Benefit Distribution of Community-Based Infrastructure: Agricultural Roads in Indonesia

Abstract

Infrastructure development is believed to provide economic benefits, but the distribution of these benefits is still a subject of discussion. Previous studies generally discussed the distribution of benefits of large-scale and top-down infrastructure. In contrast, this paper aims to explore the existence and distribution of the benefits of community-based infrastructure development. This study uses a case study approach with quantitative and qualitative methods. The study reveals that agricultural roads provide time saving and cost reduction. However, the benefits obtained by farmers vary depending on the location of agricultural land in relation to the road. Although the distribution of benefits differs, farmers do not perceive this as an injustice since the route of the road is determined by the farmer group. Moreover, the greater benefits received have to be compensated by certain amounts of contributions by each farmer in terms of land release. This study also reveals that the physical-environmental conditions of the road contribute to the variation of benefits. The results of this study provide an insight into the benefit distribution from small-scale and community-based infrastructure. Such community-based infrastructure development has been proven to be effective as a model for investing in local infrastructure development.