Transport Infrastructure Investment Research Articles

The Spatial Spillover Effect and Function Routes of Transport Infrastructure Investment on Economic Growth: Evidence from Panel Data of OECD Members and Partners

Transport infrastructure connectivity is a spatial basis for economic development and the spillover and feedback effects of transport infrastructure investment (TII) have become an impetus for economic growth (EG). However, existing research does not consider the spatial effects of TII on the gross EG and the multiple effects of TII on EG structures. To explore the spatial relationships and the functional routes between TII and EG, the spatial Durbin model (SDM) was used to empirically analyze the spatial spillover effect of TII on EG from geographical and economic perspectives based on panel data from 2007 to 2019 of 35 members and partners of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD+). On this basis, a structural equation model (SEM) was established to reveal the multiple mediating effects of TII on EG. Results show that (1) the SDM–SEM hybrid method can model the spatial spillover effect and function routes of TII on EG based on theoretical analysis and empirical research; (2) according to empirical analysis of the SDM model, the spatial spillover effect in high-income OECD+ countries shows a positive effect under the economic distance, while that in the upper-middle-income countries has a negative effect; (3) an empirical analysis of the function route model implies that TII in high-income OECD+ countries exerts multiple mediating effects and it mainly affects EG indirectly by means including industrial structure (IS), and the rate of contribution of the key function route FR3 is 67.25%. The following suggestions are proposed: (1) it is necessary to enhance the intensity of effective investment in transport infrastructure, focus on weak links of transport infrastructure, and pay attention to investment in burgeoning fields of the OECD+ countries; (2) differentiated TII strategies are required to be formulated according to development of OECD+ countries with different income levels; (3) it is necessary to give full play to the spatial spillover effect and multiple mediating effects of TII on EG and the TII structure should be optimized, so as to improve the economic benefits of TII.

THE IMPACT OF ROAD, RAIL AND PORT INFRASTRUCTURE ON THE ANGOLAN EXPORT GROWTH: AN AUTO-REGRESSIVE DISTRIBUTED LAG ANALYSIS

<p>This study seeks to analyze the impact of investment in road, rail, and port infrastructure on Angola’s exports growth, using imports and GDP per capita as control variables. This study uses annual data for the period 2000-2020. The Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag is applied to determine the existence of short-run and long-run correlation between the variables. The results of the model suggest that there is a short-run and a long-run relationship between transport infrastructure investment, imports, exports, and economic growth. The coefficient of the variables in the short run and in long run is statistically significant at 5% of significance, which means that all variables impact the growth of exports significantly.<br /> <br /><strong>JEL:</strong> R40; R41; F10; F15</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0231/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Cost overruns of Belgian transport infrastructure projects: Analyzing variations over three land transport modes and two project phases

Transport infrastructure agencies are increasingly coping with strong budget constraints, while being highly under pressure to manage and upgrade an infrastructure network that meets the increasing service level expectations of all its stakeholders. Sound infrastructure management therefore includes tight cost control, a long-term vision and budget planning. Belgium has long been structurally underinvesting in infrastructure, but is in recent years trying to clear the backlog. However, it seems that cost overruns for transport investment projects – paid by the same budget as structural maintenance projects – may seriously reduce the number of critical projects to be carried out in the next years, delaying the necessary catching up process as compared to neighboring countries’ state of infrastructure (in the Netherlands, the UK, and Germany). This study analyzes quantitatively the cost developments, from the first publicly released estimates to the final execution costs, of 36 Belgian railway, road and inland waterway projects, representing a total final value of € 1,059,754,416.37 in 2020 prices, or approximately almost 10% of all transport infrastructure investments (in % of CAPEX) in Belgium during the last two decades is captured in our sample. We obtain results on the cost variation itself, and on the phase of the project in which the deviation is higher. We also investigate the transport mode as the independent variable. We find that overruns are higher in the project stage before contract awarding, and that cost overruns for road projects exceed those of rail or inland navigation projects. This case-based quantitative analysis, together with the variables researched in the case analysis, will enable Belgian governing bodies and transport agencies, separately responsible for one mode per region, to learn from these deviations, and to prioritize the need to further explore causes and develop solutions.

