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Rural
Water transport is an invisible and marginalised form
of transport, ignored by policy makers and shunned by
donors. Defined as inland water transport that is used by
poor people and consisting mostly of small unmechanised,
family owned boats or canoes, rural water transport is used
for a wide range of purposes. It generates jobs and allows
people to access other employment services. It provides
pathways to goods and services – schools, clinics, fresh
water supplies. Sceptics argue that it isn’t important
to
the majority of the world’s 6 billion people. But for
many
of the world’s poorest people rural water transport is
the
only means of access to basic services.
The
International Forum for Rural Transport and Development
(IFRTD) organised an international seminar on Waterways and
Livelihoods in March 2003 in Pontianak, West Borneo, at which
participants made a case for improving mobility for the poor
through a strategy of developing rural water transport. Based
on a networked research programme, funded by DFID's Knowledge
and Research programme, the seminar presented for discussion
10 case studies representing a range of locations: river
transport (Cambodia, Indonesia and Peru), deltas (Bangladesh
and Vietnam), lakes (Uganda), canals (Kerala and
Madagascar), lagoons (Nicaragua and Cote d’Ivoire) and
inter-island (Indonesia). The researchers who included
development practitioners and academics working in NGOs,
government, and universities investigated micro situations
and their enabling/constraining institutional and policy
contexts. An advocacy and policy toolkit was an outcome of
the
seminar.
IFRTD
would like to hear from others who are working with
communities using waterways, to share experiences and to
strengthen the case for investing in their improvement.
Please write to Priyanthi or Kate at info@ruralwaterways.org
Waterways
and Livelihoods Programme
IFRTD Secretariat
113 Spitfire Studios, 63-71 Collier Street
London N1 9BE UK
Http://www.ruralwaterways.org
Tel: +44 20 7713 6699
Fax: +44 20 7713 8290
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