Using a global poverty map and standard soil productivity measures, we find that the poorest
districts in Africa are more likely to have better (not worse) soil quality and that land fertility
is higher in districts with worse roads. Our results are robust to a battery of controls and
alternative measures of poverty and soil quality. The results indicate that transportation costs
are the main drivers of poverty in Africa and that isolation might turn soil quality into a curse.
More specifically, in districts with poor infrastructure, the poverty rate increases as soil quality
gets better. We provide evidence for causality by using least-cost paths from mining areas to
ports, and colonial road networks, as instruments for current transportation costs.
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