The Impact of rural access roads in Samoa: the case of Vaitele Street (Lalovaea-Lepea) and other selected roads

Abstract

Sustainable road infrastructure is a priority development goal to meet land transport demands for rural and urban Samoa. It supports inclusive social and economic development through sharing the benefits of economic growth to lessen poverty in rural and urbanised part of the country. Access road projects, for example, are intended to encourage and support village agriculture as prioritised in the Strategy for the Development of Samoa 2008–2012 and 2012–2016. Similarly, the drive to meet Samoa‘s obligation towards achieving the Millenium Development Goals by 2015 translates into transport infrastructure priority investment areas for the government. As such, the study explores the impact of selected road infrastructure on the social-economic welfare of households residing near and within the vicinity of these donor funded road projects.