Key Issues in Rural Transport in Developing Countries

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Key issues in rural transport indeveloping countries

by S D Ellis

TRL Report 260


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The Transport Research Laboratory is the largest and most comprehensive centre for the study of roadtransport in the United Kingdom. For more than 60 years it has provided information that has helpedframe transport policy, set standards and save lives.TRL provides research-based technical help which enables its Government Customers to set standardsfor highway and vehicle design, formulate policies on road safety, transport and the environment, andencourage good traffic engineering practice.As a national research laboratory TRL has developed close working links with many other internationaltransport centres.It also sells its services to other customers in the UK and overseas, providing fundamental and appliedresearch, working as a contractor, consultant or providing facilities and staff. TRUS customers includelocal and regional authorities, major civil engineering contractors, transport consultants, industry, foreigngovernments and international aid agencies.TRL employs around 300-technical specialists - among them mathematicians, physicists, psychologists,engineers, geologists, computer experts, statisticians - most of whom are based at Crowthorne, Berkshire.Facilities include a state of the art driving simulator, a new indoor impact test facility, a 3.8km test track,a separate self-contained road network, a structures hall, an indoor facility that can dynamically testroads and advanced computer programs which are used to develop sophisticated traffic control systems.TRL also has a facility in Scotland, based in Edinburgh, that looks after the special needs of road transportin Scotland.The laboratorys primary objective is to carry out commissioned research, investigations, studies andtests to the highest levels of quality, reliability and impartiality. TRL carries out its work in such a way asto ensure that customers receive results that not only meet the project specification or requirement but arealso geared to rapid and effective implementation. In doing this, TRL recognises the need of the customerto be able to generate maximum value from the investment it has placed with the laboratory.TRL covers al I major aspects of road transport, and is able to offer a wide range of expertise ranging fromdetailed specialist analysis to complex multi-disciplinary programmed and from basic research to advancedconsultancy.TRL with its breadth of expertise, and facilities can provide customers with a research and consultancycapability matched to the complex problems arising across the whole transport field. Areas such assafety, congestion, environment and the infrastructure require a multi-disciplinary approach and TRL isideally structured to deliver effective solutions.TRL prides itself on its record for delivering projects that meet customers quality, delivery and costtargets. The laboratory has, however, instigated a programme of continuous improvement and continuallyreviews customers satisfaction to ensure that its performance stays in line with the increasing expectationsof its customers.TRL operates a quality management system which is certificated as complying with BS EN 9001.

Transport Research Foundation Croup of CompaniesTransport Research Foundat ion (a company l imited by guaruntce) t rading as Transport Research L~boratory,Registered in England, Number 3011746. TRL Limited. Registered in England, Number 3142272,Regis tered Off ice: Old Wokinghmn Road, Crowthorne, Berkshire. RG45 6AU


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Transport Research Laborato~Old Wokingham RoadCrowthome, Berkshire,RG456AU

Overseas Development AMnistration94 Victoria Street

London, SWIE 5JL

TRL REPORT 260

KEY ISSUES IN RUML TMNSPORT IN DEVELOP~G COUNTRIESby S D Ellis

Subsector: TransportTheme: Reduce the costs of constructing, rehabihtating and maintaining road infrastmcture and vehicle operationsProject title: Transport PlanningProject reference: R5591

Copytight Transport Research Laboratory 19W. All rights reserved.This document is an output bm a pja funded by the ~ Overseas Development Administration (ODA) for the benefit ofdeveloping eountri~. The views expressed are not n-sdy those of tie ODA.

Transpofi Researeh Foundation Group of CompaniesTransport Researeh Foundation (a company limited by guarantee) trading as Transport Research hboratory. Registered in England, Number 3011746.TU Utited. Registered in England, Number 3142272. Registered Offices: Old Wokingham Road, Crowtbome, Berkshire,RG456AU.


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First hblished 199ISSN 0968-4107

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CONTENTSPage

Executive SummaryAbstract1. Introduction2. Transport as a basic need

2.1 Setting basic needs targets inaccessibility planning

3. Accessibility and rural development3.1 Accessibihty and rural development:

cause or effect?3.2 Equity considerations

4. Access to important social and economicfacilities4.1 Transport costs4.2 Access to herdth and education facihties4.3 The role of mobile services

5. Off-road transport as a burden in rural lifeand its differential effect on women5.1 The off-road transport burden5.2 Water and firewood collection5.3 The differential effect on women5.4 Possible solutions

5.4.15.4.2

5.4.3

5.4.46. The supply

Appropriate modes of transportSpatial planning and the useof non transport technology

Educating men to understandthe transport burden on womenAccess to credit facilitiesof trmsport services

6.1 The role of animals and non-motorisedtransport aids

6.2 The role of tractors and more modemtechnology

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55

6677

88891010

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6.4 Constraints to the operation andintroduction of vehicles6.4.1 Institutional factors6.4.2 Farming systems and markets6.4.3 Income levels6.4.4 The efficiency of the transport

market7. The role of the market in the provision of

rural transport services7.1 Rural7.2 Rural7.3 Rural

7.3.17.3.27.3.3

7.3.4

roadstransport servicesentrepreneursRural trasport operatorsService and repair artisansUrban manufacturers andimporters

Credit institutions8. Conclusions and implications for further

research9. Acknowledgements10. ReferencesAppen&x AAppendix B

Appendix CAppendix DAppendix E

Page

14141414

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15

1515161717

177

818182122232527

6.3 The provision of conventional transportservices 13


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Investment in rural roads has been a major concemofdonoragencies and developing country governments. This proc-ess has been well documented, as have the problemsassociated with the subsequent neglect of this network.However, the importance of transport services in the provi-sion of rural accessibility has largely been ignored untilrelatively recently.This review attempts to draw togetherthe key issues in ruraltransport in developing countries. It draws on the recentliterature together with the authors own research in Thai-land, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Thepurpose of the review is to redress the balance away froma roads-only approach to a more integrated view of ruralaccessibihty which includes planning for the provision ofvehicle services.There are three major themes that run through this review.These are firstly, that the efficient supply of rural transportservices is essential to accessibility and the promotion ofeconomic growth. Secondly, that the current emphasis onroads fails to address the problem of rural mobifity. Aneffective rural transport policy needs to take an integratedapproach where roads are considered in conjunction withvehicle services and the location of essential facihties mdservices. Thirdly, that the market has an important role toplay in the provision of rural transport services. Excessiveregulation can lead to inefficiencies in transport operations.Historically, conventional wisdom has assumed that goodfines of communication (roads) and development go handin hand. With the advent of road evaluations it was discov-ered that the relationship between access to roads anddevelopment was not always clear. Some authors havefound clear evidence to link accessibility in terms of accessto roads with economic development, while others havefound httle or no linkage stating that any correlations thatmay exist are as hkely to come from existing potitical ornatural resource advantages as from road building.It is proposed in this review that accessibility should bethought of not just in terms of access to roads but also interms of mobihty or access to vehicles. Without mobi~tyrural communities are isolated, which perpetuates the dep-rivation trap by denying them access to their most basicneeds. Isolation will slow down the diffusion of newtechnologies and techniques, increase marketing and pro-duction costs and limit access to education and healthfacihties.Recent studies have shown that there is a large off-roadtransport burden in short distance transport; this particu-larly concerns the collection of firewood and water and thedifferential impact on women. Studies have demonstrated

that the majority of village level transport, in terms of thenumber of trips, time taken, or tonne kilometres, are under-taken along an informal off-road infrastructure. For exam-ple, in Tanztia studies showed that the total off-roadburden accounted for 80 per cent of total time and 81 percent of total tonne kilometres in transport activities. Clearlythe forrnd road network does not serve the majority of theserural households transport needs.It is rdso we~ docurnenti that many SubSahamn Afriwcountries make very tide use of low cost -* tids (eganimrds, wheelbmws, bicycles etc.) to - this burden. hmany W areas the~ are no dtemativa to hdoading, mactivi~ that is mairdy conducted by women. h contrast Asiacountries have higher levels of both motorised and non-motor-ised vehicle ownership and _ levels of vehicle diversity.This report stresses hat the poor supply of vehicle services(motorised md non-motorisd) in Sub-Saharan Africa, ad-versely affects the efficiency, rehabifity and cost of ruraltransport services. As a result, a more integrated approach torural transport planning is advocated which not only concen-trates on road building, but dso on the promotion of vehicleservices, location of essential services and the provision oflow cost paths and tracks. In addition, the provision of crdt,operator and mechtic training, and a regulatory environ-ment which does not restrict competition, we d] essentialelements to an effective trasport system.There is rdready a good understanding of the role that manyvehicles play in trasport systems, including trucks and, toa lesser extent, ox carts ad bicycles. However, the impor-tance of mid range vehicles in rural transport has not beenconsidered in detail before. Agnculturd vehicles such astractors and power tillers play a vital role in both goods andpassenger movements, as do pickups, motorcycles andindigenously manufactured simple motorised vehicles.The review of the literature has shown that some of theissues relating to rural transport have been well covered butthat there are still considerable gaps in many other areas ofour understmding. The burden of off-road transport hasbeen documented but there is httle evidence of the implica-tions for the productivity, health md general well being ofthe mainly women affected.There is also a need for research on how a more integratedapproach to rural accessibility planning can effectively beimplemented. There needs to be a greater emphasis on themechanisms by which vehicle services can be deliveredmore cheaply and efficiently. Particular attention should bepaid to the elasticity of demand for passenger and goodsmovement, the existence of excessive regulation and theimpact of government poticy.

