Globally, cross‐border migration has become a common phenomenon as people search for social and economic prospects and opportunities. Intra‐regional migration and trade, as espoused in several treaties, are expected to encourage the movement of people, goods, and services across national borders. Among those involved in intra‐Africa migration are itinerant retailers who have been variously studied, albeit with little attention to their housing choices when they arrive in destination areas. This study draws evidence from Wa to examine the residential choices of itinerant immigrant retailers using a qualitative research approach via in‐depth interviews with 22 immigrants, eight landlords, and four informal rent agents. The itinerant immigrants were contacted at the Wa central market as well as their popular networking and relaxation spaces in town. The responses obtained from the interviews were categorised into themes and presented in narrations and quotations. The study found that itinerant immigrants preferred low‐income residential neighbourhoods close to the Central Business District that they secure through friends and relatives and informal rent agents. However, the housing units were generally bereft of basic amenities, and they face tenant‐landlord and tenant‐tenant conflicts over the payment of utility bills and home maintenance, as well as overpricing of rent by the informal rent agents. Efforts to regulate the activities of informal rent agents and petty landlords to provide minimal protection for immigrants should be the way forward in dealing with the challenges.

Globally, discriminately vulnerable and marginalized groups, such as nomadic pastoralist populations, have perhaps the least access to reproductive and maternal health services (R/MHCSs). Previous studies report that most nomadic pastoralist mothers use both traditional methods of childbirth (i.e. delivering at home and assistance by traditional birth attendants (TBAs)) and traditional methods of contraception. However, determining factors of R/MHCSs in these nomadic pastoralist communities remain scarcely explored and condensed. This study aims to analyse quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies and summarize pastoralists’ experience accessing R/MHCSs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).We employed a mixed method approach in conducting this scoping review by including studies applying quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods retrieved from online databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and JSTOR) as well as reviewing indexes of journals specific to the field by using a set of keywords related to R/MHCSs in LMICs. Thematic content analysis was performed to generate four themes and codes.We retrieved 2131 articles and retained 25 that met our inclusion criteria. Of these, 6 were quantitative studies, 12 were qualitative studies, and 7 were mixed methods studies. We found that nomadic pastoralists face multi-faceted barriers in access to R/MHCS that can be broadly categorized into four themes: (i) physical (geographic isolation and access), (ii) political (discriminatory/marginalized status, poor transport system, lack of infrastructure, and little political status to improve their lives), (iii) economic (poor quality of service/lack of available resources in rural areas where nomadic pastoralists live, vulnerability, poverty/affordability of R/MHCSs), and (iv) socio-cultural (misconceptions, perception, gender roles in decision-making, low demand for R/MHCSs by nomadic pastoralists, autonomy for females to travel) factors. Therefore, to effectively address the needs of nomadic pastoralist populations, R/MHCSs must be available, accessible, acceptable, and affordable through political, economic, geographic, and socio-culturally sensitive approaches.Low awareness of, and low access to, modern R/MHCSs and their benefits is a critical barrier to service utilization. Partnership with nomad communities through leveraging existing structures, networks, and decision-making patterns and involvement of nomadic women and girls, community leaders, male partners, and trained traditional birth attendants are key to R/MHCS access.What is known about this topic? The utilization of a skilled attendant at birth has been improving amongst nomadic pastoralists but with significant variations across LMICs. The experiences in accessing R/MHCs amongst pastoralist populations are not fully known. What the study adds Traditional delivery beds should be provided in health facilities because most nomadic women believe the sitting position during delivery speeds up the labour. Static health facilities are not helpful for pastoralist lifestyles because they are inaccessible and culturally insensitive. Female midwives are required in the health facilities to attract pastoralist women who abhor being attended to by male midwives. We also call for the need for culturally appropriate maternal care at healthcare facilities. Conventional youth programming does not reach the large population of marginalized and disadvantaged nomadic girls who need reproductive health information and services. Innovative approaches considering the socio-cultural and economic environment can better address the nomadic youth’s reproductive health challenges. In order to increase girls’ participation in reproductive health issues, it is important to create a safe environment for them and to involve their mothers in issues of sexual and reproductive health. To successfully give nomadic girls and mothers a voice in their reproductive health requires the support of cultural leaders who give direction on various issues in the community. Safe spaces and social networks for girls are potent strategies for RH advocacy at the community level. Accessing FP methods is a problem mainly due to long distances to health facilities. Some women are willing to use modern FP methods but encounter resistance from their male partners/husbands. Traditional FP methods are popular because they are readily available, have no side effects, and are trusted.

This article suggests that the understanding of an interview as a social practice can be enhanced by the notion of social action mediated by language and material tools as proposed in nexus analysis methodology. Interviews can be viewed either as a source of gathering information or social practice. The latter approach advocates for a greater sense of reflexivity about the interview situation. This article suggests that nexus analysis methodology can help concretize the greater reflexivity about interactional resources of an interview in different ways. One such way is to explore how parties in an interview interaction use material places to bring out discourses that may otherwise not have been triggered if conventional qualitative interview approaches were used. This is illustrated with interviews about the impact of gold mining on human well-being in the Ahafo Region of Ghana, carried out on a gold mining site. This article concludes that paying attention to the interview site has an unrealized potential to strengthen the reflexivity about the interview situation.

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