The United Republic Of Tanzania Ministry Of Works - Ilo

4.0MAIN FINDINGS4.1The study has shown that Tanzania has made considerable improvements inmacroeconomic performance. The key challenge remaining is that of translatingmacro-level achievements to improved standards of living of the majority of thepeople in households and communities especially in the rural areas. The macro-microlinkages are still weak. One of the key channels linking macroeconomic performanceand micro-level living conditions is employment. The analysis of the labour marketand employment shows that the majority of Tanzanians are engaged in selfemployment largely in agriculture, underemployment is high and has been rising inthe last decade and its variation seasonally is considerable. These conditions indicatethat there is room for more employment especially in the rural areas where themajority (90%) of the poor reside. The main challenge of employment in Tanzania isincrease opportunities of satisfactory or more decent incomes from the economicactivities. The challenge of policy is to influence investment allocation and choice oftechnology so that the patterns of employment and income generation are moreconsistent with poverty reduction primarily through pro-poor growth.4.2Labour based technologies have been implemented successfully in regions such asTanga, Mbeya, Rukwa, Mwanza, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Shinyanga, Morogoro, Lindi,Mtwara, Iringa, Kagera and Coast. There is substantial evidence that the pilot phasehas proved the impact of LBT on employment and income generation for poorhouseholds and communities.4.3Considering that resources are limited it has been found that with a given amount ofresources LBT approaches are capable of yielding a greater length of feeder roads onaverage, can generate more employment and incomes among households andcommunities and is therefore more consistent with the poverty reduction strategy andthe recent official agricultural and rural development strategies as well as the nationaltransport policy and the construction policy.4.4Financial and economic comparisons have favoured LBT. Based on the data that wasobtained from the field and reported in Table 4.4(b) average costs for LBT and EBTroad works were computed. It was found that the average cost per km for 135.3km ofLBT road rehabilitation was shs. 11.2 million compared with shs.16.4 million per kmas an average of 163.8 km of roads rehabilitated using EBT. The share of labour costin total cost was 31.6% for LBT and 7.9% for EBT. The share of cost of equipmenthire was 22% for LBT and 35.3% for EBT. When cost of supervision is added theshare increases to 41.7% for LBT compared to 15.4% for EBT. As pointed out earlierthese are averages which could be marred by variations in terrain and intensity ofrehabilitation needed. average costs per km adjusted for intensity of rehabilitation andterrain show that LBT road works are generally lower by between 26% and 38%depending on the specific conditions of roads being compared. Net present values arehigher for LBT than EBT. In view of the recent policy concerns about povertyreduction and rural development and the high priority that is being accorded to ruralComparative Study on the Impact of Labour-Based and Equipment-Based Methods in Road Works in Tanzaniavi

roads. This superiority of LBT is reinforced even further when economic costcomparisons are made externalities, linkages on employment and poverty reductioneffects as well as foreign exchange savings associated with LBT.4.5Macroeconomic modeling and case studies have reinforced the above findings. Theresults from case studies have demonstrated positive medium term and long termsocioeconomic benefits of LBT. The positive impacts come through employment andincome generation and improved standards of living among rural households andcommunities. In addition, LBT was found to be more consistent with participatorydevelopment and empowerment.4.6The development of the local construction industry is hampered by low capacity ofcontractors, inadequate work opportunities aggravated by in appropriate contractpackaging of works, corruption and limited access to credit facilities. Many of theContractors who were interviewed in Morogoro and Mwanza during this study arepositive on the use of LBT. However, conditions on the ground are difficultespecially procurement procedures and regulations and , access to LBT equipmentand facilities.4.7Public awareness and commitment towards labour-based and community baseddelivery arrangements is still low. Communities are therefore not empowered enoughto put across their preference for LBT even where it is clear that it benefits them.5.0RECOMMENDATIONS5.1It is recommended that the government should acknowledge the successes that havebeen demonstrated in the pilot projects which have adopted LBT in road works andscale up these experiences into a concerted national policy followed by an action planto implement the national policy on LBT in road works. Action plans need to beprepared with identifiable indicators, which can be monitored on a continuous basis.Government leadership should be held accountable for preparing and monitoringthese action plans. Government leadership should be held accountable for preparingand monitoring these action plans. Ownership of LBT Programme will need to beclarified to indicate who will be responsible for co-ordination and implementation.Responsibility should be shared between the Ministry of Works, PORALG andDistrict Councils during the preparation of the Action Programme. However,government efforts will need to be complemented by the efforts of other stakeholders.5.2Implementation co-ordination should be addressed institutionally by putting in placea national focal point for LBT where all information will be collected, stored anddisseminated and where co-ordination linkages and interactions among stakeholderswill be managed.Comparative Study on the Impact of Labour-Based and Equipment-Based Methods in Road Works in Tanzaniavii

