The IRAP Tool

The IRAP tool consists of a few simple steps as described below:

To improve rural access effectively, an appropriate (simple and relatively cheap) planning tool has been evolved, with ILO technical assistance, through pilot projects in Asia and Africa. It involves communities and local organisations to identify their access problems and propose solutions for improvement of their access to services and facilities. The local capacity in target countries has been strengthened to use this planning tool in order to address rural access problems more effectively and efficiently.

Rural Accessibility Planning (AP) focuses on the household, and measures its access needs in terms of the time spent to get access. Because of poor access a lot of time is spent by rural households to transport themselves and their goods in order to meet their needs.

The underlying principal of accessibility planning is to reduce the time spent on achieving access, and, hence have more time available for other social and economic activities.

Steps 1 and 2: Data collection and processing

The first step of Accessibility Planning is to carry out a situation analysis that identifies the access problems in target areas; both regarding the mobility of the population and the location of services and facilities. The local communities, organisations (government and NGOs) and individuals are involved in this process in terms of providing the needed information. Local enumerators are trained to carry out the needed survey and to process the data. Data comprises secondary data (population, agriculture outputs, etc.) and primary data. At the household level, primary data is collected on time taken and the manner in which households obtain access to services and facilities. The collected data is processed and analysed, which results in a demand-oriented access or transport needs in target areas.

Step 3: Preparation of accessibility profiles, indicators and maps

Access profiles of target areas cover a set of basic information on both locations of services and facilities and the difficulties that people have in gaining access to them. For each sector, accessibility indicators (AI) are prepared. The indicators are calculated by considering the number of households (N) in a target area, the average time spent to reach each facility/service (T), the frequency of travel to each facility in a given period (F) and an acceptable/target travel time (Tm) to get access in a sector. The AI=Nx(T-Tm)xF formula is used to calculate the Accessibility Indicator. In addition, based on the gathered information, accessibility maps are prepared in order to have a better visual presentation of access profiles in target areas and to see alternative sloutions to access problems.

Step 4: Prioritisation

The larger the value of AI, the worse is the access problem. The target areas are then ranked/prioritised accordingly. The target area with the worst access indicator in a particular sector gets the highest priority for access interventions in that sector.

Step 5 and 6: Data validation and defining targets and objectives

The access profiles will be presented and the gathered data validated in a training workshop which is participated in by representatives of local authorities, organisations and communities. During the workshop the sectoral objectives for access improvements will be defined. Where national targets exist, these will be used to define overall objectives, e.g. all households in an area should have direct access to potable water, not exceeding a distance of 500 meters, all year around. The targets should be realistic and attainable, based on the available resources.

Step 7: Project identification

The results of the above mentioned workshop contribute to identification of a set of interventions/projects which would most efficiently reduce the time and effort involved in obtaining access to supplies, services and facilities. These interventions are related to transport (rural transport infrastructure, low cost means of transport or transport services), and non-transport services (e.g. better distribution or the most appropriate locations of services).

Step 8: Implementation, monitoring and evaluation

The identified projects are then considered and integrated into the overall local development planning system for implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The target communities and organisations are involved not only in planning but they also contribute to implementation and maintenance of what has been planned.