ASi" kUCTURE FlOR DEVELOPMENT

and reliability, as well as on quantity- Matdhing sup- both an increase in the incomes of ruralworkers-and
ply to what is demranded is essentiaL Finly, tie ef- a reduction in food prices for the urban poor can be
ficiency with which infrastructure services are pro- achieved. The green revolution (with imigation
vided is also a key to realizing potential return. playing a central role) demonstrated that the wages
of, and demand for, low-skilled agricultural laborers
Links to poverty
rise in step with more intesive cultivation and increased
yields. Over twenty years, one dosely obhifrastructure
is important for ensuring that served Indian village saw yields increase almost
growth is consistent with poverty reduction, a topic threefold and agricultural laborers' wages rise from
covered extnsively in World Deuelopment Report 2.25 to 5 klogms of wheat a day. Improved rural
1990; Poverty. Access to at least minimal infrastruc- stranport can also ease the introduction of improved
- tre services is one of the essential criteria for defin- farming practices by lowering the costs of modern
ing welfare To a great extent, the poor can be iden- inputs such as fertilizer. An adequate transport nettified
as those who are unable to consume a basic work reduces regional variations in food prices and
quantity of clean water and who are subject to un- the risk of famine by facilitating the movement of
sanitary surroundings, with extremely limited mo- food from surplus to deficit areas.
bility or communications beyond their immediate The benefits of tawsport and commuriications insettlement.
As a result they have more health prob- clude the access they provide to other goods and
lems and fewer employment opportunities. The services, especially in cties. Where the poor are conburgeoning
squatter communities surrounding centrated on the periphery of urban areas, as in
most cities in developing countries typically lack many developing countries, the costs and avai]ai3flformal
infrastructure facilities, a condition arising ity of public ansport become key factors in their
from their nonpermanence of tenure. In India the ability to obtain employment Access to secure and
proportion of the urban population living in slum reliable public transport has been identified in
areas grew during 1981-91, while the share of the household surveys in Ecuador as influential in depopulation
living in poverty (estimated using tradi- ternining the ability of low-income girls and
tional poverty measures based on income and food women to participate in evening training dasses.
consumption) declned. The lack of access to infra- The construction and maintenance of some infrastructure
is a real welfare issue. structure-especially roads and waterworks-can
Different infrastructure sectors have different ef-. contrbute to poverty reduction by providing direct
fects on improving the quality of life and reducing employment Civil works programs (as carried out
poverty. Aocess to dean water and sanitation has in Botswana, Cape Verde, and Jndia), which often
the most obvious and direct consumption benefits involve the provision of infrn.rructure, have also
in reducing mortality and morbidity. It also in- been important m strengtherimg famine prevention
creases the productive capacity of the poor and can and providing income.
affect men and women differently. For example, the
poor-women in particular-must commit lage Links to the environment
shares of their income or time to obtaining water
and fuelwood, as well as to carrying crops to mar- Infrastructure provision results from the efforts of
ket This time could otherwise be devoted to high- individuals and communities to modify their physipriority
domestic duties, such as childcare, or to in- cal surroundings or habitat in order to improve their
come-earning activities. Such gender-specific effects comfort, productivity, and protection from the eleneed
to be considered in the evaluation of proposed ments and tD conquer distance. Each sector-water,
projects. power, transport, sanitation, irrigation-raises is-
Access to transport and irrigation can contribute sues concerning the interaction between man-made
to higher and more stable incomes, enabling the structures (and the activities they generate) and the
poor to manage risks. Both transport and irrigation natural environrment Environment-fiendly infra-
-infrastructure have been found to expand the op- structure services are essential for improving living
portunities for nonfarm employment in rural areas, standards and offering public health protection.
often in indirect.ways (Box 14). A seeming develop- With sufficient care, providing the infrastructure
merit dilemma is that while rural poverty eduction necessary for growth and poverty reduction can be
requires higher -inoDmes, raising farmgate food consistent with concern for natural resources and
prices could make urban poverty worse. By raising the global environment (the "green" agenda). At the
- - the productivity of farms and of rural transport, same time, well-designed and -managed infrastruc-
20