By Mark Sawyer, BA Candidate at Wheaton College and Intern with the Council's Global Food and Agriculture Program
Chances are that the only time you think about the importance of a good road is when you hit a particularly jolting pothole and wonder if you’re in for an expensive repair. Roads in the developed world are ubiquitous—we take access to an extensive network of relatively well paved roads for granted. But, in large swaths of the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, people and industry contend with completely inadequate road infrastructure. Some rural communities are entirely unreachable by roads, resulting in populations disconnected from economic opportunity. Others are connected by roads so poorly maintained that increased transit times and inaccessibility due to severe weather patterns counteract any benefits a road normally brings. Ultimately, these limitations in road access and quality severely limit economic growth and development—particularly for agricultural industries.
A Serious Need, a Smart Investment
Widespread access to adequate roads is particularly important in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where poverty is concentrated in rural areas and the agricultural sector makes up a large percentage of most countries’ GDPs. Road transport carries over 75 percent of passengers and goods in SSA, but over half of those roads are in poor condition, leaving Africa with the highest transport costs in the world (one study of farmers in Kenya estimated transportation costs accounted for 80 percent of farm-to-table costs to the farmer!). These costs hit farmers hard and ultimately result in a less productive and stagnant agricultural sector.
Development experts, researchers, and farmers have long understood that roads make a positive impact on rural poverty—much of their research has been focused on attempting to figure out how (and to what extent) roads alleviate poverty. The simplest answer is that lower transport costs for small and mid-sized farmers as a result of better road connectivity create profit gains that can be reinvested to improve agricultural productivity and quality of life. A quick look at the numbers shows that local road improvement could lead to doubled productivity and quadrupled sales for farmers in SSA. And growth of small and mid-sized farms is good news for everyone—they’re most effective at ensuring food supplies and enhancing food security. Finally, increased incomes for farmers attract investment and non-agricultural industries to rural communities, leading to an economic renaissance in the countryside that can stem the tide of poverty-motivated urbanization.
The Road to Food Security Is Not Always Well-Paved
Funding for road infrastructure in developing countries can be scarce, which is why it’s important to tailor an infrastructure project to the particular needs of the community it will be serving. For example, most smallholder farmers do not produce enough crops for market to necessitate a truck and a paved road—they may be better served by a dirt path that allows motorbike access to and from remote areas. As research from the World Bank and Université Paris has noted “the current pattern of road investment relies excessively on assumptions (or beliefs) and is scarcely based on reality.” Thorough quantitative research like the World Bank’s Rural Access Index can supplement on-the-ground knowledge and aid governments and private sector actors looking to stretch the value of their dollar to achieve measured and sustainable growth.
Routine and preventative maintenance is another way to maximize investment impact. According to the World Bank, under-maintenance of roads costs sub-Saharan states about $1.9 billion a year in rehabilitation costs. To further emphasize the importance of maintenance, evidence shows that one dollar in preventative maintenance saves six to ten dollars in future rehabilitation spending. However, maintenance is a hard sell to domestic lawmakers and international funders, who often would rather invest in a flashy road expansion project with easily measurable outcomes. Some organizations, however, have recognized the need for maintenance and are filling in the gaps (see the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s work in Senegal and Liberia), but lasting change will likely require policy reform and a change in the conversation to emphasize project impact over the disbursement of funds.
A Piece of the Puzzle
Judicious investment in roads has impressive and varied returns. Policymakers and project funders should embrace their role in developing strong road networks, just as they’ve embraced smallholder farming by promoting access to education, technology, and finance. Linking smallholder farms to burgeoning urban markets is crucial as urbanization causes a growing demand for food from a shrinking population of farmers. Connecting rural farmers to cities through investment in roads is key to preventing food insecurity and the political and social instability that accompanies it.
As with most solutions to a problem, new and improved road networks are not the silver bullet that will end rural poverty and ensure food security. The positive effects of good roads are diminished without a thick market of transport services, access to credit, and strong property rights for farmers, among other elements. Roads are necessary, but they are not sufficient in and of themselves to provide rural farmers access to markets. But smart investment in roads is a key piece in the puzzle of food security—the sooner we begin to act on this fact, the closer we are to a food-secure world.