Zimbabwe
Labour-based Rural Roads Rehabilitation and Maintenance Project (1997)
As employment creation took center stage in the nineties the government decided
to initiate employment-intensive works in the delivery of infrastructure.
Labour-based technology was introduced in Zimbabwe through pilot projects in
1991 with funding assistance from the Government of Denmark and ILO/ASIST
advisory support. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)
joined later and the technology was rolled out to other provinces. Following the
success of the initial projects and the desire to outsource works to the private
sector in line with the new government policy, the Ministry of Transport and
Energy decided to build private sector capacity in rehabilitation and
maintenance of rural roads using labour-based methods. Hence, in 1997 the
Ministry embarked on a contractor development programme. The programme later
included training of local small-scale consultants in the process of
labour-based contracting. A Labour-Based Development Unit (LBDU) was established
in Department of Roads (DoR) to run demonstration sites, to develop management
procedures and administrative systems and training. This unit is now
appropriately renamed to Labour-Based Advisory Unit (LBAU) and has an advisory
role beyond the parent ministry. The ILO/ASIST has provided advisory support in
various areas including technology research and development, capacity building
and evaluations and assessments in support of further application of
labour-based works in Zimbabwe.
To date the labour-based technology has been mainstreamed into all provinces,
and to a certain extent, beyond the Ministry of Transport and Communications,
Department of Roads, that introduced the concept in Zimbabwe. The following is a
summary of various projects outputs and achievements.
The labour-based concept has been up scaled from pilot projects in 1991 to
in-house national projects in 1997, contractor development in 1997 and
consultant development in 2002. Currently, the thrust is in multi-sectoral
transfer of lessons learnt n the roads sector. This includes targeting the 58
rural district councils using their umbrella association as an entry point.
Rural Access and Mobility
A Rural Transport study to assess the access problems in rural areas and make
recommendations for improved access and development of relevant policies was
conducted in three districts in Zimbabwe during 1995-1996 with financial support
from Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). Following this
study and dissemination of information on its findings, a project was launched,
with technical inputs and advisory support from ASIST to implement a selected
number of access interventions in two districts. The project demonstrated
different access interventions that reduce the need to travel and the need for
transport. These include: (i) improving rural infrastructure through the
improvement of foot paths and tracks and construction of foot bridges, (ii)
improving mobility through facilitating the availability of IMTs (Intermediate
Means of Transport) and transport services, and (iii) non-transport
interventions aimed at reducing the need to travel long distances by
appropriately locating services and facilities. The interventions selected took
into consideration the views of the communities – particularly the women who
shoulder the greatest travel and transport burden.
A socio-economic impact assessment of selected access interventions in two of
the districts project was carried out in early 2003. The results of the study
revealed that immense benefits have accrued to the beneficiaries in terms of
improving access to socio-economic service, opening up opportunities for income
generation activities as well as influencing a change of gender roles.
Collaboration with the University of Zimbabwe
The University of Zimbabwe and the ILO signed two agreements of collaboration
in 1996 to spearhead the introduction of labour-based roadworks into the under-
and post-graduate civil engineering curriculum; and rural transport planning
into the under- and post-graduate urban and rural planning curricula.
Further reading
- A case study of the impact of selected access interventions in
two rural districts of Zimbabwe - PDF 1,215 Kb
C. Lema, In ASIST Bulletin Issue no. 16. September 2003
- Socio economic impact assessment of selected access interventions in Zaka and
Chipinge Rural District of Zimbabwe
ILO. 2003
- Rural transport study in three districts of Zimbabwe:
- Volume 1: Main report presenting the findings from the survey in Zaka, Rushinga
and Chipinge Districts
- Volume 2: The transport burden on women and girls in Zimbabwe’s rural areas
- Volume 3: The transport need generated by agricultural activities
- Volume 4: Annexes to the rural travel and transport study in Zaka, Rushinga and
Chipinge
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