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Country Focus: Bangladesh

Bangladesh has made impressive economic and social progress in the past two decades despite repeated natural disasters and external economic shocks. A good indicator of this progress is that the percentage of the national population living below the poverty line has fallen from 57% in 1990 to 40% in 2005. (World Bank, 2009).

The government of Bangladesh is keen to decentralise decision making on rural transport issues. Indeed strengthening local governance through community participation and oversight came through as one of the most important messages in the last “Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.” The World Bank have also expressed the desire for an effective transport sector in Bangladesh committing to assist the country in sustaining a 7% economic growth per year which will contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. However, a hurdle to the decentralisation of rural transport policy is the limited fiscal and administrative autonomy and weak institutional capacity of local government.

The rationale for greater investment in rural roads in Bangladesh is that households can better exploit opportunities to employ labour and capital more effectively. Rural road investments are found to reduce poverty significantly through higher agricultural production, higher wages, lower input and transport costs and higher output prices. Both the World Bank and the Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies (BIDS) are keen for investment in rural transport because it is seen to be pro poor – meaning that the gains are proportionately higher for poor than non poor.
GDP growth in Bangladesh is heavily reliant on the performance of the agricultural sector and the sector employs 48.1% of Bangladesh’s labour force. This indicates that improved rural transport benefits the country as a whole as well as the rural poor.
Along with rural road development, efforts are underway to develop the water transport system. Rivers are thought of as the lifeline of the nation and Bangladesh has one of the largest inland waterway networks in the world. Rivers are the cheapest mode of transport and often are the only mode that serves the rural poor. Waterways ensure water for agricultural operation and are a good supply of fresh fish as well. 

  

Population size	144.5 million (Bangladesh Economic Review 2008)
Rural population	76.47% (Bangladesh Bureau of Stats, 2008)
Urban population	23.53% (Bangladesh Bureau of Stats, 2008)
Area	147,570 km sq. (Bangladesh Bureau of Stats, 2001)
GDP per capita	USD 554 (Bangladesh Economic Review 2008)
Population below poverty line	40% (Bangladesh Economic Review 2008)
Gender Development Index:             Country rank             Index	123 (Human Development Report, 2009) 0.536 (Human Development Report, 2009)
GDP – composition by sector:             Agriculture             Industry             Services	18.7% (CIA World Fact Book, 2009) 28.7% (CIA World Fact Book, 2009) 52.6% (CIA World Fact Book, 2009)
Road expenditure as a share of GDP	2% (World Bank, 2007)
Rural Access Index:  % of population within 2kms of a motorable road	37% (World Bank, 2006)

Overview of the Bangladesh Transport Sector

Transport Subsectors:

Roads carry over 80% of national passenger traffic and form the backbone of the sector and railways carry 8% of passenger traffic. Inland waterways are an important mode of transport – there are 700 rivers and tributaries criss-crossing the country.

Roads:    
Length of total roads: 270,565 km (World Bank, 2007)
Length of paved roads: 80,915 km – 30% paved (World Bank, 2007)
Length of classified rural roads: 78,495 km (World Bank, 2007)

Railways:      
Length of railways: 2,460 km (Bangladesh Bureau of Stats, 2008)

Waterways:  
Length of waterways: 24,000km (Revival of Inland Water Transport: Options and Strategies, World Bank 2008)
Length of waterways in dry season: 6,000 km (Revival of Inland Water Transport: Options and Strategies, World Bank 2008)


Road Classification System (by Local Government Engineering Department, 2000):

Primary Road System

1. National Highways – Highways connecting National Capital with Divisional HQ/s or seaports or land ports or Asian Highways.
2. Regional Highways – Highways connecting District HQ/s or main river or land ports or with each other not connected by National Highways.
3. Zila Roads – Roads connecting District HQ/s with Upazila HQ/s or connecting one Upazila HQ to another Upazila HQ by a single main connection with National/Regional Highway, through shortest distance/route.

Rural Roads

1.  Upazila Road – Roads connecting Upazila HQ/s with Growth Center/s with another Growth Center by a single main connection or connecting Growth Center to Higher Road System, via the shortest distance / route.
2. Union Road – Roads connecting Union HQ/s with Upazila HQ/s, Growth Centers or Local Markets or with each other.
3. Village Road – a) Roads connecting Villages with Union HQ/s, local markets, farms and ghats or with each other b)Roads within a Village.

In addition to the above there are many roads belonging to the Municipalities and City Corporations.  The responsibility for development and maintenance of such roads lies with the respective municipalities and the City Corporations.

Institutional Framework

The Bangladesh government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) states an “efficient transportation network with adequate coverage synchronised with sustained service delivery is an essential input for development of the economy.” The government of Bangladesh is currently in the process of approving an “Integrated Multi Modal Transport Policy” which aims to build a secure, dependable and uninterrupted transport network.

