Road development, increasing market access, and natural resource use on Nicaragua's Atlantic coast

Road development is often blamed for negative environmental outcomes; however the indirect pathways connecting road building with environmental change are complex and poorly understood. I examine how one possible indirect pathway, increasing market access, can affect household environmental resource use on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua. A continuum of communities varying in degree of market access is examined both before and alter road completion. Specifically, I look at shifting market flow and price changes for natural resource goods and corresponding fishing and farming decisions in response to new roads. I also examine employment trends as a factor that could potentially mitigate environmental change. Fisheries markets in the area were more responsive to market access improvements than agricultural markets. With increased access, fishers increasingly sold to non-local buyers, overall export of fisheries products increased, and markets for new products emerged. Prices of fisheries goods increased with proximity to markets and the availability of non-local sales outlets. Observed changes in employment included household diversification into sales, wage work and remittances, and shifts away from farming and fishing. Household changes in fishing and farming investments were not observed within the one year time frame of the study, and therefore the environmental implications of increased market access are still uncertain. Further long-term study planned in the area and additional biological monitoring will help to determine the full environmental consequences of market access.