5.3There is need to examine and revisit existing procurement, regulations and fundingmechanisms at all levels (nationally, regionally and internationally) to ensure thatadoption of LBT is not held back by discriminatory procedures, systems andfinancing mechanisms.5.4The shift towards the use of LBT is a process, which needs to be catalyzed byappropriate education to the leadership at all, levels as well as to the professionals inthe field. There is need to inform the leadership at all levels on the facts about thebenefits of LBT and its viability in roads construction and rehabilitation in Tanzania.Information dissemination on facts from concrete experiences should form the basisfor mainstreaming LBT in road works in the rural areas. Public opinion and leadershipin local councils, central government and othe implementing agencies need to beinformed systematically on the viability and benefits of LBT in general and tocommunity development in the local areas in particular.5.5Information about superiority of LBT needs to be backed by the requisite capacitiesand attitudes among professionals. In particular, consulting skills are largely biasedtowards EBT. The capacity of consultants in LBT will need to be built. The processof building these capacities and changing attitudes should be spearheaded by traininginstitutions and other implementing agencies. Training institutions need to bechallenged to incorporate more systematic training in LBT. Training institutions, inparticular the leadership need to be challenged to incorporate more systematic trainingin LBT. This will require that curricula be revisited with an LBT perspective. It isrecommended that a national training center and training programme be developedand guidelines on planning and budgeting for LB works be introduced to clientorganizations. Existing knowledge gaps should be filled through research.5.6Private contractors are key actors in the execution of LBT road works. The capacityof private contractors need to be built in the area of LBT. In particular, preferenceshould be given to community-based contractors who can make use of labour in thecommunities and develop the requisite skills accordingly. Capacity building ofcontractors should be accompanied with revision of contract documentation andtendering procedures, revisiting standards and specifications and improving access tofinancial services and working facilities such as equipment and tools.5.7The domestic market for LBT type of equipment needs to be created and developed.Such equipment should not only be supplied through specific donor funded projects.It is expected that as LBT approach moves from the pilot stage and is scaled up tobecome the national approach for rural feeder road construction and rehabilitationthen conditions for developing the domestic market for LBT equipment will havebeen created. However, in order to facilitate early development of the domesticmarket for such equipment there is need for policy intervention to create and developthat market.viiiComparative Study on the Impact of Labour-Based and Equipment-Based Methods in Road Works in Tanzania

1.0INTRODUCTION1.1Background and ContextThe Ministry of Works in collaboration with the ILO decided to carry out a study on theimpact of Employment-Intensive and Investment Programmes on Poverty. The study isintended to show the macro-economic impact on the Gross Domestic Product, the balance ofpayments, and on the employment situation, of different technologies used in roadrehabilitation and maintenance. A comparative analysis of a number of on-going andcompleted road projects in Tanzania using both Labour-based and Equipment based methodsis being carried out under this service.Labour-based road works has been practised in Tanzania for more than two decades, but on arather low key, and to some extent informal way. Since the early 1990's, various institutionsin the road sector took initiatives in promoting Labour Based Technology (LBT), and gettingit institutionalized. The Ministry of Works (MOW) has led the way in these initiatives bysetting up an Appropriate Technology Unit (ATU), which is responsible for, among otherthings, technical standards, and development of manuals on LBT. Other initiatives taken werethe development of small-scale local contractors capable of carrying out maintenance andimprovement works using LBT, and their registration as specialist category of contractors.The initiatives taken so far have shown the potential of LBT in Tanzania and what could beachieved at an affordable cost whilst creating employment in rural communities and theresultant impact on poverty reduction. However, this impact has not been sufficientlydocumented and the linkages between project inputs and effects on poverty have not beeninvestigated. This study intends to contribute to filling these gaps1.2Organisation of the ReportChapter 2 of this report presents the objectives and methodology that has been adopted in thereport. Chapter 3 addresses the macroeconomic framework and how it has been evolving inTanzania in the last decade starting from 1990. The overview of the macroeconomicframework examines trends in macroeconomic variables notably GDP growth and structureover time, the evolution of prices, developments in external trade and examines budgetdevelopments. It then proceeds to examine more specifically the evolution of the labourmarket and employment over this period. Chapter 4 examines the main characteristics andbenefits of labour-based technology as applied to the roads sector. In chapter 5 financial costcomparisons are made and in chapter 6 economic costs comparisons are addressed. Chapter 7examines macroeconomic impacts of LBT and EBT based on macroeconomic modelling.Chapter 8 makes comparisons of the LBT and EBT impacts based on case studies. Havingdemonstrated the many benefits of LBT over EBT it is puzzling that the LBT approach hasnot been adopted more widely at the national level. This puzzle leads to the discussion ofconstraints to the adoption of LBT in Chapter 9. Chapter 10 draws conclusions and makesappropriate recommendations.Comparative Study on the Impact of Labour-Based and Equipment-Based Methods in Road Works in Tanzania1

