In the area of the Congo where we work, nearly everyone is engaged in subsistence agriculture. To generate cash income, markets and transport must be available to enable farmers to sell their excess production. Today, that is difficult because the roads are very bad, there are few trucks and few warehouses, and there is little capital to buy trucks, build warehouses, and buy the produce. Few people know much about the markets in Kinshasa, which are more lucrative.
When the U.S. West was being settled, such situations must have been common. Somehow, the settlers built roads that enabled them to reach railroads that were built with European and East Coast money. Many of the roads in places such as Kansas were built by local people before the advent of motorized equipment. In the Congo equipment is available to build roads, but there appears to be no systemic plan to maintain them. Consequently, they soon deteriorate into a series of mud holes during the rainy season. Such roads are nearly impassable for trucks and thus prevent farmers from selling their surplus.
How might we stimulate people to maintain roads to enable goods to reach cities and ports?
Great stuff as usual…