4. Socioeconomic Impacts of Roads

In theory, the economic benefit from road development accrues from the reduction in costs of both transport and travel. This allows several processes to take place that can have a positive impact on reducing poverty. Many factors can effect how the economic benefits of roads accrue to local populations and while there have been numerous studies to try to better understand this process many of these studies are flawed in different ways and do not lend themselves well to comparison. In Nepal results of some of these studies show varied and inconclusive results. One major study over a 20-year period showed very little concrete benefit from new roads. Other studies have shown that while new roads can benefit local populations they also can have unintended consequences, which may in the end negate some of the benefits. Finally, while roads are often touted as a solution to poverty alleviation the poorest of the poor usually benefit the least. Many of these effects can be seen along the Kali Ghandaki Highway in Mustang Districts where the highway has had impacts on diverse aspects of local economies including local tourism along the Annapurna Circuit Trail, religious pilgrimage practices at Muktinath, and changing land use and land values.