
16. Please give reasons why?
17. Which gender are your most frequent clients	
(  ) Male 			
(  ) Female			
18. What sort of business do they do?	
(  ) Employed 			
(  ) Business men/women 		
(  ) Market traders		 
(  ) Students 			
(  ) Others (specify) 		
19. How many times a week do you do Boda-boda work?	
(  ) 1-3 times a week 		
(  ) 4-6 times a week 		
(  ) 7 times a week		
20. How many hours do you operate in a day?	
(  ) 0-3hrs			 
(  ) 4-6hrs			 
(  ) 7-9hrs 			
(  ) More than 10hrs		 	
21. On average, how much money do you make in a day?	
(  ) <90kshs 			
(  ) 100>290kshs		 
(  ) 300>490kshs		 
(  ) 500kshs>			
22. Do you save any of your earnings?	
Yes 	1			No 	2
23. If YES, approximately what percentage/proportion of your income do you save? (Record in percentage)	
………………….%
24. If No please state why?
25. For what purpose do you save?
(  ) For emergency 
(  ) To invest 
(  ) For family needs/use 
(  ) For special events 
(  ) Other (Specify) 
26. Where do you keep your savings	?
(  ) Post office			 
(  ) Bank 			
(  ) SACCO			 
(  ) Informal group lending 		
(  ) At home			 
(  ) Other (specify)		
27. If in a non-financial institution, please give reasons?
C.REPRESENTATIVE ASSOCIATION
28. Are you a member of any boda-boda association?
Yes 			1
No 			2 (skip to Qs.30)
29. If YES please state why?
30. If NO please state why? 
31. What is the name of the association that you belong to?
32. Are the officials also operators?	
(  ) Yes 		
(  ) No 		
(  ) Don’t Know		
33. How does one become an official in the organization?	
(  ) Elected 
(  ) Appointed 
(  ) Other (specify) 
34. What are the requirements to join this organization?
35. Are there any benefits you gain from being a member?	
YES	 1			NO	2
36. If YES, please state them
……………………………………………………………………………
D.COMMUNITY STRENGTHENING AND DEVELOPMENT
37. As a stakeholder in the Boda-boda business, do you think it has benefitted the people in this community or not?		
Yes		 1
No 		2
Don’t know		3
38. Please give reasons why?
39. What effect do you think the Boda-boda business has had on the following?
TYPE				EFFECT
Crime levels in your community	
School attendance of those below 18 years
Infection levels of diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB and other venereal diseases
40. Please answer the questions in the table truthfully and honestly
ISSUE		YES		NO	DON’T KNOW
1.	My exposure to HIV/AIDS and other venereal diseases has gone up	
2.	I am prone to chest pains and other pneumatic illness since I came into the business………………..			
3.	I am able to take care of my family and there basic needs well……………
4.	The business has increased employment levels in Bondo constituency	…………………………………			
5.	Access to rural and remote areas has become easier………………		
6.	Families have been broken because of infidelities due to boda-boda operators/operations………………………..			
7.	Accidents have increased on the road due to reckless driving of the operators…………………..
			
Thank Respondent and End Interview.

Appendices 3. Questionnaire for service user
INTRODUCTION AND CONSENT
Good morning/ afternoon? My name is ………………… and I am currently conducting a survey on the boda-boda industry in Bondo Constituency.  I am interested in knowing people’s sincere opinions about these issues and I would like to ask you a few questions to help me understand some things better?  If you don’t know how to answer a question or you don’t want to answer it, there is no problem in doing so. Before we start our conversation, which will only take a few minutes, I want to assure you that any information you provide me with will be kept strictly anonymous & confidential and will be used solely for the purposes of this survey. That is, we will not disclose what you tell us. 
Would you like to participate in this survey?
YES. 1 [Thank Respondent and Continue]  	NO. 2 [Thank Respondent and Terminate]
County: 			Respondent Name and Contact:	
Constituency: 		Ward:	 
Interview date and time:	____/____/ 2013                      Time___________
DEMOGRAPHICS
Gender			Age		LOCATION
(  ) Male	 				(  ) Urban
(  ) Female 					(  ) Rural
		 	
