Financing Rural Transport Infrastructure

A fundamental requirement for making sustainable improvements to rural infrastructure is a clear understanding of who will finance maintenance and capital improvements. In the past the question of financing rural roads has centered primarily on the role of governments. Given the acute scarcity of financial and human resources in most developing countries, there are simply too many kilometers of roads and paths in rural areas for any level of government to take responsibility for anything but a part of this network. Bringing more of this network under regular maintenance requires innovative ways of combining the financial and technical resources of the public and private sectors. This paper presents a framework for improved financing of local government roads and community roads and paths. The key element of an effective approach is to clearly define the role of local government and communities in answering the central question: Who will provide an adequate and steady source of funding, especially for maintenance?