Construction projects of the German occupier in Kamnik

During the Second World War, the area of Kamnik came under the German occupation administration, which took various measures to integrate it into the Reich and make it as German as possible. Apart from Germanizing the population, these efforts also included ample investments in transport, administrative, and housing infrastructure, with which the occupier introduced its characteristic architecture into the annexed landscape. Most investments made by the German occupation administration in Kamnik were implemented between the summer of 1941 and the autumn of 1943. By employing the preserved documents or, more specifically, archival sources, plans, and photographs, the author presents historically the most important buildings and other infrastructural investments made in Kamnik during the German occupation, their “prehistory” as well as their designated use both during and after the war.

The role of transport infrastructure in economic growth: Empirical evidence in the UK

Since 2015, the United Kingdom (UK) has increased its investment in transportation infrastructure to compensate for years of underinvestment in comparison with peer countries. It is of critical importance to evaluate the effect of these recent investments, as well as historical ones, on economic development, both theoretically and empirically, to provide guidance on future infrastructure investment. However, few research looks into such policy adjustment on economic growth in the UK. To fill this gap, this paper investigates the relationship between transport infrastructure development and economic growth in the UK from different time spans. Principal component analysis (PCA) is used to construct a comprehensive measure of transport infrastructure development. This paper then applies Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) to investigate both long-run and short-run relationships between transport infrastructure development and economic growth from 1970 to 2017 in the UK. Empirical results suggest that transportation infrastructure has a long-run promotive effect on economic development. However, in the short run, this effect turns out to be significantly negative. The analysis of this paper indicates differentiated roles that the UK's transport infrastructure played in economic growth, which should be considered in future policy design of achieving economic sustainability in the UK.

MoPeD meets MITO: a hybrid modeling framework for pedestrian travel demand

Transport demand models were initially designed for simulating car trips. Nowadays researchers and planners are considering pedestrian travel and its health and safety impacts in the regional transport models. However, the existing transport models lack the knowledge and experience in pedestrian modeling for health assessment. This paper contributes to the modeling practice by developing an integrated model called the MITO/MoPeD. The model builds upon previous model development and integrates the fine-grained pedestrian modeling tool into the agent-based transport model. The MITO/MoPeD model is applied to the Munich metropolitan area. Model performances are analyzed based on travel measures (e.g., walk share, trip length distribution, and pedestrian flow) and physical activity volumes. Results show that the MITO/MoPeD model can better represent pedestrian travel behavior than the existing Munich Model. It performed better in simulating the spatial distribution of walk shares and the distribution of walk trip lengths. Moreover, it overcomes the issue of overestimating physical activity volumes. These findings suggest that the MITO/MoPeD model can deliver more precise travel outcomes. More importantly, it is valuable for addressing pedestrian planning issues such as transportation infrastructure investments, land use planning, assessment of safety and health outcomes, and evaluation of environmental impacts.

Development of a Method for Selecting Bus Rapid Transit Corridors Based on the Economically Viable Passenger Flow Criterion

The creation of bus rapid transit systems requires significant investments in transport infrastructure. It often requires changes in roadway parameters, building boarding platforms, new bus depots, as well as creating a priority passage system at intersections with individual vehicles flows. In world practice, the routing of bus rapid transit (hereinafter—BRT) corridors is often based on the criterion of an opinion of transport experts who assess passenger flows and the location of main attraction points. This article describes an algorithm for building BRT corridors based on the criterion of economically viable passenger flow. The method is based on an iterative algorithm built on the principle of passenger flows redistribution over the transport network in the event of a change in its characteristics. Specifically, what changes is the speed of transit in certain areas due to inclusion of the area in a BRT corridor when the area reaches the threshold of economically viable passenger flow. A threshold value of passenger flow for different cities, grouped by population size, is determined on the basis of passenger flow statistics in globally operated BRT systems. The condition for exiting the iterative algorithm can be either the absence of new network areas where an economically viable passenger flow is achieved, or the achievement of 90% of the labor commuting share in the city during the time specified in the urban planning standard. This method can be used to identify new and extend existing BRT corridors in cities with populations from 100 to 2000 thousand people.