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KEY ISSUES IN RURAL TRANSPORT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

ABSTRACTThis review attempts to draw together the key issues in ruraltransport in developing countries. It draws on the recentliterature together with the authors own research in Thai-land, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Thepurpose of the review is to redress the balance away froma roads-only approach to a more integrated view of rurrdaccessibility which includes planning for the provision ofvehicle services.The key issues covered include: a) the importance oftransport in satisfying basic needs and the relationshipbetween accessibility, mobitity and rural development; b)the nature of rural transport and possible solutions torelieving the burden of village level travel, and the dispro-portionate effect that this burden has on women; c) the roleof non-motorised, agricultural and conventional modes oftransport are explored together with the constraints to theirintroduction and operation; and d) the impofimce of themarket in enabhng the efficient and low cost operation oftransport services.1. ~TRODUCTIONInvestment in rural roads has been amajorconcem of donoragencies and developing country governments. This proc-ess has been well documented, as have the problemsassociated with the subsequent neglect of this network.However, the importance of transport services in the provi-sion of rural accessibihty has largely been ignored untilrelatively recently.The literature review to follow attempts to cover the mainissues of relevance to the supply of rural transport servicesand to put their role in the wider context of rural accessibil-ity. The subject has been divided in to the following topicareas:1)2)3)4)

5)6)

7)

Transport as a basic needAccessibibty and rural developmentAccess to important social and economic facilitiesOff-road transport as a burden in rural fife and itsdifferential effect on womenThe supply of transport servicesThe role of the market in the provision of ruraltransport servicesConclusions and implications for further research

There are three major themes that run through this review.These are firstly, that the efficient supply of rural transportservices is essential to accessibility and the promotion ofeconomic growth. Secondly, that the current emphasis onroads fails to address the problem of rural mobihty. Aneffective rural transport policy needs to take an integratedapproach where roads are considered in conjunction withvehicle services and the location of essential facilities andservices. Thirdly, that the market has an important role toplay in the provision of rural transport services. Excessiveregulation can lead to inefficiencies in transport operations.Although the review is primarily based on a literaturesurvey, this is supplemented by material collected fromrecent field surveys carried out by the author in Thailand,Ghaa, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Pakistan in relation to astudy of rural transport vehicles. This research was carridout at Silsoe College, Cranfield University and undertakenon behalf of the Overseas Development Administration.2. TRANSPORT AS A BASIC NEEDPoor accessibihty in the rural areas of developing countriesperpetuates the deprivation trap by denying communitiesaccess to their most basic needs. Chambers (1983) listsisolation as one of the five factors (isolation, powerless-ness, vulnerability, poverty and physical weakness) whichcontribute to the deprivation trap. Isolation through pooraccessibihty will slowdown the diffusion of new technolo-gies and techniques, increase marketing and productioncosts and hrnit access to education and health facilities.In the past the exact nature of rural peoples transport needswere not fully understood and, as a result, transport inter-ventions were mainly in the form of new road building.There is now considerable doubt as to whether new roadbuilding necessarily stimulates economic growth and, if itdoes, do the benefits trickle down to the poorest membersof the community. As a result, some transport planners arenow taking abasic needs approach to development and theprovision of transport services. Priority is given to provid-ing access to basic social and economic goods and services.In order to plan accessibility to respond to peoples needs itis important to define what actually constitutes basic needs.At the lowest level of basic needs there are three require-ments - food, clothing and shelter. For the purposes oftransport planning this definition has to be expanded inorder to encompass all the transport elements required tosatisfy needs. Howe (1983) lists core level local movementrequirements as:

(i) Health

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(ii) Education(iii) Markets(iv) Water(v) Firewood(vi) Other subsistence tasks

@principally farming)These six core level local movement requirements repre-sent the first and most important level of accessibility in therural context. The next level of level of accessibihty is towider needs through access to major centres of activity, andpersonal movement or travel for non-essential purposes.Satisfying basic transport needs in rural areas, particularlyin many Sub Saharan African countries, represent a signifi-cant time, energy and cost burden on households. The timespent on subsistence transport tasks alone can reach up to40 hours per household per week. In addition, the formalroads network, and the conventional transport services thatoperate on them, fail to address the fundamental transportneeds of rurrd people.Most rurrd transport is conducted on an informal path mdtrack network which hnks villages, farms, and sources ofwater and firewood. Women incur most of this burden,particularly with regard to the collection of water andfirewood. Poor accessibihty dso hrnits access to other vitalservices such as markets, schools and health facihties,thereby lit iting peoples productive potential.If transport planners m to improve access and the abitity ofrural people to satisfy their basic needs then a more integratedapproach has to be adopted. ~ud weight must be given toitiastructure @aths, tracks md roads), appropriate modes oftrmsport and the improved location of facihties.2.1 SETTING BASIC NEEDS TARGETS

IN ACCESSIBILITY PLANN~GIn order to estabtish whether accessibility planning hasbeen successful it is necess~ to set targets to measure thedegree of success in providing basic needs. Howe (1981)states that basic needs targets should be based on outputsrather than inputs. For example, in the education field thenumber of years of schooling might be used as an inputtarget whereas a typical output target would be based onmeasured abihties developed by schoohng (e.g. success inexaminations). In the transport field an input target is thenumber of kilometres of road built whereas an output targettight be a quantified measure of mobihty. In some casesthere are known relationships between inputs and outputsas is the case with vaccination programmed. However, thecontribution that transport investments make to variousbasic needs output targets (such as trips to health centres,schools and markets) are very difficult to predict as is

demonstrated by the literature on rural road evaluationswhich will be covered in more detail in Section 3.Despite the difficulties in setting output targets for ruralaccessibility there are a number that could be used. Forexample, all households should be within x km and yminutes from a water source, market or school; dl marketsconnected by a route which is open at least 360 days a year;or all households within x km from anon-motorised trans-port service. The Pilot Integrated Transport Project inMalawi used these sort of targets to represent the ambitionsof the project in providing access to various basic needs.For example, the targets included (a) to have access to watersupplies within five minutes; @) access to health facihtieswithin 30 minutes; and (c) access to grindings mills within60 minutes.3. ACCESSIB~ITY AND R~L

DEVELOPMENTCreightney (1993) defines accessibility as the abitity orease of reaching various destinations or places offeringopportunities for a desired activity. The elements of acces-sibility therefore include the infrastructure and the meansby which to use it. With respect to rural accessibility theinfrastructure will be feeder roads, tracks and paths, and thevehicles (motorised or non-motorised) will provide themobihty. E increased access to roads is provided but thereis no provision for vehicle services and hence mobitity,then there has been no improvement in accessibility ac-cording to Creightneys definition.Reducing the time and effort involved in reaching essentialservices is not only a case of providing infrastructure andtransport services but dso relocating services. By bringingservices closer to people or making services mobile, theneed for travel is reduced. Jones (1981) adds a furthercomponent to accessibihty, that of time i.e. the time atwhich the individual is able to participate and the time atwhich the facili ty is available. Particular interventions arehkely to suit access to certain facilities and services betterthan others. For example, access to water, firewood, healthand educational facilities can be most improved through themore appropriate location of these services. Crop market-ing can be improved through low cost means of transport,conventional transport services an~or the provision ofroads. A combination of roads and conventional transportservices is the most sensible approach to be taken forimproving access to markets and employment activities.3.1 AC~m~~ AND R~

DEWLOP-: CAUSE OR -CT?Historically, conventional wisdom has assumed that goodfines of communication (roads) and development go handin hand. This supposition received such universal approvalthat road investments were not subject to evaluation ontheir contribution to economic or social development.

