Ethiopia: Feeder road development for inclusive productive employment

This research program will investigate the impact of feeder road development on inclusive growth and productive employment. Road infrastructure - the largest and most widespread public investment in SSA - is assumed to be a main driver of productive employment for the economic opportunities created by better access and direct employment opportunities road infrastructure development provides. This assumption is generally unqualified and unquantified and this explains the often single-purpose and non-inclusive planning of roads. This research will look at: * Employment generation in road development including labour safety aspects; * Employment generation and changes in local economies including empowerment of labourers and contractors, including post-construction local employment environment and migration; * Impact of roads on their natural environment, in particular soil erosion and hydrology. The research is undertaken in Tigray (Ethiopia), looking at different agro-ecological conditions in the region and is compared with the Tana Basin area in Kenya.