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Are Social Benefits the Missing of Rural Road Appraisal ?

Are Social Benefits the Missing of Rural Road Appraisal ?. John Hine Ethiopian Roads Authority. Social Benefits: Why the Concern ?. There is unease with conventional appraisal based primarily on transport cost savings to traffic

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Are Social Benefits the Missing of Rural Road Appraisal ?

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  1. Are Social Benefits the Missingof Rural Road Appraisal ? John Hine Ethiopian Roads Authority

  2. Social Benefits: Why the Concern ? • There is unease with conventional appraisal based primarily on transport cost savings to traffic • There is a strong desire at both community level and national level for better access and mobility which is frequently not matched by standard measured benefits • All over the ‘rich’ world governments subsidise rural transport. Should the same happen for developing countries ? • Isolation is a recognised characteristic of poverty • There is a feeling that a minimum degree of access and mobility is a ‘basic human right’ • International development has moved away from a narrow definition of economic development towards concern with ‘livelihoods’ and meeting ‘Millennium Goals’ that are very health orientated

  3. The Alternative: Producers’ Surplus Approach • Problems with road appraisal for low traffic rural areas are not new: in the past much attention was given to the agricultural producers’ surplus approach • The approach generated much disappointment: very little use of agricultural supply elasticities and grossly optimistic forecasts were not substantiated • Case study evidence proved to be difficult to interpret Will a Social Benefits/ Livelihoods Approach provide the same disappointments ??

  4. Road Impact in Ethiopia A recent econometric study by Stefan Dercon of Oxford University , carried out in 1989 and 1994 a study of six villages (354 households) in south and central Ethiopia found that the presence or absence of a road was a major factor in reducing poverty . On average food consumption rose by 8% per year in this time, poverty declined in all but one village but just over 50% of the change was attributed to road infrastructure and location. BUT we don’t know in precise terms WHY the roads has this effect.

  5. Does Road Accessibility Affect Health?

  6. Accessibility and Social Services • Without a minimum degree of road access (and transport services) there will be problems with : • Establishing schools, clinics, health centres, water supply, extension services • Encouraging commercial investment • Motivating and keeping professional staff at their posts • Supervising services • Supplying remote locations with drugs, educational materials etc. But how low is a “minimum” or what is “basic access” ? Is there a threshold effect ?

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