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Mby observers have found a good relationship betweenaccess to roads and economic development. For example,Airey et d (1993) collected data during the village leveltravel and transport surveys carried out under The WorldBtis Rural Travel and Transport Programrne (RTTP).He found that the average mnud household income of themost accessible villages (in terms of access to an dl-weather road and facilities) was always well above thesurvey area average. In Ahmed and Hossains (1990) studyof rural infrastructure development in Bangladesh theyfound that infrastructural endowment was associated witha rise in household incomes of 33 per cent, increases inagricultural income of 24 per cent, bvestock and fisheriesby 78 per cent, and a doubhng of wages, while incomesfrom business and industry increased by only 17 per cent.However, there is a problem with cause and effect in theseexamples, a better physical infrastructure does not neces-sarily imply that faster economic growth will follow. It maybe that roads were fwst built to the villages endowed withthe best natural resources and the most fertile soil. Inaddition, it could be that the most economically successfulvillages rdso had the most pofiticd influence and were ableto ensure that they had the best access to infras~cture.Creightney (1993), Hine (1982) and Howe (1981) haveconducted literature reviews on the impact of roads ondevelopment and looked at the question of caustity. Theyall hnk successful transport investment with good eco-nomic potential and stress that an overall dynamism isneeded in order that economic opportunity can be soughtand quickly exploited. Creightney argues that governmentsare more likely to invest in areas where opportunities orpressures are greatest, for example, in areas where farmersare experiencing greater agricultural profitability and there-fore pushing for increased supportive infrmtructure. Whereinfrasncture has been regarded as an instrument for lead-ing development in the right direction it has often led towasted investments. Infrastructure investments should betargeted to areas where growth is already occurring or towhere there is strong potential.Hine (1982) points to some of the imitations in the casestudies which have attempted to bnk increases in agricul-tural production and economic growth with road invest-ments. For example, where increases in agricultural pro-duction have been attributed to roads done this, incor-rectly, assumes that accessibihty is the sole or most impor-tant factor in development. ~er contributing factors such asirrigation, fertihsers and entrepreneurial abihty are ignored.The view that accessibihty, particularly in the form ofaccess to roads, is not necessarily a precursor to develop-ment would appem to be supported by subsequent researchfrom Hine et d (1983a). He found that accessibihty (interms of the transport costs involved in moving producefrom village to market) in the Ashanti region of Ghana had

no bearing on agricultural productivity. If anything, theleast accessible, villages farmed more intensively and solda greater proportion of their produce. However, evidencewas found that the more accessible villages had greateraccess to dtemative sources of income such as from foodmarketing and the provision of rural services.Allure (1995) suggests that the effectiveness of road build-ing may be characterised by three distinct phases as acountry moves from low tohigher income status. In the firstphase the contribution that road building makes to eco-nomic development is quite limited as potential for growthis limited by factors such as education, health and access tocapital. As the country moves in to the second phase theroad serves as an enabbng force to allow the exploitation ofunder utifised natural and human resources. The third phaseagain sees a slowdown inthe effectiveness of road buildingas the country reaches saturation point and the contributionto development becomes more marginal.This approach helps to explain some of the anomaliesfound in the literature on the contribution that road buildingmakes to economic development and accessibility. Addi-tiondly, it serves as a basis for deciding on the mostappropriate interventions inparticular counties. For exam-ple, in the first phase less emphasis should be placed onroad building and a greater emphasis on extending vehi-cle accessibility. For example, Hine et d (1983b) calcu-lated that upgrading a path to a motorable track gavebenefits some 100 times greater than upgrading the samelength of motorable track to a stmdard gravel road. Simi-larly, there is dso a need to introduce appropriate vehicletechnology and relocate essential services. It is only in thesecond phase that measures of road based accessibihtyreflect more accurately the true degree of accessibili ty thatrural communities enjoy.3.2 EQUITY CONSIDEMTIONSAlthough the success ofinfrastructure investments interrnsof increased economic activity and incomes is important,accessibility dso needs to be assessed in terms of how itaffects income distribution. Howes (1981) review con-cluded that although rural roads projects usually increasedtotal income, the differentials between rich and poor dsoincreased. The rich were able to benefit from increasedaccessibihty to a greater extent than the poor.In a study of a Mexican village the building of a road, andthe opportunities that it brought, increased income in-equalities ad social stratification, increased exploitationof the land, accelerated the loss of forest land and reducedsoil ferti lity. The poor had fewer economic opportunitiesoutside of subsistence agriculture, while the rich bought thebest land and were able to mobilise capital more easily.However the road did improve access to other services; thepeople cited access to proper health care as the most impor-tant change in their tives in the last five years (Howe, 1981).

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In a Nepdese case study the building of a road dramaticallyincreased accessibibty; travel times were reduced fromabout seven days, where porters carried standard loads, toa drive of two to three hours by vehicle. However, the roadhad little impact on agricultural production and led to a lossof employment in some areas. For example, there was amajor loss of portenng jobs and Indian made factory goodsdisplaced the goods made by local craftsmen. Businessopportunities in the road construction went to the aheadyadvataged with money to invest and even the labouringjobs went to imported Indian labour. Despite the loss ofwork in some sectors the local economy did benefit from acreation of jobs in the vehicle services industry such asdrivers, conductors ~d mechanics (Blaikie et d, 1976).Although in the majority of cases improved infrastructureincreases access to services, there are cases when theopposite happens. In countries where infrastructure hasbeen improved there may be a tendency to centraliseservices. Advantage may be taken of the economies ofscale that can be created by increasing the size of facilitiesas their target population effectively increases. However,this may have a negative impact on the poorest sectors ofthe population who will be put off using services becauseof the high cost of transport. Improved access to marketsencourages the consolidation of land into larger plots,again benefiting the rich and increasing the numbers oflandless peasants.However, Ahmed md Hossain (1990) found that infra-structure investments do have a large positive effect on theincomes of the poor and that the main difference betweenincome groups is where the increased incomes come from.For example, the poorer groups gain more from crops,wages, livestock and fisheries while the richer groups gainmore from business and industries.In the supply of transport services there are dso issues ofequity that should be considered. The people most likely tobe able to afford vehicles, whether animal carts or motorvehicles, are the richer members of the community. ~ilstthe provision of transport services is likely to benefiteveryone through the increased opportunities from im-proved access, the rich will do proportionately better and insome cases the poor may not benefit at dl. Carapetis et al(1984) cites evidence from India that 40 per cent of ruralhouseholds spend no money on transport at all, and that inKenya only two per cent of trips were made by paratransit(matatus) and 0.5 percent by bus. The majority of trips aremade by walking.There is even the question of equity within the household,because the introduction of improved means of productionand transport (for example animrd draught power) canincrease the work load on women. Improved methods ofcultivation increase the area of land that can be cultivatedand, as a consequence, women have to spend more timeweeding and in agriculturally related transport tasks. Im-

proved transport can result in men taking over tasks tradi-tionally done by women. This can reduce their burden butit can also mean that they lose control over a part ofhousehold income. For example, women may have beeninvolved in the sale of water and firewood which they havecollected or the marketing of surplus crops.

Thus the impact of road building is diverse and case studieshave highlighted a great variety of effects, both beneficialand otherwise. In the planning of rural accessibility, it isimportant that impact studies identify the hkely gainers andlosers from transport interventions. mere potential losersare identified specific measures should be taken to mini-mise or cancel out the negative effects. In addition, there area variety of ways of incorporating equity within conven-tional economic planning. Either by first identifying likelybeneficiaries and then differentially weighting the benefitsaccording to income of the recipients or, more usually, bysimply accepting a lower threshold discount rate for projectswhich benefit the poor.4. ACCESS TO IMPORTANT

SOCML AND ECONOMICFACmITIES

Trips for social and economic needs such as to healthfacihties, education, rehgious centres, markets, gover-nmentoffices, employment and friends and relatives, are animportant component of rural transport. In fact there isprobably more suppressed demand in this sector than forthe transport of goods. Evaluations of road investmentsoften show a considerable surplus of passenger over goodsmovements. The demand for access to these services meansthat rural people value them highly and their weighting inaccessibihty planning should reflect this.Improved access to major centres of activity such as mar-kets, government offices and credit facilities allow welfaregains through increased agricultural productivity and mar-keting opportunities. Improved personal travel brings so-cial benefits through a better quality of life, informationflows, marketing efficiency and mobihty of labour.4.1 TMNSPORT COSTSBy their nature, the services described above are usuallylocated in district or regional centres and therefore accessis very often along all-weather roads and by hired transport.Even in countries where services such as health facilities oreducation are provided free, it is not just physical distanceor mobility that limits access. In these cases transportcharges can represent the greatest impediment in hmitingthe use of facihties.In a study on the affects of road construction on health carein the Meru District of Kenya, it was found that the use ofhospitals was almost entirely dependant upon vehicle trans-port. Therefore for hospitals offering a free service, trans-