LGED (Local government Engineering Department):  A public sector organisation entrusted with the planning and implementation of local level rural, urban and small scale water resources infrastructure development programs. The LGED works in a wide range of programs from the construction of roads, bridges and culverts to working in markets to socialise mobilisation, empowerment and environmental protection. The LGED is a highly decentralised organisation where 99% of total manpower works at the district and sub district levels.
LGED website: www.lged.gov.bd/home.php

The Rural Development and Cooperation Division: This government department places a high priority on rural development and poverty alleviation.  They ensure resource mobilisation, employment generation, empowerment of women, sustainable development and public private partnerships showing the continuous commitment of the government whilst working in the rural transport sector.
Rural Development and Cooperation Division website: www.coop.gov.bd/

Non Government Stakeholders

Development partners of LGED development projects: http://www.lged.gov.bd/links/dev.php

Rural Transport Programs in Bangladesh

LGED: Ongoing projects of rural development
Website: http://www.lged.gov.bd/projects/rural.php

Rural Transport Improvement Project (World Bank): Aims to provide rural communities with improved access to social services and economic opportunities, and to enhance the capacity of relevant government institutions to better manage rural transport infrastructure in the 21 districts of the country. The project was originally from 2003-9 but has been expanded to 2011 with a $180 million budget. The World Bank also prepared an Inland Water Transport Strategy in Bangladesh to help the government define a strategy to bolster the water transports contribution to shared growth and poverty reduction. In July 2010 the World Bank pulled out of the proposed Road Sector Reform Project due to corruption and governance issues. Previous projects undertaken by the World Bank include the Rural Development Project which consisted of rural works programs, minor irrigation, strengthening of rural institutions and services and the Rural Roads and Markets Improvement and Maintenance Project where the objective was to increase rural employment and income and reduce rural poverty.

National Land Transport Policy (Bangladesh Ministry of Communications): Goals include increasing rural incomes through employment for road construction and maintenance, to provide paved connection between economic growth centres and the country’s road network and to create closer linkages between rural development programs and rural transport.

Annual Development Plan (Bangladesh Rural Development and Cooperation Division): Aims to create additional employment through irrigation and water management and to increase productivity of labour in rural economic activities.

IFRTD Rural Waterways Case Study: Case of Amtali Upazila, Barguna District, Bangladesh: This study aimed to assess rural water transport and its importance for people in Amtali Upazilaof Barguna district of Bangladesh in the context of rural livelihoods, to determine the role of inland water transport in Amtali. The study showed there is tendency to use road transport more frequently in the dry season and that in the wet season water transport is the dominant mode of transport. Government has a good policy for the maintenance, supervision and development of the sector, but to improve the standard of services, regulation is a must, and local Government has failed in that regard. Boat transportation plays an important role for rural trading and development provides access to basic socio-economic needs and services for millions of people however evidence in Amtali shows that there is limited understanding among the policy planners in Bangladesh.
Website: http://www.ruralwaterways.org/en/case/case.php

IFRTD Research study on access and mobility impacting health in low income settings in remote riverine islands (sand bar areas) in Faridpur district, Bangladesh: The research proposal is based on this to conduct an in-depth study on poor vulnerable people living in the isolated riverine islands to get a thorough understanding on the relationship between access and mobility and broad-based health aspects. This will help to bring new insights to policy makers in the development sector. The objectives are to investigate the existing link of mobility and health in the development process, to determine the potential links of mobility and health and to explore the needs to build effective partnerships between vulnerable people and other stakeholders.
Website: http://www.mobilityandhealth.org/case/case_as.php

Challenges Faced in Bangladesh

The Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies and the World Bank used household data to conclude that households benefitted in a variety of ways from road investment such as paving an earthen road. These included substantial savings on household transport, road improvements increasing the agricultural wage, an improvement in adult labour supply as well as better schooling attendances for boys and girls. The study found that the overall effect of road improvements on household per capita annual consumption was 11% and that poverty fell by about 1% each year solely due to rural road improvements.

One of the main challenges to rural transport development is to meet demand for passenger and freight transport. Recently rural roads have been significantly expanded and improved though lack of adequate resources for maintenance threatens sustainability.

Key Resources

Journal: “The Poverty Impact of Rural roads: Evidence from Bangladesh” (WB, BIDS)
http://www.wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2006/03
29/000012009_20060329093100/Rendered/PDF/wps38750rev0pdf.pdf

Journal: “People’s Republic of Bangladesh Revival of Inland Water Transport: Options and Strategies” (WB)
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/
EXTSARREGTOPTRANSPORT/0,,contentMDK:21776734~pagePK:34004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:579598,00.html

Bangladesh Local Government Engineering Department (LGED)
http://www.lged.gov.bd/home.php

Bangladesh Ministry of Communications (MOC)
http://www.moc.gov.bd/

Contacts:

There is an IFRTD afiliated network in Bangladesh called the Bangladesh Forum for Rural Transport and Development (BNFRTD)- click here for more information and contact details.

You can also direct queries about rural transportation in Bangladesh to IFRTD's Regional Coordinator for Asia and the Pacific - click here for contact details

Page last updated June 2010

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