PROTOCOL: Evidence and gap map: studies of the effectiveness of transport sector interventions in low‐ and middle‐income countries

Abstract

BACKGROUND 1 1.1 | The condition Context: In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz Michela Wrong describeswalking down the overgrown disused railway which years before had been part of a network linking DRC's copper mines to ports in Angola and South Africa. Despite new investments in the last decade-the Benguela Railway link from DRC to Angola reopened in 2018 after being closed for 34 years 2 -Africa's rail system is small compared to that in other parts of the world, and a substantial part of what there is not used (Bullock, 2009). The poor state of railway transport in Africa-and the unrealised potential of inland waterways-puts excess pressure on the fragile road transport system, so that transport costs-which are increased by uncompetitive practices-are a break on African development.While much of Africa is an extreme case, inadequate transport infrastructure is an issue across much of the developing world.There are great disparities in the quantity and quality of infrastructure. European countries such as Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK have close to 200 km of road per 100 km 2 , and the Netherlands over 300 km per 100 km 2 . By contrast, Kenya and Indonesia have <30, Laos and Morocco <20, Tanzania and Bolivia <10, and Mauritania only 1 km per 100 km 2 . 3 As these figures show, there is a significant backlog of transport infrastructure investment in both rural and urban areas, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (Foster & Bricenõ-Garmendia, 2010). The situation is often exacerbated by weak governance and an inadequate regulatory framework with poor enforcement which lead to high costs and defective construction.The wellbeing of many poor people is constrained by lack of transport, which is called "transport poverty." Lucas et al. (2016) suggest that up to 90% of the world's population are transport poor when defined as meeting at least one of the following criteria: (1) lack of available suitable transport, (2) lack of transport to necessary destinations, (3) cost of necessary transport puts household below income poverty line, (4) excessive travel time, or (5) travel conditions unsafe or unhealthy.

PROTOCOL: The impact of infrastructure on low‐income consumers' nutritious diet, women's economic empowerment, and gender equality in low‐ and middle‐income countries: An evidence and gap map

“…To our knowledge, there is no existing EGM on the impact of physical infrastructure on nutritious diets, WEE, and gender equality. There are some general maps for instance on transport in LMICs (Malhotra, 2021), but the EGM has a broader focus in terms of outcomes, narrowly focused on one type of infrastructure (i.e., distribution infrastructure-roads, rail, trams, and monorail, ports, shipping, and inland waterways, and air transport) and restricted focus quantitative studies. Hence the study doesn't have a specific, detailed focus to be used in this map.…”

“…Like the EGM on transport by Malhotra (2021), our EGM will consist of a matrix with searchable filters. The interventions and outcomes are the two main dimensions of an EGM matrix.…”

“…The matrix cells will contain the studies relevant to that intervention and outcome combination. The searchable filters will cover interventions, study design, study status (completed and ongoing), country and region, and location (Malhotra, 2021;White, 2018).…”

“…Screening tool showing inclusion and exclusion criteria.ODEI OBENG-AMOAKO ET AL.| 9 of 15 defined as an analysis of a unique sample, which may include multiple time points for the same sample(White, 2018). As in other EGMs, when multiple publications are identified on a single study, for instance, a working paper and a published paper, we will consider including the most recent open-access publication in the EGM(Malhotra, 2021). Suppose a study reports on multiple interventions or outcomes or study designs, the study will be considered as one entry in the EGM but will be assigned codes for the interventions or outcomes, or study designs.…”

Dynamic geographical accessibility assessments to improve health equity: protocol for a test case in Cali, Colombia

“…They are lengthy, costly, and rarely address the dynamic temporospatial nature of accessibility, such as its links to traffic congestion. 6 , 15 , 16 …”