RETRACTED: An empirical investigation of the impact of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and economic growth on climate change, evidence from emerging Asian countries

One of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the current millennium is the need to mitigate climate change, and one of the most viable options to overcome this challenge is to invest in renewable energy. The study dynamically examines the impact of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and economic growth on climate change, using Augmented Mean Group (AMG) technique in emerging Asian countries during the period 1975–2020. The estimated results show that the consumption of renewable energy sources significantly mitigates climate change, while the consumption of non-renewable energy sources significantly contributes to climate change. Furthermore, economic growth, investment in transport infrastructure, and urbanization significantly accelerate climate change in specific emerging Asian countries. The results further demonstrate the validity of the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in emerging Asian economies. Country-specific analysis results using AMG estimates shows that renewable energy consumption reduces climate change for all specific emerging Asian countries. However, the consumption of non-renewable energy sources and investments in transport infrastructure have significant incremental impacts on climate change in all countries. Urbanization contributes significantly to climate change, with the exception of Japan, which does not have any significant impact on climate change. The significant progressive effect of GDP and the significant adverse impact of GDP2 on climate change confirm the validity of the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in India, China, Japan, and South Korea. Moreover, the Dumitrescu and Hurlin causality test confirmed a pairwise causal relationship between non-renewable energy consumption and GDP, supporting the feedback hypothesis. According to the empirical analysis of this study, the best strategy for climate change mitigation in specific emerging countries in Asia is to transition from non-renewable energy to renewable energy.

Enhancing farmer linkages to markets in developing countries through mapping of supply chains and optimising transport

Getting products to market where transport infrastructure is underdeveloped or unreliable is a major barrier to agricultural development, particularly in less-developed countries. Transport represents a high proportion of farm gate costs of moving livestock and crops to processors and local markets throughout the region. This is confounded by poor transport network infrastructure throughout the supply chain, wet weather accessibility constraints, food losses in transit, and congestion. Evidence-based approaches can inform transport and logistics infrastructure investments at different locations to maximise cost reductions.The Transport Network Strategic Investment Tool (TraNSIT) was developed by Australia’s national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), to map freight movement and associated costs. The tool was applied to create the largest supply chain analysis ever conducted in Australia, mapping more than 170 commodities and 25 million vehicle trips per year. It is used extensively by the Federal and state governments to inform over $5 billion per year in major infrastructure and freight strategies.Drawing on experience through an investment by the Australian Government in partnership with agencies in Vietnam and Indonesia, we show how the TraNSIT methods can be extended and implemented in these developing countries. Several challenges are addressed around securing commitment from key in-country ministries and state-owned enterprises, accessing quality data, and modelling freight and supply chains that differ considerably to those in developed countries. Applications to key cropping and livestock commodities are used to demonstrate how TraNSIT can be used to analyse existing supply chains and test scenarios for various infrastructure investments.

RETRACTED: An empirical analysis of FDI and institutional quality on environmental quality and economic growth, evidence from the panel of asian oil-producing and non-oil-producing economies

This study applies the augmented mean group (AMG) estimation technique to investigate whether institutional quality and FDI contribute to economic growth and environmental quality in emerging Asian oil-producing and non-oil-producing countries during the period 1975–2020. The estimation of AMG strategy indicates that for every 1% increase in FDI, institutional quality and carbon emissions can significantly boost economic growth by 0.882%, 0.659%, and 0.605%, respectively. Likewise, trade liberalization, transport infrastructure and urbanization can significantly boost economic growth. Long-term variable elasticity coefficients based on carbon emissions model suggest that FDI can stimulate carbon emissions, thereby validating the Pollution Heaven Hypothesis (PHH) in selected panel of countries. Institutional quality has a significant negative impact on carbon emissions, while GDP, trade openness, urbanization, and investment in transport infrastructure contribute significantly to carbon dioxide emissions. Country wise estimates of the AMG strategy show that the institutional quality of oil-producing countries has no significant impact on economic growth, but does boost economic growth in non-oil producing countries. The quality of institutions in both non-oil and oil-producing countries can significantly reduce carbon emissions. FDI stimulates economic growth in oil-producing countries compared to non-oil-producing countries. However, FDI contributes significantly to both oil and non-oil-producing CO2 emissions, thus validating PHH. Controlling factors such as economic growth increase significantly to CO2 emissions in oil-producing countries, while, CO2 emissions from petro-states stimulate more to economic growth than non-petroleum states. The impact of trade liberalization on economic growth is significantly positive in both oil and non-oil-producing countries, but the contribution of non-oil-producing economies is higher than that of oil-producing countries. Compared with non-oil producing countries, trade liberalization in oil-producing countries contributes more to carbon emissions. Investment in transportation infrastructure significantly boosted economic growth in both oil and non-oil producing countries, but oil producing countries contributed more than non-oil producing countries. A range of policy proposals were discussed to achieve economic and environmental sustainability.