Level of Education		Marital Status
(  ) Primary 			(  ) Single
(  ) Secondary		(  ) Married
(  ) College 			(  ) Divorced/ Separated
(  ) University		(  ) Widowed
(  ) Post graduate		
GENERAL SECTION
2. In your opinion, what is the MAIN economic activity in Bondo constituency?	
(  ) Fishing 			
(  ) Farming 			
(  ) Trading 			
(  ) Boda-boda 			 
(  ) Other (specify)		
3. What are the other economic activities in this county?
3. Do you personally know of a person who is a boda-boda operator?
(  ) Yes			 
(  ) No			
4. If YES, what is your relationship to the individual? It’s my…..	
5. How has the business benefitted you and/or your family?
6. Do you feel that the boda-boda business has brought any development in Bondo?
(  ) Yes 				(  ) No 		
7. Kindly give reasons for your answer?
8. Are you aware of any Boda-boda association?		 
(  ) Yes 				(  ) No 	
9. If Yes, do you think the association is beneficial to them?	
(  ) Yes	 
(  ) No 	
(  ) Don’t know	
10. Please give a reason for your answer
11. If No, do you think that they need an association to represent them and their welfare?		
(  ) Yes		 
(  ) No		 
(  ) Don’t know		
12. Please give a reason for your answer
SATISFACTION RATING
13. On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is strongly disagree and 10 is strongly agree, how would you rate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement?
Statement: 	Strongly disagree. Disagree.  Neither disagree nor agree. Agree. 	Strongly agree.
Boda-boda activities have increased insecurity in Bondo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
14. Please give a reason for your answer
15. On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is strongly disagree and 10 is strongly agree, how would you rate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement?
Statement:	Strongly disagree.  Disagree.  Neither disagree nor agree. Agree. 	Strongly agree.
Boda-boda activities have worsened road safety in Bondo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
16. Please give a reason for your answer
17. On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is strongly disagree and 10 is strongly agree, how would you rate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement?
Statement: 	Strongly disagree. Disagree.  Neither disagree nor agree. Agree.	Strongly agree.
Boda-boda activities have affected the family life in Bondo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
18. Please give a reason for your answer
19. On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is strongly disagree and 10 is strongly agree, how would you rate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement?
Statement: 	Strongly disagree. Disagree.  Neither disagree nor agree. Agree. 	Strongly agree.
Boda-boda activities have affected the economy in Bondo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
20. Please give a reason for your answer
21. On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is strongly disagree and 10 is strongly agree, how would you rate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement?
Statement: 	Strongly disagree. Disagree.  Neither disagree nor agree. Agree. 	Strongly agree.
Boda-boda activities have caused pupils to drop out of school and join the business in Bondo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
22. Please give a reason for your answer
23. On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is strongly disagree and 10 is strongly agree, how would you rate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement?
Statement: 	Strongly disagree. Disagree.  Neither disagree nor agree. Agree. 	Strongly agree.
Boda-boda activities have affected the education standards in Bondo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10

24. Please give a reason for your answer
25. On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is strongly disagree and 10 is strongly agree, how would you rate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement?
Statement: 	Strongly disagree. Disagree.  Neither disagree nor agree. Agree. 	Strongly agree.
Boda-boda activities have increased trade in Bondo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
26. Please give a reason for your answer
27. On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is strongly disagree and 10 is strongly agree, how would you rate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement?
Statement: 	Strongly disagree. Disagree.  Neither disagree nor agree. Agree. 	Strongly agree.
Boda-boda activities have increased health cases in Bondo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
28. Please give a reason for your answer
COUNTY AFFAIRS
29. In your opinion, is the county government doing enough to help small business people in Bondo?	
(  ) Yes 		
(  ) No		
(  ) Don’t know		
30. Please give a reason for your answer
31. What about the boda-boda operators, do you feel the county government has done enough for them to sustain their businesses?	
(  ) Yes 	
(  ) No 	
(  ) Don’t know	
32. Do you feel that the operators need designated places for picking and dropping of their passengers?		
(  ) Yes		 
(  ) No 		
(  ) Don’t know		
33. Kindly give a reason for your answer?
34. What is your overall perception of the boda-boda operators?
                         Thank Respondent and End Interview