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port charges represented the most important component oftreatment costs to the patients (Airey, 1991).Another study on the same road project in Kenya evaluatedthe effects of the road improvements on dl trip purposes.Surveys were carried out in 1983 @efore road improve-ments), 1986 and 1989 (tier road improvements) on jour-neys where at least one leg of the trip was undertaken bymotor vehicle or bicycle. It was found that total incomesrose in this period as did the proportion of income frommore accessible external sources. Between 1983 to 1986average journey distances fell by 20 per cent and averagecosts by 34 per cent. However, travel expenditure fell from8.5 per cent of household income in 1983 to 6.1 percent in1989. The shift towards a greater refiance on externalsources of income is reflected in the trip purposes. The fourmost important journey purposes, namely work, shopping,social and health, accounted for 81 percent of journeys in1989. Table 1 gives a breakdown of the percentage of tripsmade for each category and by sex (Airey, 1990).4.2 ACCESS TO HEALTH AND

EDUCATION FACILITIESThere is a high economic price to be paid for insufficientaccess to economic and social facilities, particularly withrespect to health and education. The principal asset of poorpeople is their labour, either for subsistence or wage em-ployment. Poor people are ill more often and are less hkelyto have savings to support them during ill health. If povertyis to be reduced and productivity increased then labourmust be promoted; this can be done pnncipdly by increas-ing access to health and educationrd facilities.The 1993 World Development Report (The World Bank,1993) states that lack of physical infrastructure is thelargest obstacle to the use of health services. Distance tohealth facihties limits peoples wilhngness and ability toseek care, particularly when transport is limited. Pooraccess to education also adversely affects human well

TABLE 1Percentage of trips made by journey purpose and sex in

the Meru District of KenyaTrip pu~ose Percentage of journeys (70)

Mrdes FemrdesWork 39 22Shopping 16 19Social 18 17Health 8 22School 4 3Trading 2 11Personal Business 7 3Bank 7 4TOTAL 65 35

being. Studies have found that levels of education arehighly correlated with indicators such as hfe expectancy,female pnm~ education being the most important vari-able (Stewart, 1988).The education and health infrastructures in developingcountries are often insufficient to meet the nmds of dispersdrural populations. For example, the average travel time toreach family planning facilities in Uganda is one hour,whereas it is only 15 minutes in Thailand. In Guatemd% 86per cent of women have no access to a family planning fieldworker, but this figure falls to 33percent in Egypt (The WorldBank, 1993). h the Makete District of Tanztia the averagetravel time to a dispens~ was just over 1.5 hours, and thisincreased to 5.5 hours for a hospiti. h the Aurora provinceof the Phihppines travel times were 25 minutes to a dispen-sary and nearly two houm to a hospiti @awson and Barwell,1993). The distance from medicrd facihties dso has a greatbearing on attendance. Howe (1983), cites evidence fromLusaka that for distances of less thm five kms 50 per cent ofpatients attend hospiti, this figure falls to two per cent fordis~ces betwmn 33 md 40 kms.Dawson and Barwells (1993) studies of rural householdand community transport needs in four regions found thatthe household travel time associated with health issuesaccounted for only 3.5 per cent of the total household traveltime. However, this gives no indication of the importanceattached to access to these facilities. In household surveyscarried out by the author, access to health facilities wasinvtiably the most common concern.4.3 THE ROLE OF MOBILE SERVICESRuA inaccessibihty is not exclusively a problem of thedeveloping world. Research in the developed world suggeststhat many of the problems of inaccessibihty can be solved bybnngingthe services tothepeopleinsteadoftakingthepeopleto the services. Mobile cenmes can be used for a number ofpurposes including retaiting (as is the case in developingcountries today), social md health services, information mdadvice centres,banking mdeducation. Two main advantageswith mobile centres comprise:

i) Mobile centres can serve small pockets of demandby effectively rolhng them together to make a viableoperation.

ii) Mobile centres provide flexibihty in that they can belocated anywhere; they can arrive at times bestsuited to the needs of the clientele; they can be usedfor more than one activity either simultaneously orsequentially; and different types of ctientele can bereached with the same vehicle (Moseley andPackman, 1983).

The high costs of reaching fixed public services and facili-ties may mean that mobile centres can provide a moreeffective delivery system. This is particularly the case forource: A. Airey, 1990.

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programmed to promote primary education, vocationaltraining and health. For example, in Bangkok 60 percent ofstudents attending evening training courses at mobile unitsin slum areas successfully completed the courses. Bycontrast a competing scheme based at a fixed facitity had a90 per cent drop out rate (Creightney, 1993).However, there have been difficulties implementing thistype of scheme in rural areas. Overseas DevelopmentAdministration evaluation reports on rural health vehiclesin India and Peru cited a number of difficulties with theiruse. The largest obstacle seemed to be getting the supportof recipient organisations, but there were also problemswith the suitability of vehicles for rural roads and the abifityto adequately repair and maintain them. Additiondly, ad-equate finance and staff had to be found for effectiveoperation (Thomson, 1983; Harland and Kadt, 1977). Poormanagement an~or the lack of prioritisation by host insti-tutions for health vehicles in both projects weakened theeffectiveness of the schemes.Moseley and Packman (1983) identified two main disad-vantages with mobile services. Firstly the costs associatedwith such services are high because of vehicle costs anddso the dead time associated with the movement fromone location to the next. Secondly, the qutity of the serviceis unfikely to be the same as a fixed centre. There are certainlimitations to the equipment that can be carried and the timespent in any one place.5. OFF-ROAD TRANSPORT AS A

BURDEN ~ RURAL L~E ANDITS D~FERENT~L EFFECTON WOMEN

Although in many rural areas there is basic access throughearth, gravel or paved roads, much of the day-to-daytransport for the household is undertaken off-road on pathsand tracks that have been created by continuous use. Theaccess road may not always reach the desired location ormore often may not provide the shortest route for thosehaving to W* or use non-motorised modes of transport.Water and firewood collection is the prime example oftransport along off-road infrastructure. Although it variesfrom area to area, cultivable land, grinding mills, healthfacili ties and schools are often only accessible along localoff-road infrastructure.5.1 T~ OFF-ROAD TRANSPORT

BURDENDawson and Barwell (1993) looked at stidies measuringhousehold transport tasks intieTmgamd Maketeregions ofTwtia, villages in three regions of Ghana, and the AuroraProvince of the Phihppines. Data were collected on intemdor village level travel such as water and tiwood collectionand crop production, md external travel outside the village to

facihties such m markets and herdth centres. The studiestightighted the burden associated with the transpofi of sub-sistence goods md particularly the collection of water andfwewood. It was dso evident that much of the transportburden fell to women. For example, in Makete intemd travelmade up 91 per cent of number of trips, 80 per cent of timetaken for transport tasks, 96 percent of weight carried and 81per cent of tonne-kms.Journeys for crop production in the African studies wereconsiderably more time consuming than in the Philippineswhere access to agricultural land is easier and f~ngmethods less labour intensive. For example, the transportburden in the African studies ranged from 11 to 29 per centof the total time taken for transport tasks in comparison to5 percent in the Philippines. The existence of non-motor-ised vehicles for harvesting, and motorised vehicles formarketing in the Phihppines dramatically reduced theamount of time spent on such activities to 1.5 and 1percentrespectively. k comparison, inGhana harvesting accountedfor 25 per cent and marketing 17 per cent of the total timetaken with journeys being characterised by heavy loadsbeing carried on foot over long distances.Box 1 opposite attempts to put transport movements intocontext for a household in Zimbabwe. The time spent andeffort expended on different transport activities variesgreatly depending on the level of vehicle ownership, thetype of farming systems employed and the degree ofaccessibihty enjoyed by the village. It is therefore verydifficult to m~e generalisations on the composition of thetransport burden in the rural areas of developing countries.However, it is fair to say that as villages become moredeveloped, the transport burden shifts from intemd toextemd travel.5.2 WATER AND FIREWOOD

COLLECTIONIn the studies looked at by Dawson and Barwell, water andfirewood collection represented a major proportion ofinternal transport effort. Ranging from 58 per cent of thenumber of trips in Tanga to 82 per cent in Aurora, transporteffort in terms of tonne-km varied from 27 per cent of thetotal in Aurora to 71 per cent in Makete.The disproportionate amount of time spent on water andfirewood collection is borne out by other studies. Curtis(1986) found in Kenya that round trip water collectiontimes varied from under one hour in the wet season to sixhours in the dry season. Similarly fuel collection times canvary from one hour per week in forested areas of Nigeria to38 hours in Uttar Pradesh, India (Cecelski, 1985). Further-more there is evidence that the task of water and firewoodcollection is getting more difficult. Evidence from Ghanasuggests that women in the savannah areas have to walkfurther now than ten years ago. Over half of women in theforest areas are experiencing problems for the first time,

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Box 1: The day to day transportpattern of a household in Zhbabwe