Quantifying disparities in access to recreational opportunities by alternative modes of transport

The paper draws upon open-source technologies to present methods of incorporating multiple travel modes into GIS analyses of cumulative opportunity and proximity-based metrics of accessibility. Two case studies are undertaken. The first uses isochrone analysis to evaluate national access to sport facilities expected to appeal to a broad range of ages and abilities. Predictably, urban areas and private car travel record the highest levels of access, but the revelation of geographical patterns in disparities between travel modes may allow transport planners and national and regional sporting bodies to identify where further investment in facilities and transport infrastructure might best be targeted. The second case study uses network tracing of shortest time pathways to consider city level access to greenspaces. Findings here suggest that cycling may offer similar access levels as private car travel, with much poorer outcomes for walking and public transport. Such studies demonstrate how active travel and public transport might be included in holistic GIS analyses to aid policy makers, and those who plan and monitor provision of sporting opportunities, to promote improved levels of access to, and participation in, physical activities within disadvantaged communities. They may also have value in cross-sector approaches that promote the wider health and environmental benefits of using active travel and public transport to access neighbourhood facilities.

The innovation effect of administrative hierarchy on intercity connection: The machine learning of twin cities

Do cities with higher administrative hierarchies always enjoy higher intercity connections? Based on an innovation of twin cities (Chengdu-Chongqing) in China, this paper uses machine learning methods (linear model, support vector machines, neural network and random forest) to predict the innovation effect of a new administrative hierarchy on intercity connections. The key findings indicate the following. (1) The innovation effect of administrative hierarchy on intercity connections is asymmetric in twin cities. (2) For the city with a later-higher administrative hierarchy (LHC, Chongqing in this case), the innovation effect of the administrative hierarchy on intercity connections is initially negative (approximately 10 years for Chongqing) and then becomes positive. (3) For the city with an initially higher administrative hierarchy (IHC, Chengdu in this case), the innovation effect is continually positive. (4) The underlying mechanism of the reverse trend for LHC is due to more financial independence, investment in transportation infrastructure and less transaction cost of market access associated with the new administrative hierarchy, which have an innovative effect after a time lag (approximately 10 years for Chongqing). (5) However, IHC enjoys a continual net-positive innovation effect on the intercity connection due to its first-mover advantage on administrative hierarchy and the diffusion effect of LHC. These findings shed light on practical implications that for intercity connections, the primary concern and dominant strategy of innovation is cooperation with the trickle-down rather than the siphon effect. We should tailor different intercity connection strategies for the separate cities in a twin-city pair. This can provide new contributions to the innovation of intercity connections only if the twin cities see one another politically as “siblings” rather than as a “divorced couple”.

Транспортна інфраструктура України як об’єкт інвестиційної привабливості в мінливих безпекових умовах

Restoration and development of transport infrastructure is an extremely important task. Considering this, the aim of the article is to analyze the status and identify the problems of investment in the activities of transport infrastructure enterprises in changing security conditions. The authors pay attention to the classification of transport infrastructure in order to highlight its diversity and interaction in order to emphasize the need to take into account the specifics of the activities of transport infrastructure enterprises when determining their investment attractiveness. The systemic problems of transport infrastructure and ways to relieve of them are identified. It is noted that in the last decade Ukraine has been actively working on the development of transport infrastructure with a focus on the European integration. The advantages of this process include standardization, increased investment, and enhanced competitiveness. However, there are also disadvantages, such as financial costs, insufficient structural changes, and somewhat slow adaptation to new requirements, which can cause internal difficulties and disputes. Emphasis is placed on the unevenness of investments in this industry due to the specifics of the activities of transport infrastructure enterprises. It is determined that attracting investment during the war is a difficult task due to uncertainty and risks for business. However, with the right strategy and the right use of opportunities, investments can be attracted even in such conditions. It is indicated that it is necessary to choose the optimal methodology for determining the investment attractiveness of transport infrastructure enterprises under modern conditions. An analysis of the main methods for determining investment attractiveness is carried out, their advantages and disadvantages have been specified. Groups of investors with different interests and expectations from investments are defined. The main factors that determine the investment attractiveness of transport infrastructure in changing security conditions have been identified. Most of all, this infrastructure is affected by the level of security and stability of a country or region. This is followed by legal stability, infrastructure potential, economic sustainability, innovation in technology, logistics efficiency, ecological aspects, and the geopolitical situation. Considering the interaction of these factors, a comprehensive assessment of the attractiveness for investment in transport infrastructure can be provided. All these factors should be taken into account in the formation of an integral indicator of investment attractiveness of transport infrastructure enterprises.

