Evaluation of infrastructural interventions for rural poverty alleviation

Abstract

This study, undertaken by ESCAP in collaboration with the Asian Institute of Transport Development and with the financial support of UNDP, is an extension of ESCAP's work towards reducing poverty and coping with globalization. The guidelines in the present publication attempt to capture the developmental aspect of rural infrastructure projects such as roads, irrigation, power, credit, markets, education and primary health and to the guide the assessment of the multidimensional impact of such investments. The publication proposes a systematic methodology suited to the evaluation and selection of infrastructural programmes designed to deal with poverty eradication in rural areas. It describes the goals and objectives of infrastructural interventions in rural areas, highlights the impact of rural infrastructural investment, the measurement/enumeration of benefits and costs, and discusses indicators of benefits of infrastructural interventions and techniques for evaluation of such interventions. The publication is based on the deliberations of the Regional Seminar-cum-Cluster Country Meeting on Participatory Planning of Rural Infrastructure, held at New Delhi, 5 to 8 May 1998.