Negotiating the livelihoods of children and youth in Africa's urban spaces [electronic resource] : Negocier pour sa vie : les enfants et les jeunes dans les espaces urbains de l'Afrique / edited by Michael F.C. Bourdillon with Ali Sangare.

Issued as part of UPCC book collections on Project MUSE.

Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction / Michael F.C. Bourdillon -- Chômage et conditions d'existence des jeunes de la ville de Ouagadougou / Ali Sangare -- Familles en survie dans un espace defavorise à Ouagadougou / Marie-Therese Arcens Some -- Villes et creativite des enfants et des jeunes au Cameroun / Jean-Marcellin Manga -- The representations of unaccompanied working migrant male children negotiating for livelihoods in a South African border town / Stanford Taonatose Mahati -- Scavenging by minors at Huruma garbage dumpsite: the children's story / Josephine Atieno Ochieng' -- Les jeunes commerc̦ants handicapes moteurs dans la negociation de la vie entre Brazzaville et Kinshasa (1970-2009) / Jean Felix Yokoka -- Youths' poverty and livelihood strategies in Fegge, Onitsha Urban Local Government Area, Nigeria / Peter Ezeah -- Hunting and gathering by children and youths in Owerri Urban, Nigeria: negotiating dietary supplements / Okechi Dominic Azuwike -- Youth livelihoods and karaoke work in Kampala's nightlife spaces / Joseph Wasswa-Matovu -- Patronage of local cinema halls among urban youths in Ado Ekiti, southwest Nigeria / Babatunde Joshua Omotosho -- Dynamique urbaine et nouvelles formes de negociation de l'existence sociale: les jeunes et les 'grins de the' dans la ville de Ouagadougou / Ollo Pepin Hien -- The value of socialization in negotiating livelihoods among the youth: a case of Bugembe Youth Group in Uganda / Tabitha Naisiko -- La 'prostitution alimentaire' juvenile à Yaounde / Achille Pinghane Yonta -- The trajectories of survival of the Mungiki youth in Nairobi / Susan M. Kilonzo.

This book deals with problems facing children and youth in African cities today. African populations have high growth rates and, consequently, relatively high proportions of young people. Population growth in rural areas has stretched resources leading to urban migration and a rapid growth of cities. Economies have not grown apace with the population; and in some countries, economies have even shrunk. The result is a severe lack of resources in cities to meet the needs of the growing populations, shown in high unemployment, inadequate housing, poor services, and often extreme poverty. All the essays in this book draw attention to such urban environments, in which children and youth have to live and survive. The title of this book speaks of negotiating livelihoods. The concept of 'livelihood' has been adopted to incorporate the social and physical environment together with people's responses to it. It considers not only material, but also human and social resources, including local knowledge and understanding. It, thus, considers the material means for living in a broader context of social and cultural interpretation. It, therefore, does not deal only with material and economic existence, but also with leisure activities, entertainments and other social forms of life developed by young people in response to the dictates of the environment. The book contains country-specific case studies of the problems faced by youths in many African cities, how they develop means to solve them, and the various creative ways through which they improve their status, both economically and socially, in the different urban spaces. It recognizes the potentials of young people in taking control of their lives within the constraints imposed upon them by the society. This book is a valuable contribution to the field of child and youth development, and a useful tool for parents, teachers, academics, researchers as well as government and non government development agencies.

Text in English and French.

Description based on print version record.