Latent Comparative Advantages of Turkish Economy in China under the Belt and Road Initiative

This study identifies latent comparative advantages (LCA) of the Turkish economy in China under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) China-Central West Asia economic corridor. The LCA of Turkey is anticipated to increase the export volume of Turkey in China, resulting in a decline in Turkey’s foreign trade deficit with China. The growth identification and facilitation framework proposed by new structural economics is implemented with crucial modifications, including PRODY and EXPY calculations and comparisons of EXPY and some product space indicators, to pick the LCA of Turkey in China. Benchmark countries are chosen from BRI's China-Central West Asia economic corridor owing to their similar transportation routes and infrastructure investment by China and themselves. Comparing the Turkish economy to its benchmark countries regarding export diversification reveals that Turkey exhibits LCA in several manufacturing commodities, including machinery and mechanical appliances, loudspeakers, and fire extinguishers. LCA's binding constraints, barriers, and obstacles are examined to facilitate LCA production. The policy recommendations and their instruments are suggested to ease LCA production regarding the determined LCA's binding constraints, barriers, and obstacles.

Economic Impact of Transport Infrastructure in Ethiopia: The Role of Foreign Direct Investment

This article examines the relevant relationship between transport infrastructure and foreign direct investment (FDI) in explaining economic growth from the road and air transport perspectives in Ethiopia over the period 1981 to 2017. To determine the economic effect of transport infrastructure, first, we assess the co-integration between transport infrastructure and economic growth using the autoregressive distributed lag bound test model. Once co-integration is established, the elasticity of economic growth is estimated using Ordinary Least Square estimation techniques. Second, we perform the hierarchical multiple regression to estimate the mediation impact of FDI in the association between transport infrastructure and economic growth. Initially, we have standardized all variables. Then, we estimate the mediating effect of FDI. To validate the consistency of our method, we check the robustness of our model. The obtained result shows that transport infrastructure has a significant long-term economic effect, and the short-run dynamics show the speed of adjustment is corrected by 81% each year toward the long-run path, and thereby transport infrastructure attracts FDI in Ethiopia. Moreover, FDI plays a significant mediating role, thereby increasing the economic growth performance of the country in Ethiopia. The study extends previous research and increases the validity of the findings by investigating the economic impact of transport infrastructure in the Ethiopian context. Moreover, this study is the first research study that explores the mediating role of FDI in the relationship between transport infrastructure and economic growth in Ethiopia.

Impact of high temperature on road injury mortality in a changing climate, 1990-2019: A global analysis.

Previous studies have shown that extreme heat likely increases the risk of road injuries. However, the global burden of road injuries due to high temperature and contributing factors remain unclear. This study aims to characterize the global, regional and national burden of road injuries due to high temperature from 1990 to 2019. Based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2019, we obtained the numbers and age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) and age-standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALY) rates (ASDR) of the road injury due to high temperature at global, regional, and national levels from 1990 to 2019. The world is divided into five climate zones according to the average annual temperature of each country: tropical, subtropical, warm temperate, cold temperate, and boreal. We used the generalized additive models (GAM) to model the trends of road injuries globally and by region. Globally, between 1990 and 2019, the deaths of road injury attributable to high temperature increased significantly from 20,270 (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 7836 to 42,716) to 28,396 (95% UI, 13,311 to 51,178), and the DALYs increased from 1,169,309 (95% UI, 450,834 to 2,491,075) to 1,414,527 (95% UI, 658,347 to 2,543,613). But the ASMR and the ASDR slightly decreased by 8.49% and 13.16%, respectively. The burden of road injury death attributable to high temperature remained high in low SDI and tropical regions. In addition, road transport infrastructure investment per inhabitant is associated with the burden of road injuries attributable to high temperature. Globally, the ASMR and ASDR for road injuries attributable to high temperature decreased from 1990 to 2019, but the absolute death and DALYs continued to increase. Thus, concerning global warming, implementation of prevention and interventions to reduce road injuries from heat exposure should be stressed globally.

