Building bridges - and roads in Mozambique
Southern Mozambique - a region devastated by floods earlier this year and yet, with the help of development funds, bridges that were washed away are already being rebuilt. In the north of the country, however, there are bridges and roads that were destroyed during the civil war maybe ten or even twenty years ago that have yet to be repaired. In Zambezia, a north-central province of Mozambique, the rural population is widely dispersed with only 29 persons per km2. The vast majority of these people derive their income from the land but agricultural yields remain significantly below their potential and the majority are extremely poor. Moreover, although there is potential for this region to improve agricultural production, there is limited access to markets. Community isolation is a therefore a major contributing factor to poverty in the region as there are not only very few opportunities to sell surplus produce and buy essentials but clinics and secondary schools are also few and far between.
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credit: Robert Geddes, Scott
Wilson
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But access is improving. In a project supported by DFID and managed by consulting engineers Scott Wilson, that started five years ago, roads are being rebuilt using local engineering companies and labour intensive techniques in order to employ the maximum number of people. In more developed regions, work may be done by one or several machines but, in Zambezia, local women and men work together with picks and shovels to build up the road. "Interestingly," says Julia Compton, Rural Livelihoods Field Manager for DFID in Mozambique, "One of the first things that families do with the income they have earned from working on the road is to go out and buy a bicycle. There are now so many bicycles going up and down these roads where, only a few years ago, you would see nobody at all or perhaps only one or two people carrying heavy loads on their heads."
Renewing regional life
800 kilometres of roads are in the process of being re-established. However, whilst these renewed roads are bringing much needed life to the region and can be likened to arteries, carrying blood to vital organs, there are still the capillaries, the minor roads, footpaths and bridges, that have yet to be repaired to allow people easier access to the main roads. There is also the question of keeping the blood flowing; it only takes a couple of rains to wash dirt roads away if they are not regularly maintained. Money from fuel tax provides the basis of a national roads' fund, and this finances the maintenance of the main roads, but there are currently not sufficient vehicles and users to provide enough money to repair the smaller roads. The crux of the matter, if the region is to be truly revitalised, is how to maintain the whole network, from the arteries right down to the capillaries. This is a question that has not yet been fully answered but the government is examining this issue and exploring ways of working with the private sector and local communities in identifying a sustainable solution.
Transport is another issue. The roads may now be easier for walking or cycling but the schools, clinics and markets are still as far from the communities as they were before. The vehicles that are usually the first to make use of the new roads are logging trucks. Zambezia has very rich forests, which are of great export value and yet the majority of the wood is currently cut and exported with little added value or benefit to local communities. In addition, a convoy of heavy trucks also takes its toll on the roads. However, the government is aware of the problem and has recently passed a forestry and wildlife law, which is designed to help communities take better control of their forests and other natural resources, to manage them and to get greater benefits from them.
The re-establishment of a road network and the opening up of access to rural areas, is an issue that has to be considered carefully in any region. In Mozambique, the government has demonstrated that it has been a learning process and that overall it is endeavouring to make the most of the process for the benefit of local people. Agricultural growth, and poverty reduction, will only occur with rural community participation. But, establishing vital links to markets will be a first step towards encouraging increased agricultural production and improved incomes so that, in time, communities will be able to afford their own vehicles to transport their goods along the roads that they have helped to re-establish.
