Mozambique

Feeder Roads Programme (FRP)

Labour-based methods for road construction were first established in Mozambique through pilot projects with technical support from the ILO in 1981. The programme has received support from various donor and development agencies including Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA); Department for International Development (UK); Irish Aid; Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW); Norwegian Administration for International Development (NORAD); Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida); United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

The focus of interventions has changed over the years as the country moved into a period of armed conflict (1975 – 1992) to post crisis development. Problems addressed through various interventions include:

• Lack of access to services and goods – addressed through rehabilitation and maintenance of tertiary roads
• Inadequate management capacity – addressed through institutional strengthening of the government management structures at central level
• Centralised (bureaucratic) management system – addressed through decentralisation of the management of tertiary and other regional roads
• Unfavourable policy environment – addressed through reforming the policy and institutional environments
• Unemployment – addressed through introduction of labour-based pilot project in 1981 and mainstreaming the approach

The target groups include government employees, private sector contractors and consultants; and the communities (both male and female). The communities who did not work directly on the projects and industries, which supplied services, materials and equipment to the contractors, were indirect beneficiaries.

Building on the success of initial training activities and experimental sites, a phased expansion into a national programme was embarked upon in 1989. Coinciding with the signature of the Peace Accord in 1992, these methods were applied to a national programme, undertaking the rehabilitation of roads in virtually every part of the country. To date the programme has been mainstreamed and other elements of decent work have been incorporated e.g. gender equity and contract documents with socio-economic clauses.

At its peak the FRP was one of the ILO's largest technical assistance projects, with a staff of seven ILO experts and 26 advisers contracted by the government spread through nine of the ten Provinces. The size of the project was dictated by the fact that it operated nation-wide, and by the initially limited capacity and experience of the Mozambican authorities in implementing similar projects. ILO full-time technical assistance ended in August 2002, although technical assistance through ILO/ASIST continues.

Achievements of the programme

The total programme cost exceeded USD 26 million. Up to 50% of project construction cost went to paying for labour this helped to distribute income and stimulate local economic development. The daily wage rate for labourers ranged from about USD 2.50 at the pilot phase to USD 1.20 during the expanded phase (reflecting a major decline in the value local currency). The FRP wage rate corresponds with the government statutory minimum wage. More than 40,000 rural people have worked on the programme creating about eight million worker days or 26,000 person years of employment in Mozambique. In the process they have acquired some skills (e.g. masonry) that they can use elsewhere.

Productivity for full road rehabilitation averaged 2600 person days per km. This figure compares well with productivity figures from other countries. Therefore, although the programme addressed social objectives it also remained cost effective in addressing the core objective of delivering infrastructure.

Impact of employment created

• Reconstruction, improvement and enlargement of houses and purchase of livestock
• Reappearance of the traditional savings and credit system (Xitique)
• Initiation of small informal businesses
• Increased attendance at schools.

Capacity built: local residents received training in basic construction skills. Nearly 5000 person weeks of training in labour-based technology have been provided since 1993. By year 2000 more than 50 ECMEP brigades (Government parastatal) and 20 private contractors were operational within the FRP creating employment for the local communities. Now a network of contractors exists throughout the country capable of rehabilitating and maintaining roads using techniques that are proving to be relatively sustainable at provincial level.

The ILO technical Advisers also effected technology transfer to local government counterparts and assisted the FRP in incorporating elements of fair labour standards practices into the programme. The in-house capacity has greatly improved and the private sector now has some capacity to do some of the work that was previously done by ILO.

Growth in local entrepreneurs

Increased awareness of HIV/Aids

Decent work and policy development

The newly developed policy implementation strategy seeks to achieve social and economic objectives by introducing certain clauses and specifications in the Works Contract. These objectives include:

• Involving the local authorities and the local community in the implementation of the projects;
• Maximising local employment opportunities;
• Enforcing Core Labour Standards, particularly the requirements of Mozambique labour law e.g. gender equity, no child labour, etc;
• Provision of training and work opportunities to local contractors;
• Implementation of a programme of HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention activities within the workforce.

In 1996, a Gender unit was set up within the Feeder Roads Programme and in 2000, a Social Issues Unit (incorporating the Gender Unit) were set up in the National Roads Administration to address cross cutting issues advocated for in the new road sector policy.

Institutional framework developed

Labour-based versus equipment-based roadworks cost comparison study

In 2003, ASIST coordinated, a cost comparison study behalf of the National Roads Administration (ANE). The study compares the financial and economic costs of labour-based and equipment based road construction and maintenance and reveals that labour-based methods have the potential to cost as much as 50% less than equipment based methods. The study also shows that labour-based methods can potentially create as much as six times more jobs per unit amount of investment compared to equipment based methods. Furthermore, the labour-based approach results in more economic benefits such as stimulating the local economy and a more equitable distribution of wealth. These findings were consistent with other studies carried out by the ILO in other countries in the region.

Más información

• Cost Comparison Study: Mozambique Regional Roads
  IT Transport, Maputo, Directorate of Regional Roads (DER), ANE, 2003.
• Re-opening Mozambique – Lessons learned from the Feeder Roads Programme - PDF 1,668 Kb
  Scott Wilson, Maputo, 2002. ILO/UNDP