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Zambia

Labour-based road works project – Northern Province

From 1987 to 1994, a labour-based feeder roads project was implemented in Northern Province, funded by the Government of Norway, and with ILO technical assistance. The project was implemented through the Ministry of Local Government and Housing. The project aimed to establish district brigades for the rehabilitation and maintenance of district roads in the province. A Field Training Unit was set up in Kasama to undertake the training of supervisors and site instructors.

Labour-based road works project – FINNIDA

A project funded by the Government of Finland was implemented under the Provincial Roads Engineer in Lusaka from 1991 to 1993. This project was concerned with the improvement and maintenance of provincial and district roads in Lusaka Province (both earth and gravel roads). A national workshop was organized in 1993 to disseminate relevant information on labour-based construction and maintenance techniques in the country. The workshop further formulated a policy on the use of labour-based technology in the Zambian road sector, and provided an important input to the Road Maintenance Initiative (RMI) seminar held in Lusaka in 1993.

Based on the experience of these projects and the agreement on the national policy, the Government decided to expand its involvement with labour-based technology development.

Support to Roads Training School

Since its inception in the early sixties the Roads Training School (RTS) is the main training provider for road works in Zambia. It was established as an in-service training institution for personnel in the middle and lower ranks of Roads Department (RD), to undertake works through force account. The training component of the NORAD supported and ILO managed Northern Province project was, in mid 1994, transferred to the RTS in Lusaka to form part of a broad Road Sector Programme (RSP I) of the Ministry of Works and Supply funded by NORAD. ILO has continued to provide support to the labour-based component of the school and is currently providing a technical adviser and backstopping services. The school focuses on development of both public and private sectors' capacity to undertake road works using labour-based techniques. The RTS started to train small-scale routine maintenance contractors in 1995, and labour-based routine maintenance contractors are now working on feeder roads as well as on off pavement works on the major highways in Zambia. The school continues to train contractors and contract managers, and has moved into new premises with increased capacity to conduct training in an appropriate environment with NORAD support.

Following the passing of the National Council for Construction Bill, 2003, which establishes the National Council for Construction, the Roads Training School has been transferred to NCC. The School will be re-established under NCC but will under its new constitution continue to provide high quality training, research and consultancy in construction and continue to provide courses in labour-based technology.

The objective of NORAD/ILO continued support is to ensure that continued and sustainable training for labour-based approaches is available in Zambia. This involves building RTS's capacity as the main provider of quality training in labour-based techniques for the civil engineering sector with special emphasis on roads. Courses currently run at the school will be further developed and strengthened and most importantly fully institutionalised. In general, the RTS will promote the use of labour-based technology with fair working conditions, incorporating gender and environmental issues. The benefits of training maintenance contractors are now well recognized and with the growing need for maintenance and maintenance training this will be the main focus for the school.

Training on bitumen technologies/low cost sealing: To meet the demand for labour-based maintenance contractors able to carry out maintenance work on paved roads as well as develop low-cost sealing options for low-volume roads The School has introduced and will further develop training on bitumen technologies for labour-based execution. The School will also introduce mobile units for courses for emergency repair of paved roads by labour-based contractors.

Training of contractors: The Governments objective to �create employment opportunities in the road sector and alleviate poverty through the creation of 30,000 new jobs in road maintenance� with an emphasis on contract work under the ROADSIP programme, implies increased access to contracts by the domestic construction industry and opportunities for labour-based contractors. This further implies the need to develop the local road contractor capacity. RTS has developed and provides relevant training for labour-based contractors and contract managers for both the Government as well as other external clients.

Other labour-based initiatives

Several other development agencies have adopted the labour-based approach for the implementation of their programmes in Zambia, including:

Smallholder Enterprise and Marketing Programme (SHEMP) - which is financed by the International Food and Agricultural Development Agency (IFAD);
The Danida supported project on upgrading Great West (M9) Lusaka-Mongu Road;
Projects under the Zambia Social Investment Fund (ZAMSIF);
The Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) – Emergency Drought Recovery Programme

Eastern Province Feeder Roads Project

A United National Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded, ILO-executed, feeder road project covering five Districts in Eastern province was implemented from 1996 to 2001. The Feeder Road Project (FRP) was designed to build and strengthen capacities in the local authorities and local private sector to rehabilitate and maintain feeder and urban roads through contracting systems. A total of 404km of feeder roads of the targeted 580km were completed within the project budget. The project has achieved 870,000 workdays (97% of target) with 14% participation by women. In excess of Zambian Kwacha 2,065 billion was been paid in wages within the districts of Eastern Province. Women were given equal access to work opportunities, reflecting their interest in participation.

