Bus, bike and random journeys: Crowdsourcing aid distribution in Ivory Coast

In many developing countries (e.g., Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria), half the population lives in rural locations, where accessibility to school materials, medical supplies, mosquito nets, and clothing is restricted [2]. Distribution to these locations typically requires direct road transport, which is time consuming and requires bulk volume to be cost effective. In response to these limitations, distributed methods of aid distribution have emerged in recent years. For example, Pack For a Purpose1 is a non-profit organisation that asks tourists who already have a trip planned for one of 47 developing countries to bring small items (e.g., pencils, deflated soccer balls, stethoscopes) in their spare luggage capacity. Another scheme is Pelican Post2, which asks donors to send books by post to developing countries. These are promising schemes. However, they fail during periods of conflict, (e.g., post-electoral violence in Ivory Coast in 2011) and are reliant on direct outsider support, when it is arguably preferable to empower local populations wherever possible.