The Mapendere family five in village 34 on the Sachururesettlement scheme about 90 km from Sanyati, athriving growth point. They are connected by a narrowbut motorable gravel road which joins the main goodqutity gravel road to Sanyati after 20 krns. Despitegood road access the family have no vehicle and rely onwting and hired vehicle services. The mother anddaughter collect 20 litres of water twice a day which isa 40 minute round trip. Firewood is collected twice perweek by mother and daughter; the mother carries 25kgand the daughter 10kg, and the round trip takes in theregion of 1 to 1.5 hours. Once a month the mother hiresa donkey which she loads with 60kg for the 12 hour tripto the village where the grinding mill is located.The whole family helps with crop production; themother and father W* 30 minutes each way twicedaily and the children help out on Saturdays. The fathergoes twice a year to Sanyati to collect maize and cottonseeds. He sets off at midnight to reach the main road for4am where he takes a bus into Sanyati. He normallyarrives back at the village at midnight the followingday. An animal cart is hired to transport the harvestfrom the fields to the village. A villager will then gointo Sanyati to try and find a tractor or ~ck operatorwilling to come to the village to transport the harvest tomarket.The family only goes to the market in Sanyati twice peryear, and during the trip they also buy seed. If someoneneeds hospital treatment they have to travel 12 hours byfoot because of the scarcity of vehicle services. Thenearest school is one hour each way wa~ng and is alsowhere the mother and children go to church on aSunday.Source: Authors survey.

with 30 per cent having insufficient suppfies. The numberof cooked reeds and nutrition levels may be fdfing as aresult. Additionally, agriculturrd residues such as cow dungand cassava SW are being used as cooking fuel and thereforedenying the land valuable fertihser ~omsen, 1992).The introduction of more intensive farming techniques andthe continued deforestation in many areas increase thedistances involved in looking for firewood. Streams andrivers located at the bottom of ravines have paths that maybe steep, narrow and slippery when wet. These conditionsnot only have implications for the time and effort requiredbut also for the physical well being of those (mainlywomen) involved in the task.

5.3 THE DIFFE~NTIAL EFFECT ONWOMEN

What is clear from many studies is that women are often theones who shoulder the buk of the trmsport burden and inmany cases this is made worse by mde migration from ruralto urban centres. Studies have reported women ting up to85 percent of toti transport effort in terms of tonne kilome-tres @awson and Barwell, 1993). Appendix A summarisessome of the main findings from this and other studies.A number of theories have been put forwmd to explain thisdifferential effwt but they dl stem from the tradition viewof the womans role inthe households productive and repro-ductive tasks. They are responsible for everything from childcare and food preparation to crop production and marketing.Ttis probably stems from the days when men were involvedin hunting or communal activities such as terntorid disputeswhich meant that the sexual division oflabour was more even.Consequently women wererequiredto stay within the vicinityof the homestead and take care of household tasks andparticulmly food preparation. Hence activities such as waterand fmwood collection werejust regmded as another compo-nent in the find god of food preparation.Bryceson and Howe (1992) claim that although traditionroles go some way in explaining the differential in burdens,current social, economic, pohticd and legal factors dso playan imptit role. For example, many African men pay brideprice, which imposes labour obhgations on wives. Thismeans that load carrying is just another service they areexpected to perform. The suitabihty of a wife is often judgedby her load carrying capacity. These divisions are oftenperpetuatdby factors such as the strong neck theory whichmen use to justify womens mle as load carriers. Althoughwomen do not natudly have stronger nec~ than men itdoes appear that in m African context they have developed acomparative advantage in load carrying. Moloiy et d (1986)looking at the efficiency of women load carriers in the Luoand Kikuyu tribes of Kenya reported that a load of 20 per centof body weight could be carried without any increase in theirrate of energy consumption. The authom suggest that anelement of training andor anatomical change since child-hood allow these women to carry heavy loads (up to 70 percent of body weight) economic~y. Training is undoubtedlya factor as the tradition division of labour is imposed earlyin fife. A study in the Kirinyaya district of Kenya found thatof dl trips made, 59 per cent made by daughtem were with aload compd to ody 32 per cent for sons (Heidemann andBarth, 1985).This heavy work load can take its toll on the health ofwomen in rural areas. Where women face a shortfall in theirfood intake, this can lead to malnutrition and an increase intheir susceptibility to disease. If the mother is frequently illor tired this will affect her childrens well being. Curtis(1986) gives evidence to suggest that high levels of anae-mia amongst pregnant women combined with a heavy

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wor~oad can impair the growth of the foetus and reduce thequantity and quality of breast rnik of expectant and nursingmothers.The actual process of carrying heavy loads can causeheadaches and backaches. More seriously the spine can bedeformed and osteo-arthritis of the soft tissue of the kneecan set in. Accidents can cause sfipped disks, injury tocarried children and broken backs and necks.Studies have not yet managed to demonstrate the magni-tude of womens burden in the form of the opportunity costof energy or time. It is still unclear whether reducingwomens current burdens would enable them to engage ineconomic or income generating activities, take more lei-sure time, or actually collect more of the same subsistencegoods. Calvo (1994) suggests that the evidence points towomen using time saved from water and firewood collec-tion in free time or spending more time in other householdchores, suggesting that their present burden adverselyaffects their welfare. What is more clear is the economiccost associated with young girls forced to forego theireducation in order to help in household transport tasks. Apoor education will undoubtedly lead to lower productivityin the future.5.4 POSSIBLE SOLUTIONSThe ideas that have been put forward for reducing theburden of off-road transport, and transport in general, are inline with the new hohstic approach to accessibility plan-ning. The solutions do not revolve around improved itira-structure as much as through improved transport servicesby the introduction of appropriate modes of transport,improved location of services, improved access to creditfacihties, and the education of men to better understand thedifferential impact of transport tasks on women.5.4.1 Appropriate modes of transportAlthough the variations from village to village and country tocountry me enormous, itis clear from the research to date thatthe transport burden on women is lower where there iswidespread use of appropriate transport modes. A range oftransport solutions could be usd but in most cases Non-Motorised Modes of Transport ~T) will be the mostappropriate. Where longer distance travel is required or loadscan be amalgamated some tractor based technology or con-ventional vehicles can be used (see Sections 6.2 and 6.3).Women may not benefit directly from access to NMTs butthere is an indirect benefit as men take on tasks traditionallythought of as womens work once they become mecha-nised. This process is by no means immediate and univer-sal, but it is clear from the data and field observations thatthe trend is in this direction. For example, in a Ugandm casestudy on the introduction of bicycles, Calvo (1994) ob-served that although women have limited access to bicyclesthere was a transfer of responsibility of certain tasks from

women to men. This was particularly the case for travel togrinding mills but less so for water and firewood. SimilarlyDoran (1994) found that animal cart ownership in Zimba-bwe led to the delegation of duties within the household.Older women would often delegate water and firewoodcollection to boys or young men. Interestingly, this wasparticularly true if the household owned large water drums.Although in many cases the introduction of NMTs canreduce womens burden, there are circumstances whereNMTs make very fittle impact or actually adversely affectwomens welfare. For example, poorer households who donot own NMTs are unlikely to hire them for subsistencetransport such as the collection of water and firewoodwhereas they would do so for the income generating task ofagricultural production and marketing. In cases wherewomen supplement their income from the collection ofsubsistence goods or marketing tasks, the introduction ofNMTs and subsequent transfer of responsibihty of thesetasks to men can mean that women are displaced fromincome earning opportunities. Poor access to NMTs bywomen is an important problem, and the main causes forthis are listed below:i)

ii)

iii)

iv)

Traditiondly womens roles have been many andvaried, from food preparation and child care to cropproduction and marketing. The result is that theyhave a multitude of tasks that must be completed,often at the same time, for example the collection ofwater and cleaning of clothes, crop production andfirewood collection and, in dl cases, the care ofinfants. This multi-tasking requires that womenretain flexibihty which may not be achieved with asingle NMT.By the nature of subsistence transport tasks therecan be no direct financial return. As a result, thepurchase of NMTs for subsistence transport has avery low priority in household expenditure, espe-cially when finances are controlled by men. Addi-tiondly, the investment in even the simplest ofNMTs can represent a large proportion of thehouseholds annual income particularly forthepoor-est members of the community.The nature of the off-road activities in which womenm involved make many NMTs, particularly thosewith wheels, unsuitable. For example, water supptiesmay be accessible only from steep and rugged paths,and firewood collectd in areas without cleared paths.The problems of the suitability of NMTs are particu-larly relevant in mountainous and forested areas.Finally there is the problem of cultural taboos aboutwomen using certain NMTs and the faster take-upof new technology by men, probably more as statussymbols than for practical use. For example, inmany societies it is not acceptable for women to ridebicycles.

