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Paving the Way for Development: The Impact of Road Infrastructure on Agricultural Production and Household Wealth in the Democratic Republic of Congo

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  • Ulimwengu, John M.
  • Funes, Jose
  • Headey, Derek D.
  • You, Liang

Abstract

Given its vast land resources and favorable water supply, the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) natural agricultural potential is immense. However, the economic potential of the sector is handicapped by one of the most dilapidated transport systems in the developing world (World Bank, 2006). Road investments are therefore a high priority in the government's investment plans, and those of its major donors. Whilst these are encouraging signs, very little is known about how the existing road network constrains agricultural and rural development, and how these new road investments would address these constraints. To inform this issue the present paper primarily employs GIS-based data to assess the impact of market access on agricultural and rural development (ARD). Compared to existing work, however, the paper makes a number of innovations to improve and extend the generic techniques used to estimate the importance of market access for ARD. First, the DRC road network data is augmented with survey-based data from Minten and Kyle (1999) on agricultural transport times to calculate improved “market access” measures for the DRC. Second, we follow Dorosh et al (2009) in estimating the long run relationship between market access and agricultural production, although we also investigate the relationship with household wealth. Finally, we run simulations of how proposed infrastructure investments would affect market access, and how market access would in turn affect agricultural production and household wealth.

Suggested Citation

  • Ulimwengu, John M. & Funes, Jose & Headey, Derek D. & You, Liang, 2009. "Paving the Way for Development: The Impact of Road Infrastructure on Agricultural Production and Household Wealth in the Democratic Republic of Congo," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49292, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea09:49292
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.49292
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Breisinger, Clemens & Ecker, Olivier & Funes, Jose & Yu, Bingxin, 2010. "Food as the basis for development and security: A strategy for Yemen," IFPRI discussion papers 1036, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Mahamadou Roufahi Tankari, 2017. "Cash crops reduce the welfare of farm households in Senegal," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(5), pages 1105-1115, October.
    4. Ghani, Ejaz & Goswami, Arti Grover & Kerr, William R., 2013. "Highway to success in India : the impact of the golden quadrilateral project for the location and performance of manufacturing," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6320, The World Bank.
    5. Ghani, Ejaz & Goswami, Arti Grover & Kerr, William R., 2013. "The golden quadrilateral highway project and urban/rural manufacturing in India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6620, The World Bank.
    6. Marivoet, Wim, 2016. "Food markets and nutrition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2004–2005):," IFPRI discussion papers 1566, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Onyeneke, Robert Ugochukwu & Igberi, Christiana Ogonna, 2020. "Climate change adaptation actions by fish farmers: evidence from the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 64(2), April.
    8. Kebede Manjur Gebru & Maggi Leung & Crelis Rammelt & Annelies Zoomers & Guus van Westen, 2019. "Vegetable Business and Smallholders’ Food Security: Empirical Findings from Northern Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-28, January.
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    10. World Bank, 2011. "Facilitating Cross-Border Trade between the DRC and Neighbors in the Great Lakes Region of Africa : Improving Conditions for Poor Traders [Faciliter le commerce transfrontalier entre la RDC et les ," World Bank Publications - Reports 2785, The World Bank Group.
    11. Jose Funes & Laixiang Sun & Fernando Sedano & Giovanni Baiocchi & Todd Benson, 2022. "Social interaction and geographic diffusion of iron‐biofortified beans in Rwanda," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(4), pages 503-528, July.

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    Keywords

    Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries; Food Security and Poverty; Production Economics;
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