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The Geography of the Bottom Billion: Rural Isolation and Basic Service Access in the Republic of Mali

Author

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  • Leif V. Brottem

    (Grinnell College)

  • Bakary Coulibaly

Abstract

This article investigates the challenge of basic service access in one of the world’s poorest regions. Using the Republic of Mali as a case study, the article provides a new perspective on the dominant paradigm of decentralized service provision with a focus on rural areas, where basic services remain persistently inadequate. Service provision in regions such as West Africa will represent one of the most important development challenges in coming decades. This article applies a new geographical framework to decentralized institutions and service provision that is necessary to understand why access to basic services is becoming a more difficult problem to solve. It introduces two new analytical concepts—livelihood extensification and service attenuation—as well as a novel geographic dataset of rural service accessibility to show how rapid population growth and continued dependence on agriculture are putting basic services out of reach for an increasing share of Mali’s population.

Suggested Citation

  • Leif V. Brottem & Bakary Coulibaly, 2019. "The Geography of the Bottom Billion: Rural Isolation and Basic Service Access in the Republic of Mali," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(4), pages 1147-1170, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:31:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1057_s41287-019-00205-7
    DOI: 10.1057/s41287-019-00205-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Leif V. Brottem, 2018. "Dig Your Own Well: A Political Ecology of Rural Institutions in Western Sub-Saharan Africa," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 108(4), pages 1075-1095, July.
    2. World Bank, 2015. "Geography of Poverty in Mali," World Bank Publications - Reports 26077, The World Bank Group.
    3. Jessica Gottlieb, 2016. "Greater Expectations: A Field Experiment to Improve Accountability in Mali," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 60(1), pages 143-157, January.
    4. Carlitz, Ruth D., 2017. "Money Flows, Water Trickles: Understanding Patterns of Decentralized Water Provision in Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 16-30.
    5. Qaiser M. Khan & Jean-Paul Faguet & Christopher Gaukler & Wendmsyamregne Mekasha, 2014. "Improving Basic Services for the Bottom Forty Percent : Lessons from Ethiopia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 20001, December.
    6. Burt, Alison & Hughes, Barry & Milante, Gary, 2014. "Eradicating poverty in fragile states: prospects of reaching the"high-hanging"fruit by 2030," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7002, The World Bank.
    7. Masters, Samuel H. & Burstein, Roy & Amofah, George & Abaogye, Patrick & Kumar, Santosh & Hanlon, Michael, 2013. "Travel time to maternity care and its effect on utilization in rural Ghana: A multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 147-154.
    8. Catherine Linard & Marius Gilbert & Robert W Snow & Abdisalan M Noor & Andrew J Tatem, 2012. "Population Distribution, Settlement Patterns and Accessibility across Africa in 2010," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(2), pages 1-8, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Clemens Greiner & David Greven & Britta Klagge, 2021. "Roads to Change: Livelihoods, Land Disputes, and Anticipation of Future Developments in Rural Kenya," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(4), pages 1044-1068, August.

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