The Wall Street Journal-20080122-Politics - Economics- Efforts to Bring Electricity To Rural Areas Skip Poorest
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Politics & Economics: Efforts to Bring Electricity To Rural Areas Skip Poorest
WASHINGTON -- World Bank-financed projects to bring electricity to rural areas around the globe shortchange the poorest of the poor, according to a study by the bank's independent evaluation unit.
The study, due to be released today, finds that electric grids expand mostly to areas near urban clusters, rarely to more-remote areas where people live on less than $1 a day. In rural villages that do have electricity, as many as 20% of villagers may go decades without hooking up to the power because of connection charges that can range from $100 to $300. Credit markets rarely operate in such places, so few villagers can get loans that would spread the cost over years.
The evaluation group looked at 120 World Bank-financed projects since 1980 designed to increase rural electrification. In Indonesia, the percentage of rural areas reached by electricity increased to 85% in 2003 from 33% in 1981, in good measure because of such projects. But an emphasis on cost-effectiveness means that many poor villages are less likely to be connected.
"There's a balance that needs to be struck between cost- effectiveness and reaching those with greatest need," said the report's author, Howard White.
In Peru, for instance, the government sought to emphasize the poorest rural communities, but changed that focus when the choice of villages became a political battle. Now it looks at what is the most efficient way to boost rural electrification, which often means expanding outward from urban areas.
The report praised some countries that started credit programs to help with connection fees. Morocco allowed rural consumers to pay over seven years, while Ethiopia, for a time, spread the payment over five years. The Ethiopian program boosted the number of connections in electrified villages by 20%.
For rural communities, the advent of electricity can change centuries-old patterns. Villagers use the electricity first for lighting and second for TV, the report found. The latter is associated with a reduction in family size -- a long-sought goal. The median rural family had 0.6 fewer children after electrification than before, the report said.
The report cites two possible explanations for how television helps achieve this. One is that villagers learn about contraception by watching soap operas and informational programs. Then "there's the 'Leave me alone, there's something good on TV' argument," said Mr. White. Surveys suggest the first theory is correct.
Another big gain from electrification is that it allowed schools and health clinics to stay open longer. Additionally, people living in homes with electricity, on average, stayed up an hour to 1.5 hours later than other families. That gave kids more time to do their homework.
