Multifunctional Roads

Abstract

Rural roads are built to improve people's mobility and to enhance access to markets, administrative centres, schools and health posts, and are credited with important socio-economic changes. A less studied aspect is the impact of roads on hydrological resources, as roads interact with existing surface and groundwater flows, redistributing water-related hazards and resources across space with significant consequences on people and their livelihoods. In Ethiopia, the government has embarked on a massive road construction programme over the last decade, mainly to serve the needs of an essentially rural population and agrarian economy. In parallel, the government has also been investing significantly in water harvesting and conservation measures and irrigation to serve the needs of a population whose livelihoods depend heavily on rain-fed agriculture. Based on fieldwork conducted in 2014 in the semiarid region of Tigray, Ethiopia, this article explores the opportunities and potential for multifunctional infrastructures. We argue that the two distinctive objectives of improving road connectivity and water availability for irrigation are interlinked and can be served by the same infrastructure, which we call multifunctional roads.

Adoption of Road Water Harvesting Practices and Their Impacts: Evidence from a Semi-Arid Region of Ethiopia

“…In this study, years of schooling is found to positively influence the adoption of RWH technology. Our results show that as years of schooling increase by one year, the probability of RWHP use increases by 17%; this is similar to the findings of [24,36]. This is because education increases access to information about innovation, inputs and their uses, and the management of technology, all of which are crucial to creating positive attitudes towards technology adoption.…”

“…Better market connections reduce the transaction costs caused by information asymmetry and increase the availability and uses of the support services that can promote technology adoption [34]. An empirical study in Ethiopia found that access to markets and a shorter distance from rural towns affects the purchase of inputs by rural households [19,24]. The negative relationship indicates that households living far from roads are less likely to use road water harvesting practices; as such, plots get less attention from these households and are less accessible via the small structures constructed through road water harvesting projects.…”

“…In both paved and unpaved roads, water harvesting practices have been implemented systematically in Tigrai since 2014 in an attempt to protect rural roads from rainfall damage, reduce landscape degradation, and promote water and food security [24]. Depending on several factors (including topography, soil types, rainfall amount, and water demand), different techniques of road water harvesting were implemented: (a) Channeling water from hydraulic systems (bridges, culverts, and road side drainages) into a series of deep trenches for enhancing soil moisture and groundwater recharge (e.g., Figure 2a,b), (b) channeling water from culverts and road sides into farm lands (e.g., Figure 2c), (c) use of ponds to harvest water from roads (culverts, bridges) for surface water storage and groundwater recharge (e.g., Figure 2d), (d) shallow groundwater development upstream of Irish bridges and fords, and (e) spring capture in road cuts.…”

“…For detailed discussions about the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) model specification, assumptions, and matching algorithms, see [24]. The outputs of the PSM follow all the necessary steps and fulfill the assumptions of the PSM models and algorithms.…”

Robust Planning of Irrigation Considering Water Consumption and Revenue

“…The negative aspects of rainfall can be reversed if roads are systematically used as instruments for rainwater harvesting [Nissen-Petersen 2006]. Thus, road harvesting can generate substantial positive impacts: more secure water supply, better soil moisture, reduced erosion and respite from harmful damage [Demenge et al 2015].…”