Measuring Rural Access : Using New Technologies
Transport connectivity is an essential part of the enabling environment for inclusive and sustained growth. In many developing countries, particularly in Africa, the vast majority of farmers are still disconnected from local, regional, and global m...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/08/26726805/measuring-rural-access-using-new-technologies http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25187 |
| Summary: | Transport connectivity is an essential
part of the enabling environment for inclusive and sustained
growth. In many developing countries, particularly in
Africa, the vast majority of farmers are still disconnected
from local, regional, and global markets. To reduce poverty
and support inclusive economic growth, rural access is key.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to build
resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable
industrialization, and foster innovation(Goal 9), for
whichTarget 9.1 is to develop quality, reliable, sustainable
andresilient infrastructure…to support economic
developmentand human well-being, with a focus on
affordableand equitable access for all. The Rural Access
Index (RAI)is proposed as an indicator to measure this
target.The definition is also simple enough to understand
and usenot only in transport, but also in the broader
development context, such as poverty alleviation. In the
initial study, the RAI was estimated at 68.3 percent based
onhousehold surveys, leaving a rural population of about one
billion unconnected to a good quality road network. It is
important to update the RAI in a timely manner anduse it in
actual operations. Unfortunately, however, the previous
methodology has several disadvantages, suchas inconsistency
across countries, lack of sustainability ofregular updates,
and weak operational relevance and clientownership. In
particular, it is generally costly to relyon a household
survey, which limits the sustainability ofthe index. In
addition, the household-based approachcannot be spatially
representative enough, limiting operational usefulness. With
different tools and innovative technologies, it is now
becoming easier and very possible to collect data, update
the condition of the road network, and revise the RAI more regularly. |
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