Master’s Degree in Sustainable Development Influence of a bicycle on the perceived well-being of female students A case study from rural Tanzania Author: Deborah Bieri 10-217-404 Focal Area: Social Sciences Supervisors: Prof. Paul Burger, University of Basel, Department of Social Sciences, Sustainability Research Group Prof. Dr. Manfred Max Bergman. University of Basel, Department of Social Sciences Social Research and Methodology Date of Submission: 19/11/2020 Front picture: The 16-year-old Ahadi Mhina Amani is one of more than 1’300 female students who received a bicycle from the Bike to School for Girls program of Velafrica in Tanzania. Picture by: Chimwemwe Mkandawire, 2020. Abstract I Abstract Title: Influence of a bicycle on the perceived well-being of female students. A case study from rural Tanzania. Author: Deborah Bieri, 10-217-404, Focal Area: Social Sciences First supervisor: Prof. Paul Burger, University of Basel, Department of Social Sciences, Sus- tainability Research Group Second supervisor: Prof. Manfred Max Bergman, University of Basel, Department of Social Sciences, Social Research and Methodology Date of Submission: 19/11/2020 Education enables upward socioeconomic mobility and is a key to escaping poverty. While mayor progress has been made in the last decades, 263 million children and youth are still out of school - nearly a fifth of the global population in this age group (UNESCO, 2020). Girls are even less likely to receive an education, especially in low-income countries. The main reasons for them to drop out of school are the long distances to be travelled, the high poverty rate, and social norms (World Bank, 2018). Educating girls and promoting gender equality are key for the world to deliver on all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of this thesis is to examine the impact of an intervention in the rural north of Tanzania, which aims to improve access to education by providing female students with a bicycle. Therefore, differences in qual- ity of life between students with a bicycle and those without one are evaluated. Quality of life is assessed in terms of well-being, which is analyzed by operationalizing Amartya Sen’s capa- bility approach. I Acknowledgements II Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank my supervisors Prof. Dr. Paul Burger and Prof. Dr. Bergman for giving me the opportunity to realize this thesis, as well as for their moral support and the many inspiring discussions. Vielen Dank to the whole team of Velafrica, who enabled this unique experience and sup- ported me for the whole process of writing the thesis. Especially Claudio Brenni and Nikolai Räber, who advised me and provided me with valuable insights into the topic. A further thanks goes to Michel Ducommun, for encouraging me to write a thesis together with Velafrica. A special thanks further holds good to Sabine Zaugg, Matthias Maurer, Dominik Unternährer, Sandra Menegol, Michelle Baumann and Maryam Abdulcadir, for their patience during the time of writing and for supporting me during the process. Asante sana to Adelphinus Alexander from the Vijana Bicycle Centre, the local partner organ- ization of Velafrica in Nshamba, Tanzania. Elvira Charles deserves my deepest gratitude; with- out her good work and her translations this thesis would not have been possible. During several skype calls they offered an extremely valuable insight into the Tanzanian culture and gave me helpful feedback. A very special thanks goes to the female students who participated in the survey. Muchas Gracias to Felipe Lopez de la Peña for always being there for me during the time of writing this thesis and for providing me with emotional support and giving me useful feedback. Grazie Mille to Laura Kleiner for proofreading, interesting conversations and helping me or- dering my toughts. Carole Vogt for showing interest in the topic and supporting me. Sara Vulovic for providing emotional and technical support. Thank you to my friends for being so patient with me and continuously providing me with encouragement. Merci viumau to my family for always being there for me, for the many inspirational discus- sions and support during the whole time of writing. Without you this work would not have been possible. II Contents III Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................... I Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... II Contents ........................................................................................................................ III List of Figures .............................................................................................................. VI List of Tables ............................................................................................................... VI Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. VII 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Objectives ............................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Relevance ............................................................................................................ 3 1.4 Limitations ............................................................................................................ 4 1.5 Structure ............................................................................................................... 4 2 Derivation of the Problem ................................................................................. 5 2.1 Gender Inequality and Poverty ............................................................................. 5 2.1.1 Special Consideration of Sub-Sahara Africa ........................................................ 6 2.1.2 The Link between Gender and Time .................................................................... 7 2.2 Breaking the Cycle of Poverty .............................................................................. 7 2.2.1 Spatial Poverty Traps ........................................................................................... 7 2.2.2 Access to Education ............................................................................................. 8 2.2.3 Initiatives to Improve Access to Education ........................................................... 9 2.3 Derivation of the Research Questions ............................................................... 10 2.3.1 Research Gap .................................................................................................... 10 2.3.2 Research Aims ................................................................................................... 11 2.3.3 Research Questions ........................................................................................... 11 2.3.4 Contributions of the Present Study .................................................................... 12 3 Presenting the Case ......................................................................................... 14 3.1 General Information about Tanzania .................................................................. 14 3.2 Gender Inequality in Tanzania ........................................................................... 15 3.3 Education in Tanzania ........................................................................................ 16 3.3.1 Barriers to Education in Tanzania ...................................................................... 17 3.3.2 Additional Barriers for Female Students ............................................................ 18 3.4 Bike to School for Girls ....................................................................................... 19 4 Theoretical Background .................................................................................. 21 4.1 The Capability Approach .................................................................................... 21 4.1.1 The Core Concepts of the Capability Approach ................................................. 21 4.1.2 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Capability Approach .................................... 22 III Contents IV 4.2 Extension of the Capability Approach with Aspirations ...................................... 24 4.2.1 Aspirations Matter .............................................................................................. 24 4.2.2 Aspiration Window ............................................................................................. 25 4.2.3 Aspiration Gap ................................................................................................... 25 4.2.4 Aspiration Failure ............................................................................................... 25 4.3 Aspirations and the Capability Approach ........................................................... 26 4.3.1 The Capability to Aspire ..................................................................................... 27 4.3.2 The Challenge of Adaption ................................................................................. 28 4.4 Operationalizing the Capability Approach .........................................................