Traditional waterways continue to be neglected by policy-makers and the deteriorating vessels which navigate them ignored. Yet, rural water transport may be more energy efficient than road transport. Investment in rural waterways’ technologies, infrastructure and services has the potential to reduce the isolation of the very poor by increasing their mobility and access to markets and basic services.

Research coordinated by the International Forum for Rural Transport and Development (IFRTD) highlights the importance of rural water transport (RWT) for the poor. It focuses on the sector’s struggle for recognition in mainstream transport and development debates and the negative consequences of its neglect. A complementary CD-Rom and website provide information resources and advocacy tools to improve the livelihoods of those living and working in watery environments.

Case studies illustrate a wide range of rural water transport environments: the deltas of Bangladesh and Vietnam, canals in Madagascar and the Indian state of Kerala, rivers in Cambodia, Indonesia and Peru, lakes in Uganda, lagoons in Nicaragua and Cote d’Ivoire and inter-island waterways in Indonesia. The research highlights a lack of reliable statistics on the number of vessels or their economic significance, which reflects the prejudice of policy-makers who view RWT as an indication of rural backwardness.

Significant numbers of people depend on water transport to get to jobs, markets, health facilities and schools. Boats carry consumer products and medicines to remote communities and serve as shops for their owners. In Bangladesh, some four million people are thought to earn their living transporting goods and passengers along the country’s many waterways, providing an estimated sixty per cent of all employment in the transport sector. RWT also displays a high level of innovation.

Despite these advantages, the researchers report how:

• A lack of public investment in docking facilities increases the inefficiency of RWT – much time is wasted loading and off-loading passengers and cargo.
• Irrigation, energy and land transport interventions are planned without consideration of their impact on traditional waterways. For instance, bridges are built over rivers without determining the height needed for vessels to pass under them.
• RWT tends to be ignored by existing government transport regulations and environmental safety standards.
• The lack of a clear line of authority to enforce regulations – where they exist – contributes to RWT’s poor public reputation for safety.
• Waterway users and operators lack the organisational and lobbying power to influence government decisions and defend their rights.

RWT also faces an unfair institutional environment. Hidden subsidies disguise the costs of road transport and create the illusion that RWT is an unviable alternative. In Indonesia imported public vehicles are tax exempt whereas boat engines are not. In Madagascar, Indonesia, Cote d’Ivoire and Cambodia boat owners cannot access credit either from private banks or micro-credit institutions while land vehicle owners can.

In order to better integrate rural waterways with other transport options, the researchers call for:

• greater inter-sectoral transport planning
• the dissemination of such innovative good practice as Vietnam’s boat ambulances and the floating courts bringing legal services to remote communities of the Amazon
• more comparative research to be undertaken on the social, economic and environmental characteristics of different transport systems, to generate information for policy-makers
• dependence on imported technologies to be minimised, to ensure reliable operation, maintenance and repair.

Investing in and integrating RWT with other modes of transport has the potential to generate greater mobility for vulnerable people. Efforts to overcome biases towards RWT must include strategies to increase its visibility, locally, nationally and internationally. Transport regulations will also need to be extended to cover waterways and vessels to overcome the perception of it being “unsafe”, and the illusion that it is expensive and impractical will need to be revised.

Contributor(s): Akou Kouadio Aka, Paul Kwamusi, Danang Parikesit, Sok Sitha, Mour Kimsan, A J Vijayan, Henry Myers, Eduardo Neira, Tran Quoc Tuyen, Didier Young and Naved Chowdhury, Farhad Ahmed, Ana Bravo, Priyanthi Fernando, Megan Lloyd-Laney, Colin Palmer

Source(s):
‘Waterways livelihoods: a resource for promoting improved policy and practice’ by Akou Kouadio Aka, Paul Kwamusi, Danang Parikesit, Sok Sitha, Mour Kimsan, A J Vijayan, Henry Myers, Eduardo Neira, Tran Quoc Tuyen, Didier Young and Naved Chowdhury More information.

Funded by: DFID (IUDD)

id21 Research Highlight: 14 May 2004

Further Information:
Kate Czuczman
Editor & Communications Coordinator
IFRTD Secretariat
2 Spitfire Studios
63-71 Collier Street
London N1 9BE
UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 7713 6699
Fax: +44 (0)20 7713 8290
Email: kate.czuczman@ifrtd.org

Email: ifrtd@gn.apc.org

International Forum for Rural Transport and Development (IFRTD)

Other related links:
Infrastructure Connect

World Bank information on rural water transport

'Waterways and livelihoods'

'Cost structures in Uganda rural inland water transport services'

'Participatory Planning of Rural Infrastructure'

'Draft report on rural water transport - Cambodia Case Study'