Multi-criteria decision making and project portfolio management for transport infrastructure investment in Thailand

Transport project selection is always critical in government planning due to limited resources and diverse demands. Project portfolio management (PPM) was proposed in this study to suggest an optimal set of projects under predetermined constraints. With multiple conflicting criteria, comprehensive steps of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) procedures were proposed in this study. The process begins with a step of pre-screening the projects and selecting the criteria for project evaluation. Sequential steps of: 1) weight determination process using the proportion method; 2) MCDM process using preference ranking organisation method for enrichment evaluations (PROMETHEE) II; 3) constraint consideration process using PROMETHEE V, was proposed to evaluate and select an optimal project portfolio. The study showed that decision making could be successfully done for the transport infrastructure investment with minimal complex calculation steps and questionnaire input from experts.

Transport Infrastructure and Regional Development: A Survey of Literature on Wider Economic and Spatial Impacts

The main purpose of the paper is to provide an overview of methods used to research the relationship between transport infrastructure investments and regional development, with a focus on wider impacts both in the traditional economic context (wider economic impacts or WEIs) and—which is a methodological novelty proposed by this paper—in the spatial context (wider spatial impacts or WSIs). In terms of methodology, research may be conducted using the following methods: cost benefit analysis (CBA) and multi-criteria analysis (MCA), accessibility and potential models, econometric production function estimates, regional modelling, trade and input-output (IO) modelling, Land Use-Transport Interaction (LUTI) or spatial computable general equilibrium (SCGE) models. In the European Union, approaches based on cost-benefit analysis (CBA), or possibly multi-criteria analysis (MCA), continue to prevail. Notwithstanding the availability of a wide range of methods for quantifying socio-economic impacts, the European Union recommends that wider economic impacts at the regional and national levels be assessed by means of qualitative approaches. This being the case, it is recommendable for the European Commission to take broad-ranging action towards ensuring that the effects of transport infrastructure investments are assessed by means of a broader range of approaches.

Announcement of the first metro line and its impact on housing prices in Bogotá

Transport infrastructure investment impacts mobility and may significantly affect the capitalisation of the areas surrounding these infrastructure projects, even before the projects are completed. This paper analyses the impact that the announcement of the First Metro Line has on housing prices in the city of Bogotá. It combines innovative databases, web scraping and Google Maps with administrative records—such as the Bogotá Urban Development Institute (IDU, by its acronym in Spanish) databases—to assess how the announcement of the metro construction impacts the rental or sales market prices for the houses surrounding the infrastructure projects. The results show that the housing sale prices increased since October 2019, the time when the awarding of the contract for construction of the First Metro Line was announced. The flats and houses on sale located within 1.5 km from the future metro stations showed an increase of 10.5 and 6.5% in prices, respectively.

Market supply of livestock and animal products in north-eastern Madagascar – the role of the vanilla boom

The SAVA region, located in north-eastern Madagascar, is a global hotspot of vanilla production. Here, soaring vanilla prices over the past 7 years, the so-called “vanilla boom”, improved the socioeconomic situation of the farming population, which may change dietary patterns towards higher meat consumption and offer an opportunity for regional livestock producers. This paper therefore investigates if the vanilla boom opened new market opportunities to local stakeholders by targeting 81 livestock producers, 23 butchers, and 34 retailers involved in the supply chain of live animals and animal products in the region. Starting from regular food markets of three major cities and three villages, data on animal and meat sales in and outside the vanilla selling season (July-September) was collected. Information on opportunities and challenges faced by different stakeholders was recorded, and the determination of the geographical location of markets, animal and product origins served the compilation of foodsheds. Results revealed that local livestock producers are mostly supplying poultry while butchers are exclusively selling zebu cattle and pigs. Zebus and eggs are completely sourced from neighbouring as well as distant regions to meet the huge local demand, while poultry and pigs are mostly supplied by regional producers. Animal sales volumes increase during the vanilla selling season, due to a temporarily enhanced regional purchasing power based on cash income from vanilla sales. Although the high demand motivates local and more remote producers to intensify their livestock activities, livestock diseases, lack of appropriate animal management, and market information hamper their endeavours. Transparent and timely market information flow, training of livestock producers, as well as investments in transportation and marketing infrastructure could support the development of the local livestock sector and improve the local supply with animal source food in the SAVA region.