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Impact Study—Morocco: Socioeconomic Influence of Rural Roads
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Despite sustained urbanization through the 1980s and 1990s, about 50 percent of Morocco's population remains rural. Rural inhabitants have benefited less from the country's economic growth over the past decade than urban dwellers; more than 70 percent of the poor population lives in rural areas. This report sought to understand the impacts that emanate from improving rural roads and how they influence the agricultural economy and the social sectors. The intention was to better assess the long-term value of investing in rural roads.
Methodology
The study assessed the impact of paving and other improvements financed under the Bank's fourth highway project (approved in March 1983 and improvements completed between 1987 and 1991) to four rural roads, originally with gravel or earth surfaces, located in three regions of Morocco. The study considered impacts on transport infrastructure and services, the agricultural economy, the social sectors such as health and education, and the environment.
For each of the roads considered, the study compared current conditions with those before the investments and conditions in the project road relative to a control road that did not benefit from improvements over the period of the study. Data were obtained from extensive surveys conducted at the farm, region, and village levels, and focus group discussions at these levels helped interpret the data.
Impacts
On Transport Infrastructure and Services
The most direct impact was elimination of frequent road closures during rainy periods. Other benefits included reduced vehicle-operating costs; use of larger, more efficient trucks; increased road passenger services, especially share-ride taxis offering frequent service; increased ownership of motorized vehicles, both of cars and trucks; and greatly reduced time to reach markets and social services. This improvement was a result of both better roads and new facilities, whose construction was made possible in part by the roads.
On Agriculture
The study found that in the road project areas overall volume of production, productivity of the land, and monetary output increased. Farmers were able to shift output from low-value cereals to high-value fruit orchards, thanks to the better quality and year-round operability of the improved roads. Livestock production shifted toward purebred cows, also a higher-yield undertaking. The better access conditions, moreover, resulted in an increased use of fertilizers and of agricultural extension services.
Improvements in the agricultural economy led to related economic changes in workloads and onfarm employment and the establishment of new shops. Off-farm employment grew overall by more than six times in the project zones, compared to about three times in the control zones.
On Social Services
Enrollment in primary education increased throughout all areas covered by the study; it increased at a much higher rate in the areas where the roads were improved than in the control areas. In parallel, the quality of education improved, as it became possible to recruit teachers to staff the schools, and absenteeism of both teachers and students fell.
The rural population also nearly doubled its use of hospital and primary care facilities, and the quality of health services was enhanced as the supply of medicines improved. Health officials launched a campaign to staff rural health care centers with a doctor, and health prevention programs became easier to implement.
Some social impacts were especially large for women: Girls' enrollment in primary education trebled over the period; expanded or new maternal and child care programs were made available and accessible; and the introduction of butane at affordable prices thanks to better roads dramatically reduced women's chores of daily fuel wood collection for cooking and heating. Rural-urban interaction increased through increased family visits.
On the Environment
Changes in transport conditions and in the agricultural economy had both negative and positive impacts on the environment. Overall, no environmentally sensitive areas were put at risk by the road-improvement projects. Negative impacts resulted from the increased traffic and economic activity, especially air and noise pollution and road accidents, as well as the increased used of fertilizers and other chemicals that may contaminate the water table. Positive impacts resulted from the transformation of the agricultural economy— notably, curtailment of extensive goat and sheep herding that damages the soil cover and increased tree plantations—and from broader substitution of butane for fuel wood, the demand for which is larger than the size of Morocco's sustainable forests.
Economic Analysis
The study quantified the savings in vehicleoperating costs compared with the original, unpaved roads, and the economic gains resulting from people and freight being able to move at any time, without the risk of road closures. Social impacts, although real, could not be quantified in the analysis. The ERRs (between 16 percent and 30 percent) were satisfactory. The analysis, however, did not demonstrate whether paving was the optimal economic solution.
Sustainability of Benefits
Historic trends showing steady traffic growth over long periods on Morocco's paved roads suggest that the stream of benefits is likely to be sustainable. The improvement of the agricultural economy is likely to be sustained, with the possible exception of the sugar beet planting in the north, which is uneconomic and may lose its market. The gains in agriculture are also dependent on government trade and fiscal policies. Social service impacts appear sustainable in view of the high value assigned to them by the direct beneficiaries and because of government policies and the increased funding it is allocating to improve social services.
Recommendations
The study recommended that consideration be given to (i) establishing a practical rural road monitoring system, (ii) increasing local community participation in rural roads, (iii) introducing mitigation measures to reduce likely increases in road accidents, (iv) adopting identification and evaluation methodologies based on multicriteria indicators, and (v) reassessing the optimal pavement width for rural roads. |
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