Waterways and Livelihoods: Journey to the Mainstream?

For many of the poorest people in the world, water transport is the only means of mobility and access to basic services. Improvements in rural water transport (RWT) technologies, infrastructure, and services can help eliminate poverty and reduce isolation. Yet in a transport climate dominated by motorized vehicles and roads, traditional waterways have been neglected and deprioritized. The importance of RWT in the lives of the rural poor is explored by examining the results of the International Forum for Rural Transport and Development's Waterways and Livelihoods networked research project. Why RWT has become a marginalized issue is discussed. A new networking and information resource that promotes the integration of RWT through improved policy and practice both within the transport sector and in the wider development community is introduced. The lack of integration of RWT in mainstream transport and development planning is manifest in the deterioration of traditional waterways and infrastructure and in conflicts between waterway use and land transport (or other) interventions. The consequences of this lack of integration are lost opportunities for poor people to improve their livelihoods and lost potential to develop ecologically and financially sustainable transport technologies. Why has RWT been neglected? The Waterways and Livelihoods research identified a lack of positive visibility as the prevailing factor, including poor perceptions of RWT as outmoded and unsafe, a dearth of reliable statistical information on the sector, and an "unfair playing field" on which RWT suffers in comparison with other transport options.