Malawi Transport Asset Management and Safety Project

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As most of Malawi’s population resides in rural enclaves, which are predominantly inaccessible, investing in rural roadinfrastructure can enable reductions in transport costs and ease mobility of both people and goods. Crucial transport linkages andcorridors that enable district agriculture/aquaculture production areas to connect with trade center markets and the national trunkroad network will be the major focus. The aim would be to facilitate transformative growth in targeted rural districts throughtransport infrastructure investments that contribute to cross-sectoral synergies, potentially coordinating with agriculture,education, health, private sector development, and other rural economic drivers. The project comprised four maincomponents:Component 1: Rural Road Upgrading and Rehabilitation (US$ 40 million). The component targets select district transportnetworks with the highest potential for improving socio-economic impacts through the upgrading and rehabilitation of secondary andtertiary road networks and/or small-scale water transport infrastructure (e.g. landing stages) that play a major role in linkingdistrict agricultural and economic areas to the primary road network, as well as support gravel rehabilitation of District Roadslinking local markets and agricultural areas to all-season roads and/or small bridges that can open inaccessible areas due to lackof water crossings in the rural areas. It would also look to develop safe systems road infrastructure to address road safetychallenges.Component 2: Social and economic Infrastructure (US$ 5 million). The component could support the development of marketcenters by constructing market infrastructure and storage facilities for farmers. Working together with Agriculture and Trade toform cooperatives which would use those facilities to enhance accessibility to markets as an objective. The component can considerconstruction of designated women only market stalls and storage facilities, as well as women only toilets within the markets. Otherinfrastructure for water, energy and ICT could also be considered for these economic centers according to needs. It is expectedthat while the component would enhance social and economic well-being of the local communities, it would expand the knowledge baseon the complementarity of rural access and social criticality. Component 3: Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Development(US$ 3 million). 23. The component will provide targeted technical assistance activities that can support relevant national anddistrict agencies address sustainable management of rural transport, while also supporting the government’s decentralization agendato devolve management of the road network to District and City Councils. It is expected to provide an an entry point for designingand mainstreaming gender-informed interventions that address inequalities in the road sector construction industry. It can alsofacilitate engagement with local or regional non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with demonstrated capacity to address sexualexploitation and abuse and prevention of HIV, with linkages to GRM for reporting purposes. Component 4: Project Management (US$ 2million). The component will finance activities to support the Implementing Entities with coordination and oversight of investmentand consultant activities. Funding will be used for bolstering in-house capacity for project monitoring, meeting fiduciaryresponsibilities, ensuring social and environmental safeguards compliance, and supporting communication and reporting. Roles willbe identified based on any gaps identified in the implementing agency assessment prior to appraisal.