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5.4.2 Spatial planning and use of non transporttecbnolo~

There are certain non-transport measures that can be takento reduce the time and burden in the transport of subsistencegoods. These involve the location of services such as wellsand wood lots in the immediate vicinity of the village andhence reducing the time and distance involved in transport.The introduction of wells and hand pumps into villages notonly reduces the time and effort involved in collectingwater but also provides a cost effective alternative to manyNMTs. For this technology to be viable there must becommunity involvement at dl planning levels. They mustrecognise the need for the service and eventually pay for,manage and maintain it themselves.Not only does the cost of such schemes compare veryfavorably with NMTs but it also gets to the root of thewater supply problem. If wells are sited having consultedd] sections of the community, the drudgery involved inwater collection can be reduced. Evidence from countriesin Sub-Saharan Africa suggest that large time-savings canbe made by households in their collection of water. Timesavings range from one minute in Malawi to almost twohours in Mozambique, Zaire, and Chad (Cdvo, 1994).Additionally, ground water provides a safer source of waterthereby reducing illness from water borne disease. Betterhealth and less time spent in subsistence tasks should resultin increased rural productivity.There are dso non-transport measures that can be taken toreduce the demand for fuel collection, for example, theintroduction of fuel efficient stoves and planting wood lotsclose to villages. Studies in Mafi, Kenya and parts of Asiahave found that fuel efficient stoves can result in a 30 percent reduction in the use of fuel (Calve, 1992). Agro-forestry and the development of home gardens whichcombine tree and bush cultivation with agriculture cangreatly increase productivity. h the process food, fodderand fuel can be harvested whilst helping to avert theproblem of production seasonality. The time that womenusually use to collect firewood can be diverted to thecultivation of these home gardens.5.4.3 Educating men to understand the

transport burden on womenBy using participatory techniques which ask men to detailwomens tasks and the time they take, it is possible toincrease their awareness of the transport burden on women.The men in the community may not actually take over anyof this burden but they may release household finds for thepurchase of labour saving devices or allow the use ofexisting NMT for household tasks.

5.4.4 Access to credit facilitiesConventional institutional structures often preclude womenfrom receiving credit, either because of their lack of collat-eral or because of their inabihty to demonstrate any finan-cial return from the venture. However, evidence from theGrameen Bank in Bangladesh suggests that women have afarlowerdefault rate than men. The number of rural womenin Bangladesh with access to institutional credit has morethan doubled since the mid eighties to over two milfion(Goetz, 1994). Additionally Mosley and Hulme (1994)argues that credit for consumption provides a vital develop-mental function in making it possible for the poor to reacha position where it is rational for them to invest in microenterprises.6. THE SUPPLY OF TWNSPORT

SERVICESAs has become apparent from the preceding discussion, thesupply of transport services in the form of vehicles is oftenoverlooked both in the planning of infrastructure and acces-sibility in general. Vehicle tracks and roads are of no useunless there are vehicles to operate on them. This Sectiondescribes some of the most commonly used vehicles inrural areas, their operating environments and characteris-tics. A summary of commonly used rural vehicles is givenin appendices B to E. It also attempts to identify some of theconstraints to the successful operation and introduction ofvehicles and target areas deserving of further research. Thesection is split into four parts:(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)

6.1

The role of animals and non-motorised transport aidsThe role of tractor technologyThe role of conventional transportConstraints to the successful operation and intro-duction of vehiclesT~ ROLE OF A~ALS AND NON-MOTOWSED TRANSPORT AIDS

The role of animals and non-motorised transport aids (thesecan be combined as NMTs) have largely been underesti-mated in the planning of rural roads and rural transportservices by conventional transport planners. For example,the existing road appraisal models such as the TransportResearch Laboratorys Road Investment Mode~ @TIM)and the World Banks Highway Design and MaintenanceStandards Mode~ (HDM) have not included componentsfor operating cost, time and generated traffic benefitsassociated with NMTs and particularly animal carts.The role of NMTs is particulmly important in some Asiancountries. In Bangladesh for example, a 1986 survey foundthat non-motorised vehicles accounted for94 percent of dl

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commercially operated vehicles and two thirds of totalcarrying capacity (the majority of these are probably ac-counted for by rickshaws). However, pubhc investment inthe non-motorised sector (excluding the provision of ordi-nary road space) accounted for only 0.004 per cent of totaltransport expenditure @awson and Barwell, 1993). Simil-arly, in India it is estimated that there are 15 million animaldrawn carts carrying 1200 rnilhon tonnes of goods per year(Saxena and Varkeyachm, 1989). This is in the region offive to six times the quantity of goods being carried onIndias railways. Bhalla et al (1994) further puts theseresults in context. His findings show that although there hasbeen a fall in the importance of non-motorised transport inIndia it still represents a very significant part of total freightmovements. In 1989 animal carts accounted for about halfof all tonnes moved and in some areas this rose to 73 percent when all non-motorised modes were considered.Although in many parts of Asia there is an important roleplayed by animals and other non-motorised modes oftransport, this is by no means global. Starkey (1989) esti-mates that although the population of Africa is half that ofIndia, Africa has only a twentieth of the number of animalcarts. According to some estimates, for every ten Africanfarmers who own animals for draft agricultural purposesonly one owns a cart. This is also the case for other formsof non-motorised transport. The reasons behind the lowtake up of ~Ts in Africa are discussed in Section 6.4.WTS cm have an important role in many of the rodcommunities which suffer most from poor access to keysubsistence, economic and social services. They can increaseboth load capacity and speed and expand the range overwhich people cm seek economic opportunities. ~Ts canreduce the dmdgery of subsistence tasks, and w appropriatefor operation on the existing network of paths and trackswithout the need for expensive road building schemes.However, in most of Sub-Saharan Africa there is littlealternative to headloading or transport by trucks. It is oftennot viable to operate a frequent transport service in smallrural communities and hence many villages are only servedby motorised transport on markets days. There is an enor-mous gap betwwn the productivity of trucks and headloadingand, where there are no alternatives, the introduction ofMTs may allow the productivity gap to be plugged. Theyprovide a vital step between the high load, high speed andhigh technology trucks and the drudgery involved withheadloading.6.2 THE ROLE OF TRACTORS Am

MORE MODE~ TEC~OLOGYWhilst ~Ts have been struggling to gain credence withgovernment policy makers in developing countries anddonor agencies, tractors and other motorised technologyhave often been seen as a quick fix. In trying to open uplarge new agricultural areas to production and increase the

intensity of cropping in others, the tractor has often seemedhke an attractive proposal partly because of its range ofuses. These include agricultural preparation, transport,threshing, pumping water and use as generators. The rug-ged nature of these vehicles has seemed particularly appro-priate for areas with accessibility problems, where roadsare heavily rutted or where there are difficulties of seasonalaccess. However, even with large subsidies, tractor pro-grammed have often failed because the tractors are notsufficiently utilised or maintained (see Section 7.2).The debate over the use of mechanisation in agriculture andtransport revolves around the point at which traditionalmethods can or should be substituted for modem technol-ogy. If it is assumed that draught animal power @AP) andtractor power are perfect substitutes then the move fromDAP to tractors will only take place as factor inputs such aslabour and feed costs reach such a level that DAP servicesbecome uneconomic (the substitution effect). However, ifit is assumed that there are certain productivity advantagesthrough increased yields in using tractor technology (theproductivity effect) the argument becomes more compli-cated. For example, the power of the tractor enables it to uselarger implements for deeper ploughing. The tractor alsoallows speedier and more continuous operations, and timelyploughing ensures that planting can take place at the opti-mum time. In reality there are both productivity and substi-tution effects, and to complicate the situation further, bothanimals and tractors are used intensively for transportation.Binswanger (1978) reviewed various cost benefit analysisstudies of tractor and DAP projects and found that theproductivity effects associated with tractor use are rela-tively small. He argues that the substitution effect is farmore important and, as such, tractor projects are unhkely toincrease agricultural production. In other words, tractorsshould be substituted for DAP where land pressures lead toanimal shortages and high feed costs, or where there arehigh or rapidly rising labour costs and Iabour shortages.This may be the case in parts of Asia, but in much of Sub-Saharan Africa at the moment, labour and tired costs arerelatively low. In those parts of Africa where DAP is widelyused there may be bttle economic advantage in switching totractors. However, in many African countries httle use ismade of draught animals. The reason for this appears to bebecause of culture, heavy soils in forest zones and theincidence of tsetse fly.Agricultural tractors andpowertillers arepnmarily thoughtof in terms of their use in agricultural preparation and,indeed, this is the main reason why they are bought. In factin many countries they are used almost exclusively fortransport purposes, not only for the transport of harvest andinputs but also for marketing, building materials, passen-gers and any other freight that may be available. InBinswangers study he finds that the transport use oftractors for agricultural and non-agricultural uses in SouthAsia exceeds 23 percent of the total in all cases, and he finds