2.0OBJECTIVE AND METHODOLOGY2.1ObjectiveThe objective of the study is, therefore, to carry out comparative analysis of a number of ongoing and completed road projects in Tanzania, and thereby show the qualitative andquantitative benefits of different technologies used in road rehabilitation and maintenanceespecially in rural areas. The team was guided by one key question in the course of the study,which was the efficacy of using labour-based methods in rural roads rehabilitation as ameans of generating employment opportunities and contributing towards economicdevelopment and poverty reduction as well as offering greater prospects of sustainabilitycompared to equipment based methods.2.2MethodologyThis section presents the methodology that has been adopted in this study. The methodologythat has been followed in this study is that of making comparisons between LBT and EBTbased on financial and economic cost comparisons, macroeconomic modeling the impacts ofLBT on key macroeconomic variables such as GDP, trade balance and employment as wellas impacts derived from case studies.Data and information has been collected based on both desk review and field work.Desk review involved collection of data and other information from existing projectdocuments and reports on the subject. It involved collection of macroeconomic data with aview to establishing trends in key macroeconomic indicators since 1990.Field data collection was undertaken involving collection of information from on-going andcompleted projects. The core part of the study entailed getting accurate data on road projectsthat have been executed by LB and EB technologies in the same geographic areas. Thisinvolved discussions with relevant MoW officials and evaluation of information fromexisting project documents and reports on the subject. Projects were selected from differentparts of the country, targeting comparable projects executed by the different technologies,since 1990. Having identified the possible projects for detailed examination, contacts weremade with project engineers concerned with these projects and project documents and reportswere studied closely. Data extracted from the reports included: Design standards adopted forthe different projects; Construction time; Cost of project, broken down into elements suchexamination of the payment certificates, and/or the Final Account for each project.Breakdown of labour costs by function, daily wage and quantity (workdays) as well ascollecting information on major problems affecting LBT and EBT projects.A structured questionnaire was used to collect cost data on labour, equipment and materials.The case studies were examined through the collection of quantitative and qualitative data intwo locations in Morogoro Rural District and in three rural districts in Mwanza where labourComparative Study on the Impact of Labour-Based and Equipment-Based Methods in Road Works in Tanzania2

based and equipment based projects were recently completed/ongoing. This data wascomplemented by information and reports from on-going and completed road maintenanceprojects (both LBT and EBT). Case study information was collected through focused groupdiscussions, targeted brief interviews and on the spot (field) observations. The main toolused for gathering information and data in the study was unstructured interviews and focusedgroup discussions with immediate beneficiaries. This provided valuable information on shortand medium term impacts. In villages/ areas along the roads, household questionnaires wereadministered to randomly sampled households. The household questionnaires were primarilyquantitative although they included some qualitative questions. The interviews captured asample of men and women farmers, artisan fishermen, traders, millers, transport operators,road workers, contractors, h

In 2003 the Ministry of Works with financial support of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) decided to launch a Comparative Study on the Impact of Labour-Based and Equipment-Based Methods in Road Works in Tanzania. M/S KAPSEL (K & Associates Professional Services Limited, Consulting Engineers) were contracted to undertake the study.