Abstract:
Infrastructure provisions, especially rural roads, have been highlighted in a
number of recent studies and reports as an enabling factor for Africa to achieve
‘development’. This paper reviews the current limits of rural road knowledge
and appraisal procedures raising critical issues about what is actually known
about the impact of rural roads and the extent to which current appraisal
methods are able to fully contribute to this debate. An expanded methodology
incorporating the capability approach is advocated to help overcome these
issues. It is argued here that incorporation of the capability approach may help
overcome certain frustrations in our ability to understand the manner in which
rural roads impact upon the lives of people. The suggestion is made that the
capability approach offers a different angle of analysis that could further
contribute to critical questions surrounding the provision of roads, enhancing
appraisal and helping to avoid the creation of further infrastructural ‘white
elephants’ that have plagued Africa. Provision of rural roads is after all quite
expensive and without a valid appraisal mechanism, money spent on some rural
roads may more constructively be utilised elsewhere either on other roads, or on
other sectors.
