From Rural Roads to Poverty Reduction: Links and Channels

This presentation summarizes the findings of an ADB study on the poverty impact of rural roads, based on case studies in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia.

The results confirm that better rural roads are a necessary but insufficient condition for poverty reduction. The poor and very poor primarily benefit through

• the indirect impacts of road improvements,
• better access to welfare services and improved provision of services to the village, and
• increased opportunities in alternative livelihood income streams.

The poor can also benefit broadly from improvements to the rural economy through increased opportunities for agricultural wage labor. But these impacts are contingent on favorable preconditions being in place.

Download this Paper/Presentation [ PDF 1.2MB | 20 pages ].