Feature
Managing rural road planning, maintenance and improvements in Benin
Author
Isséré Joseph Dossou Social Mobilization Facilitator/Rural Transport Development Association (RTDA), Benin Member of the World Road Association Technical Committee 2.5 Rural road systems and accessibility to rural areas Head of Working Group 2.5.2 Management of rural road planning, maintenance and improvements
Illustrations © RTDA
In Benin, between 1970 and 2010, experiments in the areas of rural road construction and maintenance did not yield infrastructure in a permanently good state of repair. The results of these campaigns were inconclusive and accompanied by an observation of incoherent policy regarding rural road construction and maintenance, in addition to noting rather unrealistic mechanisms in place for applying resources to generate the necessary maintenance financing.
In light of these policy failures, the National Rural Transport Strategy (or NRTS), designed to acknowledge the nation's decentralization mandate, was adopted. This strategic policy has been in an experimental phase since 2011, and initial results are now available.