Regional Seminar Proceedings 1990

When labour-based techniques were first introduced it was to replace equipment with manpower, i.e. to replace machines with paid labour. With this policy rural communities would benefit in the short term from the money paid as wages.

A period has now been reached when African Government are facing extreme economic difficulties and pressure is increasing to hand over maintenance of roads to self-help labour. This is a departure from the original idea and can it be sustainable?

5.2 COMMENTS AND EXPERIENCES FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

In Malawi the building of self-help village access roads was successful in the areas where people wanted the roads and where they knew there would be no alternative to self-help such as Government funding. Also the interest increased the further the villages were from an existing road.

The self-help projects in Ethiopia have a reasonable output, but not to the standard of the district roads.

In Rukwa Region Tanzania the self-help works were next to the paid labour works and therefore those working on self-help road works taking place in a different part of the Region and they were successful, so there could be self-help without force.

In Ilege District of Mbeya Region, a dynamic leader is "inspiring" the people to do self-help roadworks to avoid collapse of the roads. This is not happening in other disctricts of the Region.

Two trials for self-help have been carried out in Tanga Region and both have failed. A third trial has been started but again the numbers of people reporting for work has been very small.

In Makete District, a remote area of Iringa Region, Tanzania self-help roadworks are progessing well. No Government funds were available for feeder roads and the communities realised the only way to have access was to rehabilitate the roads themselves. Some villages even started repairs to the roads in advance of the arrival of the project team. On the regional road self-help was used over a period of three months to provide an adequate drainage system. Perhaps in this case some of the people were forced to join the roadworks. In the Matamba area of Makete maintenance is being carried out on a self-help basis.

Self-help in Botswana will work for rehabilitation if the initiative has come from the people, however maintenance on this basis is not a success.

Attempts to use self-help in Mozambique have been unsuccessful as people did not wish to participate.

Kenya, and other countries, have had successful water supply lends itself more easily to the use of volunteer labour as the work is carried out over a short period of time and water is recognised as important for the whole community.

Zambia has also had successful water supply schemes but the participants did not know of any self-help road rehabilitation works being undertaken.

5.3 FUNDING OF MAINTENANCE

It may be possible for communities in areas producing cash crops (i.e. coffee or tea) to fund their own road maintenance. For example rich farmers may not want to come and work on the road but the village countil could charge them a levy to be excused work, and then use the money to pay the peole who do come forward to work on the road.

The Rural Road Maintenance unit in Mbeya Region have calculated that with Government funding alone, only 25% of the present road network could be maintained. Therefore there may be no option but to include self-help maintenance on many stretches of road.

The Tanzania Government has a system of funding a certain number of community projects proposed from each region. The projects are proposed through the Development Committees and the people provide labour and sometimes money with financial and material support from the Government.

5.4 GENERAL POINTS RAISED

The ILO has prepared a convention on forced labour which has been ratified by most countries in which has been ratified by most countries in which we are working. ILO project staff should try and ensure that conventions are not violated and it is essential to ensure an involvement at grassroots level in the event of the introduction of self-help projects. Dealing with the village chairman or a political party representative does not ensure that the project is the with of the majority of the community

Care should be taken to ensure communities are not overloaded with demands for their free labour. Enquiries as to other commitments for self-help work must be made.

Maintenance using self-help could prove to be unsustainable and the quality of the finished road very substandard.

In Mozambique as in other countries food for work road rehabilitation schemes have been very successful, however this should be considered as a form of paid labour.

5.5 CONCLUSION

Generally it was felt that self-help should not be used on roads included in the Government road network. Self-help could be used on roads that fall outwith the network and which would receive no funding. Important for all self-help schemes are consultations with the community and their involvement as early as possible in the planning process. The roadworks should only continue if the villages involved agree it is their own priority, otherwise there will be very poor attendance, or a situation of forced labour.