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examples where this rises to 42 per cent. In recent studiesin Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Ghana, the author has dsofound that forsometractorowners transport can account forup to 100 per cent of tractor usage and, additionally, thatthis work was often the most profitable.As well as four wheel tractor technology there is dso thetwo wheel tractor or power tiller. Power tillers have pro-vided the next step to draught animal power in many partsof Asia, performing many of the same tasks as conventionaltractors but at a fraction of the initial purchase cost. Theyhave been primarily designed for ploughing operations inpaddy fields but are truly multi-purpose with other useswhich include threshing, transport (when attached to atrailer), pumping water and power generation. The key totheir success has been the versatihty of the single cylinderdiesel engine which can easily be detached and used forother purposes. The Japanese version of the engine is fight,refiable and easy to repair and maintain. Srisakda andChivsant (1992) cites an example in Thailand where theengine is removed from the power tiller and attached to apurpose-built transport vehicle similar to a pickup truck.The main objection to the use of power tillers in Africa istheir poor perforrnace in ploughing on hard ground due tolack of traction. The hstitute of Agricultural Engineeringin Harare found that their performance was equivalent toanimal traction and therefore did not recommend promo-tion in Zimbabwe. However, their performance in transportis far greater than DAP and they would make an iderdalternative in areas with tight soils or irrigated land. One ofthe problems in rural development is that agriculturalpolicy has too often been divorced from transport policy. Amore integrated approach has potential for developinglarge productivity gains.Despite the widespread use of agricultural vehicles fortransport there has been very httle research on their contri-bution to the provision of transport services at the rurallevel. However, there have been a number of studies thathave identified the transport potential of agricultural vehi-cles. Cheesman (1990), found that tractor operations canoften be more cost effective than truck operations for maizetransport in Malawi. Crossley (1986) has dso looked intothe cost effectiveness of various agricultural vehicles fortransport operations. He has developed a model for theprediction of vehicle operating costs for the full range ofagricultural vehicles as well as for the more conventionalmotorised vehicles. Both authors have found that agricul-tural vehicles provide good alternatives to conventionalvehicles, particularly for relatively short distances (lessthan 50 km) and on poorer quality roads.

6.3 THE PROVISION OFCONVENTIONAL TRANSPORTSERVICES

The ownership of motor vehicles in much of rud Africa isextremely rare. h Makete in 1987 there was ody one fourwheeled vehicle and three motorcycles for 13,700 people,with the situation in rural areas of Ghana being similar. hTanzania the conventional transport services that were avail-able provided transport for local officials, the collection ofcrops from marketing boards md transport of building mate-rials and fuel. They did not provide a means of transport forrural pwple. h Ghana where a fimited motor vehicle serviceoperates, transport is for extemd marketing, health, andsocial tips @awson and Barwell, 1993).In an ided scenario, conventional vehicles would providethe last fink in the transport chain. ~Ts, tractor basedvehicles or smaller conventional vehicles would transportproduce to the village and primary markets. From theprimary markets, conventional vehicles in the form oftrucks or pickups would distribute goods along inter-urbanroads to urban centres.However, what often happens is that a shortage of bothconventional, tractor based vehicles and NMTs necessi-tates the transport of produce from farm to village byheadloading. In addition, the vehicles that are available areoften owned by urban based businessmen and traders whobuy produce from the village and transport it to market. Inso doing the farmers become isolated from the main urbanmarkets and institutional credit facihties by monopolyproviders of transport. A Ghanaian survey found that 57 percent of small scale farmers sold the major part of their cropsurplus at their home compared to only 24 percent who soldtheir surplus at the local market @ine et d, 1983b). In thesituation where farmers have no access to dtemative trans-port services, and become isolated from the main urbanmarkets, the traders are in a position to exploit them.Despite the low usage of conventional transport services byrural households, they provide an essential link between thevillages and major activity centres. As discussed in Section4 it is these services which provide the majority of the ruralpopulation with access to economic, social and we~arefacihties and, although they represent a small proportion oftheir transport demands, they are highly valued.In many of the more developed communities, trucks pro-vide the cheapest method of transporting large quantities ofa~cultural produce and inputs over long distances be-cause of their high load capacity and relatively high speed.They are particularly used on inter-urban routes or ruralroutes where there is high demand. Pickups by contrast gaintheir advantage from high speed and their manoeverabilityin congested urban areas. Their low payload is often idedfor small scale farmers either for agricultural or passengertransport. Motorcycle technology has many of the same

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advantages as the pickup such as their use for goods andpassenger movements, however they operate in a lowerdemand environment. For example, in Malaysia they areused for the collection of rubber from rubber plantations.Section 4 demonstrated the reliance that rural people haveon passenger vehicle services for access to major centres ofactivity and for social travel. The type of vehicles used andthe way the service is provided varies greatly from countryto country. For example, many countries rely almost en-tirely on paratransit type vehicles for mobility in ruralareas. Other countries subsidise more conventional busservices to operate in rural areas; they run to a fixed timetable and fares are relatively low. However, these servicesare often limited; for example, in the northern and southernregions of Malawi there is only one bus per 30,000 people,and this decreases in the central region where there is onlyone bus for every 45,000 people (Gaviria, 1991).

6.4 CONSTRAINTS TO THEOPERATION AND INTRODUCTIONOF VE~CLES

6.4.1 Institutional factorsThe most commonly stated reasons for the slow take-up ofNMTs, particulmly in Sub-Saharan Africa, are summedup by Kaira (1983) who thinks it is due to two factors -attitude, and custom or hfestyle. Kaira suggests that theattitudinal problems stem from centrally located institu-tional bodies who think that rural transport is roads andmotor vehicles, ad that NMTs represent an outdated andbackward technology. Carapetisetd(1984) also finds thatofficials do not fully understand the extent of rural transportproblems. He quotes assurances given by officials such asevery village economically worthy of the name is con-nected by motorable road (Sierra Leone); and dl farmershave at least either animal carts or pack animals (Tunisia).However, the custom or fifestyle element also relates totraditions or taboos which may prevent sections of thecommunity, particularly women, from the use of certainanimals or of particular technology (e.g. bicycles).6.4.2 Farming systems and marketsAlthough institutional attitudes and culture are undoubt-edly factors that must be addressed in promoting ruraltransport systems they do not represent the whole answer.Transport is a derived demand and, as such, transportservices will develop as a response to demand. Where theintensity of agricultural production and population densityare low, as is the case in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, thesubsequent demand for transport will dso be low.The existence of this relationship between farming systemsand population densities has significant imphcations fortransport planning and demand for the transport of eco-nomic goods. It has tieady been noted that the buk of rural

transport in many communities is for subsistence goods butthe movement of these goods does not generate any directfinancial return. As a result, there is very little effectivedemand for new vehicles because it is difficult to exploit theeconomies of scale of particularly motor vehicle transport.Hence, where population density and incomes are low therewill be little demand for more efficient forms of transport.Where rural populations are dispersed it is more difficult toexploit the synergies between low cost transport services,a competitive marketing structure and agricultural innova-tion and development.This scenario could go some way in explaining the lowervehicle densities in Sub-Sah~an Africa compared to manyparts of Asia. In general, Sub-Saharan Africa has lowpopulation densities and long distances between markets. Itis clear that both demand and distance play an importantrole in determining a persons choice of vehicle. Moreresearch is needed on the most appropriate vehicles forareas where demand is dispersed and distant. For example,in the fertile and densely populated areas of Pakistan,animal transport is prevalent. In contrast the inaccessiblehilly areas where population density is low and marketsdistant, pickups are used. It maybe that in the latter areasthe promotion of NMTs is inappropriate and that conven-tional vehicles would provide a more productive altern-ative.However, it is recognised that in difficult terrain packanimals may also have an advantage. For example donkeysare used in the inaccessible parts of Nepal.6.4.3 Income levelsA major factor influencing the level of vehicle ownership isthe level of income from farming and, possibly more impor-tantly, access to dtemative soumes ofincome. In Thailand forexample, where there has been rapid growth in the construc-tion and industrid sectors of the economy, there are increasedopportunities for rural dwellers to find work in urban areas.This work is usually at fti higher rates of pay than is the casefor agricultural work. The money earned from these sourcesis then used to buy vehicles that can improve agriculmrdproductivity, as well as income earning opportunities fromtransport services. Agricultud incomes and access to alte-rnativeincome are often lower in much of Africa than is thecase in Asia. Low rural incomes often preclude people frombuying even the cheapest of NMTs, and makes them refianton hedoading and urban based traders.6.4.4 The efficiency of the transport marketThe supply of transport services is particularly governed bythe efficiency of the transport market and the degree ofcompetition present in that market. In turn, this will affecthow rural entrepreneurs provide essential backup servicessuch as vehicle servicing, routine vehicle maintenance,vehicle manufacture and the provision of credit. The levelof competition has a bearing on how efficiently theseservices are provided, the level of vehicle utilisation and