The Roads Training School in Lusaka was contracted to carry out the training of both rehabilitation and maintenance contractors as well as training of district supervisory staff. Seven successful rehabilitation contractors were equipped with light tractor-based equipment, and have now all paid back their equipment loan. Of the 21 maintenance contractors trained and equipped with hand tools, only 13 have continued to operate, mostly due to lack of maintenance funds.

The labour-based contractors have formed the Eastern Province Labour-Based Road Contractors Association (EPLBRCA). This association has been active in national meetings and forums discussing the future of the road sector in Zambia, and has assisted in increasing awareness of the project and its achievements.

The project also trained/re-oriented engineers from seven local consultancy firms in the preparation of labour-based contracts and site supervision.

The FRP illustrates that local capacity can be created in District Councils and the local construction industry for improving and preserving road infrastructure using labour-based approaches. This can be replicated within Zambia and beyond its borders. The project is an important showcase and has contributed greatly towards acceptance of the approach in Zambia and beyond. Several other projects have now adopted the approach. The challenge that remains is to ensure that the trained contractors continue to have access works in a competitive environment.

Contractor Registration Scheme

The ILO supported the National Council for Construction (NCC) in conducting a study on contractor registration aimed at developing clear, fair and transparent modalities for registering contractors, particularly small and medium scale contractors (in the civil works sector). The registration aims to stimulate growth and recognition of small-scale contractors in the construction industry in Zambia. The study outlined how to operationalise the scheme and how it would be maintained (including, necessary amendments to regulation/legislation, establishment of databases, etc). It is anticipated that NCC will implement this scheme starting third quarter of 2004.

Sustainable Lusaka Project – Urban Upgrading Project 1998

In collaboration with UN Habitat, the Ministry of Local Government and Housing (MLGH) through Lusaka City Council (LCC) initiated the Sustainable Lusaka Project (SLP) in 1998. The overall objective of the project was to support long-term sustainable growth and development of Lusaka through the integration of environmental planning and project implementation activities at community level. One of the key objectives of the programme was capacity building at community level to plan, implement and manage sustainable environmental programmes with popular participation of the community. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Irish Aid funded the project and the ILO has provided technical advisory support.

ASIST has been involved in areas related to improvement of infrastructure in unplanned settlements using labour-based, community managed approaches and in waste management which were focus areas of the programme. The focus on solid waste and water enterprises was as a direct result of an initial analysis made by the SLP. ASIST provided technical support in the development of training material for the poor and vulnerable groups in community waste and water management. The training was aimed at enabling Community-based Enterprises (CBE's) deliver basic services such as solid waste management and clean water provision at an economic fee to residents within the settlements. The key anticipated outcomes were (a) to create opportunities for the urban poor to increase their income levels, and (b) to improve the living and working conditions of the urban poor in selected low income settlements within Lusaka

ASIST also contributed towards the development of strategies and consultative processes, such as the community contracting approach developed by ASIST in Dar es Salaam. This supported efforts to develop and improve the involvement and use of CBE's in service delivery.

Project outcomes:

Two training packages were developed and piloted: (i) Start your waste collection services, and (ii) Start your water distribution services
A total of 60 individuals participated in the training and formed five solid waste and three water CBE's. The ILO training was rated favorably by the trained CBE's with regard to the usefulness of the topics, relevance of teaching materials and effectiveness of the training methods used. All but one of the CBE's registered and established their enterprises within three months of the completing their training.
Staff of the Lusaka City Council and Ministry of Local Government and Housing, and the community at large was sensitized to community participation, enterprise development, negotiation skills and methods of preparation of community action plans. The community members better understood and appreciated environmental issues and problems, which resulted in changing their attitudes and viewing themselves as part of the solutions.
The communities involved in the pilot projects in the peri-urban areas established Resident Development Committees. These committees help their communities (women in particular) become better organized for the SLP activities. The programme therefore, provides a good case of institutional development at local level.
The SLP enabled a large number of stakeholders and development partners to participate. Many have incorporated SLP's participatory methodologies and processes into their own strategies and approaches in the urban sector, particularly the bottom-up community consultations and participation, stakeholders' interaction and community contracting.
The project also contributed towards formulation of Lusaka's new solid waste strategy.

Urban upgrading project – PUSH

In 1996 and 1997, the ILO assisted the World Food Programme (WFP) review and design an urban food for work programme. The urban food for work programme was implemented by a national NGO PUSH and the international NGO CARE in Lusaka, Livingstone and the Copperbelt and resulted in good quality labour-based roads in unplanned settlements. This urban food for work programme emphasized community management of the constructed infrastructure and community municipality partnerships.