A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system is an essential element of the planning, design and implementation of rural transport projects and is useful in assessing whether projects achieve their strategic and development objectives. However, tracking results and being able to use them for future planning is a big challenge for developing and improving rural transport in Africa. There is a lack of evidence on both the development impacts of rural transport improvements and more importantly the benefits they bring to the rural poor. This knowledge gap has arisen because of the methodological weaknesses of existing impact studies in Africa and the failure to undertake robust baseline data collection before a rural transport project has started.

In an endeavor to strengthen the knowledge on rural transport M&E, SSATP has carried out a study to identify gaps in the current knowledge products and practice, and ways for filling them. This work covered a review of the existing knowledge and methodologies for rural transport improvements. Based on the findings of the study, SSATP is releasing this new working paper to contribute to wider efforts in order to increase M&E capacity in rural transport and adopt appropriate methodologies to undertake impact evaluations of rural transport interventions.