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hence the price of transport services. These factors arediscussed in more detail in the next Section on the role ofthe market in the provision of rural transport services.7. THE ROLE OF THE MAR~T

~ THE PROVISION OF RURALTRANSPORT SERVICES

The theme of the 1994 World Development Report wasInfrastructure for Development. Emphasis was put notonly on the quantity of infrastructure investments but alsoon the quahty of infrastmcture services (The World Bank1994). The report attempted to identify some of the mecha-nisms by which the quality of services could be improvedparticularly through increased use of the market and com-petition. In this Section an attempt will be made to andysethe lessons that may be apptied to the supply of rural roadsand rural transpofi services.7.1 RURAL ROADSInfrastructure services can be categorised according to theextent that they can be regarded as private or pubhc goods.A private good is defined as both rivfl (consumption byone user reduces supply available to others) and exclud-able (a user can be prevented from consuming them).Private infrastructure services therefore include telecom-munications, water supphes, railways and ports. To a lesserextent urban and interurban roads can be included in thatcongestion makes them rivti in nature, and modemtechnology can enable users tobe charged or excluded fromuse of the service, particularly in urban areas. In contrast,mrd roads can be defined as pure pubfic goods. They aretypically non excludable and non-rival, as the addition of anextra user will not reduce the supply to other users (i.e. nocongestion), and there is no way to exclude users. As aresult, it has traditionally fallen to government to build andmaintain rurrd roads and the market has played no signifi-cant role.Although the physical infrastructure in rural areas may notbe suitable for private investment there are a number ofmeasures that will make provision more responsive to theneeds of rural people. If finds can be diverted to theregions, local institutions are more likely to be in tune withthe demands of local people and therefore prioritiseinfrastructural investment more efficiently and with lesswastage. Local level involvement at all levels of planningwill also increase commitment to the day to day mainte-nance required, the lack of which is probably the mostcommon source of failure in infras~ctural projects. AWorld Bank (1994) review of 42 developing countriesfound that where maintenance was decentrafised, backlogswere lower and the condition of the roads better. At thenational level it is argued that more emphasis is placed onthe technical criteria of road building rather than the socialissues relating to quatity and appropriateness of service.

However, total decentralisation is unlikely to bepracticd inmany developing countries because of the lack of manage-ment and engineering skills at the regional level.Whilst there must be decentralisation of the decision-making process to local institutions, participation from thelocal community is dso essential. A review of 25 projects(mostly in agriculture and rural development) five to tenyears after completion found that participation by benefici-aries and grass roots institutions was a key factor in thoseprojects long term success. Again a lack of participationfrom the early stages ofien leads to poor maintenance (TheWorld Bank, 1994).In addition to increased community participation and thedecentralisation of the decision making process, existingpubtic sector road organisations can benefit from marketdisciphne. By comrnerciatising the management and main-tenance of the existing road network, there is scope forefficiency gains and cost saving measures. An example ofthis is a shift from force account maintenance works to theuse of private contractors.Funding for road maintenance is dso a particular problembecause budget allocations from government representonly a smrdl fraction of total requirements. A possiblesolution being tested by Africas Road Maintenance Initia-tive is to develop RoadFunds which are separate from thegovernments budget allocation process. These funds areearmarked solely for road maintenance with revenues com-ing from explicit road tariffs in the form of fuel levies andvehicle hcense fees (Heggie, 1994). A proportion of thesefunds find their way to rural roads but additional funds arerequired. Possibihties include local taxes, village funds,tolls and ficense fees for NMTs.7.2 RURAL TRANSPORT SERVICESAs with the provision of the physical infrastructure, thesupply of rural transport services will also benefit fromincreased institutional efficiencies and market disciphne.An effective rural transport system is not just refiant on theprovision of roads but dso on the vehicles that will providethe transport services. h case studies undertaken in Egypt,India, Botswana and Thailand it was found that the provi-sion of the road was taken to be synonymous with theprovision of transport services. No account was taken of theconstraints that may be present to the supply of appropriatevehicles (Howe and Roberts, 1984).The fact that planners have often overlooked the constraintsassociated with the supply of rural transport services,particularly in Africa, has meant that services can beunreliable and expensive. It has been calculated that Afri-can farmers receive only 30-50 per cent of the find price ofproducts, compared to 70-85 percent in Asia (Ahmed andHossain, 1990). In a similar study of interurban freightmovements in Pakistan and French- speaking Africa, freight

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charges were found to be between four and six times moreexpensive in the African countries studied (Rizet and Hine,1993). The main reasons for the higher transport charges inAfrica were higher input prices, poorer utilisation andhigher variable operating costs. The magnitude of thedifference in charges provides clear evidence that themarkets for African transport have some serious faihngs.In addition to high transport charges, rural areas, particu-larly in Sub-Saharan Africa, suffer from a shortage in thesupply of transport services. Evidence from Zimbabwesuggests that the number of motorised trips per person perweek in rural areas is only between 0.2 to 0.5 comparedwith 3.5 in urban areas (S~CO, 1985). These low ruraltrip rates may be due to high transport charges, the limitedresearch that has been undertaken gives price elasticities ofdemand in the range between -0.4 and-2.0. For example, anelasticity of demand for transport of -1.0 imphes that a oneper cent dechne in charges will bring about a one per centrise in traffic. Furthermore, vehicle ownership (motorisedand non-motorised) in the rural areas of Sub Saharan Africais far below the levels found in Asian countries withcomparable incomes. For example, in recent surveys theauthor has found that vehicle ownership in rural areas of SriLanka are 14times highertha in Ghana for non-motorisedvehicles and 5 times higher than in Zimbabwe for motor-ised vehicles @ltis and Hine, 1995).There are a number of constraints to the operation ofvehicles other than the quality of the road. These include theavailability of credit, vehicle backup services for theirrepair and maintenance, availability of spare parts, operatorand mechanic training, information on the types of vehicleavailable, and uncompetitive transport markets.In many cases, transport services in African countries arehighly regulated. There is often heavy union intervention asis the case in Ghana where all operators must register withthe Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) whichcontrols prices, routes, membership and queuing for loads.In Zimbabwe, passenger transport is regulated both interms of price and quahty, which has a negative impactparticularly in rural areas. Bus compties are required tooperate on loss-making rural routes in order to receivepermits to operate on the more profitable interurban routes.As a result buses leave the rural areas very early in themorning and return late at night. In Harare, where the busservice has been liberahsed, there has been a large take-upin the use of small minibuses, as in many other Africancountries where this has happened (Maunder and Mbara,1995). The result is that pubfic transport can profitably goto low demand areas and provide a more regular service. Ifthe existing regulations against the use of paratransits inrural areas of Zimbabwe were reduced, mitibuses orpickupswould undoubtedly provide a cost effective alternative tolarge buses and at the same time provide a better morefrequent service.

In order to promoterurd development many countries hsupplied tractor services, and particularly ploughing S(ices, at subsidised prices. Under government hire schentractors are used primarily for ploughing and are restrifto one agro-chmatic zone. The result is norrndly failwith a high proportion of the tractors becoming inoperaafter a few years. Seager and Fieldson (1984) found th:a sample of twenty-one government tractor hire scherall but one ended in failure. The reasons for failure incluthe fact that there are no economies of scale associated\operating large tractor fleets, problems with staff mottion resulting in low efficiency, the inabihty to rewardsfinancially for maximizing the number of hectares tinekeeping tractors in good working order, and low utilisatConversely, in the private sector operators benefit direfrom increased efficiency and hence have the incentiveincrease utilisation. They will move from one agro-climzone to the next and diversify their operations into trans]as is the case in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. In the case (successful farmer co-operative in Zimbabwe, the aulfound that of the 1500 hours operated in a year, 1000 h(were devoted to transport which represented 78 per cerits income.Pingti et d (1987) quote extreme examples such as SiLeone where there was a 96 per cent subsidy on puoperations. The authors suggests that even in Swazilwith a 24 per cent subsidy, private contractors are unwilto enter the market even though there is excess demiSubsidy or any interference in price setting can lea{monopolistic, inefficient operations and low utilisatThis is the case under both union control, for exampleGPRTU in Ghana, and government controlled or gowment subsidised tractor hire schemes.7.3 RUWL ENTREPRENEURSBiggs (1993) has found that the rapid spread of two WItractors in Sri Lanka was primarily due to the innovacapabilities of small scale rural entrepreneurs whoexperience and access to a wide variety of skills. T1entrepreneurs included vehicle operators, repair and mtenance tiisans as well as the large scale urban machirmanufacturers and importers. It was the skill and forvplanning of these entrepreneurs which meant that efears about insufficient backup services and the poor atabihty of spares for the imported tractors were not realiThe problem of inadequate maintenance which has dogso many developing countries in their attempts at mechsation were not evident in Sri Lanka.

Key Issues in Rural Transport in Developing Countries

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