Morocco - Socioeconomic Influence of Rural Roads : Fourth Highway Project

This is an Impact Evaluation Report (IER) of rural roads financed under the Bank's Fourth Highway Project in Morocco. The study focused on impacts on: (i) transport infrastructure and services; (ii) agriculture; (iii) social services; and (iv) the environment. The impact study also assessed the economic benefits of the improvements and their sustainability. The study focused on four of the ten rural roads improved under the project; the sample roads were geographically distributed in the North, Center, and Center-South of the country to represent a variety of climate, agricultural, and economic conditions. The main conclusions are summarized as follows: (a) Transport Infrastructure and Services - The improved road conditions led to: (i) year-round use of the roads, eliminating frequent road closures during rainy periods; (ii) a major increase in the supply of rural passenger services, especially share-ride taxis; and (iii) a substantial reduction in access time by the rural population to markets and social services. (b) Agriculture - Changes detected in the agricultural economy in the project areas were: (i) the overall level of agricultural activity increased in volume of production, productivity of the land, and monetary values of the output; and (ii) related economic changes in workload, employment on and off-farm, establishment of new shops followed different patterns depending on the region.(c) Social sectors - Changes detected in social indicators in the project areas were: (i) in education, enrollment of children in primary school more than doubled between 1985 and 1995, and quality of education improved; as new facilities were built it became possible to recruit teachers in the rural areas served by the project, and absenteeism of both from students and teachers dropped; and (ii) in rural-urban interaction, the improved rural transport services resulted in several-fold increases in social exchanges, both by relatives from the urban areas visiting the farms, and by farm household members visiting nearby cities. (d) Environment- (i) negative impacts were those resulting from the increased traffic and economic activity, that is, air and noise vehicular pollution, agricultural fertilizers and other chemicals which in all likelihood contaminated the water table; (ii) positive impacts stemmed mainly from transformation in the agricultural economy.