Rural Access Programme

Fact Sheet

Policy

The Importance of Policy

Over the past few decades, many rural development projects have not been fully successful in achieving their objectives. There are many and varied reasons for this, but in recent years it has been realised that an important factor has often been the policy environment within which the project has operated. For example, a project may have tried to encourage agricultural productivity through the increased use of fertiliser, but during the lifetime of the project, there was a currency devaluation which increased fertiliser prices, or government reduced the subsidy on fertiliser, making it less attractive for farmers to use, so the project failed to achieve its objective.

Policy can be seen as the public sector or government guidelines on decision-making about public resource allocation, and the rules that determine the behaviour of government, the private sector and the individual. Policy is often laid out in a policy statement or document, which may be accompanied by a strategy document that shows how government intends to implement the policy; but the actual implementation of the policy depends on other factors, such as political will and adequate resources. Although it is sometimes seen as a matter for central government, policy can have a significant effect on poor households’ abilities to improve their livelihoods, for example by affecting the prices people have to pay for goods and services, or by making it more or less easy for people to work in different districts or even countries. Policy can be developed at a national level, for economic or social matters, or at a sectoral level, for example for health, education or agriculture. In some countries local authorities can also develop policies for the areas for which they are responsible.

The Policy Component of RAP

The Rural Access Programme has the goal of providing the conditions for “more secure and sustainable rural livelihoods for the poor and disadvantaged in hill areas of Nepal”. To achieve this, the programme aims to improve poor people’s access to the goods and services that they need: markets, health care, education, forest resources, drinking water, irrigation, agricultural inputs, extension and credit. One of the main means used will be improved infrastructure, and in particular investment in transport : roads, trails, footbridges and the like.

However, RAP, as the name implies, is about provision of rural access in a broad sense. It takes an approach of “transport plus”. Transport is the starting point for improving accessibility: that is, to reduce the level of difficulty that people, particularly the poor, socially excluded and women, face in obtaining the services they require. To increase the value of the transport infrastructure provided, this must be complemented by the identification of non-transport elements restricting access, such as social exclusion, or inadequate and inappropriate provision of facilities such as markets or health centres. RAP is working at district level, but a district’s ability to use integrated accessibility planning in developing their periodic plans may be affected by policy adopted at national level, whether by sectoral policies such as the National Transport Policy, or by policy frameworks, such as the PRSP (poverty reduction strategy paper). The Local Self-Governance Act (LSGA) is a major policy document that lays down the framework determining how district level bodies operate, and this has been supplemented with various regulations and guidelines to assist local bodies in carrying out their tasks.

RAP’s Approach

One of RAP’s main policy activities, though limited in scope, is to strengthen MoLD capacity for improved co-ordination of rural access policies and strategies among line agencies, donors and other development agencies. This will help to improve the setting for greater use of accessibility planning, and must be undertaken within the framework of the decentralisation process. The objective behind this is therefore to create an enabling policy environment at district level that will encourage an integrated approach to rural infrastructure and service delivery. At the central level, RAP works primarily with MoLD to assist it in developing the right conditions for this to happen. Examples of ways in which this will be done are through the development of appropriate mechanisms for operationalising the LSGA, and the review of the National Strategy for Rural Infrastructure Development as a basis for developing access policy.

At the district level RAP is assisting district bodies to develop and apply tools for accessibility planning. While doing this RAP can help identify policy constraints and gaps at the district level which make this more difficult. RAP can then inform MoLD of district experiences and help it to address these constraints. Once there is a good body of experience of accessibility planning at district level RAP, will assist MoLD in advocacy and co-ordination with sector ministries and the National Planning Commission (NPC) to develop an integrated approach to rural access issues.

Once the benefits of accessibility planning are accepted by districts and sectoral ministries, RAP will assist MLD and NPC to bring together elements of existing policy as a basis for developing a national rural access policy.

Policy has implications for ministries, local bodies and citizens. When policies are developed or are changed, it is important that people understand what these changes mean. RAP will take an active role in disseminating policy changes, particularly at district level, when these changes affect rural access. It will also assist MoLD, when necessary, in understanding the implications of policy change for regulations affecting rural access.

Good policy provides a framework for coordinating individual and organisational activity towards a common end. It is particularly important for cross-sectoral issues such as rural access, because it has to provide guidance for the various individual implementing agencies whose activities are critical to achieving the desired outcome. These agencies have to be convinced that such a coordinated approach will bring benefits. The policy element in RAP will become more and more important as the programme develops, because good policy results from analysis of experience, and lesson learning.