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Planning labour‐intensiveemployment creationprogrammes for the shorttermSD Phillips a , PN Delius b & RT McCutcheon ca Research Fellow, Department of Civil andEnvironmental Engineering , University of theWitwatersrand ,b Associate Professor, Department of History ,University of the Witwatersrand ,c Professor and Head of Department,Department of Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering , University of theWitwatersrand ,Published online: 27 Feb 2008.

To cite this article: SD Phillips , PN Delius & RT McCutcheon (1995) Planninglabour‐intensive employment creation programmes for the short term,Development Southern Africa, 12:2, 237-247, DOI: 10.1080/03768359508439808

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Development Southern Africa Vol 12, No 2, April 1995

Planning labour-intensiveemployment creation programmesfor the short term

SD Phillips, PN Delius & RT McCutcheon1

1. INTRODUCTION1.1 Long and short term programmesEmployment creation projects have been initiated by government andnon-government organisations in South Africa with the aim of alleviatingunemployment, underemployment and poverty (Abedian & Standish,1986). Long-term measures are required to tackle structural unemploy-ment (Ligthelm & Kritzinger-van Niekerk, 1990). The planning of long-term programmes is discussed in Coukis et al (1983) and McCutcheon(1993). There is also a need for immediate actions, particularly in times ofdrought when poverty and unemployment are exacerbated. This articlesets out to provide a guide for the planning and execution of short-termemployment creation programmes.

To date, short-term public works programmes have been temporary inter-ventions for getting money to the poor quickly (Greyling, forthcoming;DBSA, 1987). This means starting as many projects as possible as quick-ly as possible and often results in shortcomings in sustainability, cost-effectiveness and quality. Properly planned long-term programmes bycontrast usually start with a small number of projects and only expandas the required institutional and human capacity is developed(McCutcheon, 1993). Human and institutional capacity-building isrequired to ensure that the products are of desired standard in cost,quality and sustainability.

1.2 Cost-effectiveness of labour-intensive public worksDespite the need to reach as many of the targeted people as quickly aspossible, short-term programmes should and can be cost-effective; theireconomic cost should not be greater than that of other available means ofcarrying out the work. ('Economic' costs and benefits are the real costsand benefits to society while financial costs and benefits are affected bymarket distortions and do not take into account such social benefits

1. Respectively Research Fellow, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering;Associate Professor, Department of History: and Professor and Head of Department,Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand. Theauthors are members of the Research Centre for Employment Creation in Construction andRelated Development Issues at the University of the Witwatersrand. They acknowledge thesupport and advice of the Employment Task Force of the Consultative Forum on Droughtand Rural Development and particularly of Iraj Abedian, Louise Colvin and Barry Jackson.

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as increasing the equity of income distribution.) The end-products of thework should be of the desired quality and receive any requisite main-tenance. Most important, the work should result in development which isdesired by the community, supported and used by it. Cost-effective workactivities make efficient use of the financial and human resourcesinvested in them.

'Labour-intensive' (or 'labour-based'} activities maximise employment cre-ation by using labour rather than machines where this is technically andeconomically feasible. Properly labour-intensive construction is notuneconomic and does not mean lowering standards of quality. A distinc-tion can be made between unimproved and improved labour-intensiveproduction methods. Only improved methods are well-ordered and havesatisfactory labour productivity.

In infrastructural work in developing countries the productivity of labour-intensive construction and the quality of work can be greatly increasedwith time (World Bank, 1986) by improving the organisation of the worksite, improving the efficiency of work methods through work and methodstudies, developing appropriate designs, developing training material andestablishing training programmes for supervisory staff, and using incen-tive systems of payment (Coukis et al, 1983).

For a number of types of infrastructure, labour-intensive constructionmethods can be developed to economic competitiveness with conventionalmachine-intensive construction methods and result in products of equalquality (Edmonds & De Veen, 1991; World Bank, 1986; McCutcheon,1990); and in some circumstances they can be significantly cheaper.Economically competitive labour-intensive construction methods and thehuman and institutional capacity to implement them on a large scaletake several years to develop in countries with little experience of thesemethods (Coukis et al, 1983).

1.3 Appropriate projects for short-term programmesInfrastructure which is not conventionally produced using machine-intensive construction methods is suitable for production in short-termprogrammes. The products should not have high maintenance require-ments particularly if existing maintenance capacity is poor or it is difficultto supplement this capacity within the duration of the programme.

Short-term employment creation projects should have simple manage-ment and financial requirements and should not depend on humancapacity requiring long-term training nor on complex institutional capa-city to manage the work and the resulting development.

Examples of infrastructural projects which are conventionally built usinglabour-intensive methods (ie which have not yet been mechanised) aremasonry river-crossing and storm-water structures. While there may beroom for improving labour productivity in their construction, existingconstruction methods generally result in good quality products. Theseproducts can therefore be built cost-effectively to the required quality in

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short-term programmes. Other suitable projects are the construction ofsocial infrastructure such as housing, schools and clinics.

Labour-intensive public works of maintenance can be carried out cost-effectively in short-term programmes, for example painting public build-ings, filling potholes, patching streets, cutting grass, and clearing culvertsand storm-water drains. (Care should be taken not to displace permanentemployment opportunities in maintenance.) Some activities for improvingthe environment are also suitable, such as collecting recyclable materialsand clean-up campaigns.

Other activities which are suitable assist with household survival, suchas establishing allotment schemes and setting up community gardens;the labour-intensive construction of water reticulation systems for thegardens, however, would require a long-term approach (Mkhize, forth-coming). Suitable soil conservation activities include putting contours onhills used for cultivation and erecting gabions in dongas.

Some types of water supply and sanitation works are conventionallylabour-intensive and therefore suitable for short-term programmes. Theseinclude building water tanks and reservoirs, building pit latrines and dig-ging irrigation furrows. Some income-generating activities are also con-ventionally labour-intensive, such as small-scale manufacturing ofbricks, blocks and fence posts.

Past attempts to engage in less conventional labour-intensive construc-tion activities, such as labour-intensive road construction, in short-termprogrammes have had to deal with some or all of the difficulties discussedin section 2 below (Greyling, forthcoming). Labour-intensive constructionof products which are conventionally machine-intensive may still takeplace in the short term as pilot projects for planned long-term pro-grammes. Technical issues should be resolved and work and methodstudies carried out in pilot projects to develop efficient labour-intensiveconstruction methods and appropriate training material.

2. DIFFICULTIES FOR SHORT-TERM INFRASTRUCTURALPROGRAMMES

The requirements for economic construction by labour-intensive methodsof infrastructure conventionally built using highly mechanised methods(for example roads) are- long-term government support for a programme- a programme approach to the planning of a programme, that is it starts

small and only expands as the required technical, supervisory, admin-istrative and institutional capacity becomes available

- establishment and training of cadres of specialist site supervisory staff(gang leaders and supervisors) and specialist professional and middle-level management

- provision of a learning period in the planning of large-scaleprogrammes

- sufficient preliminary analytical work and attention to technicalaspects

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- arrangements at the planning stage for maintenance of the completedwork (McCutcheon, 1990, 1993; Abedian & Standish, 1986).

This implies a long-term programme; short-term programmes face anumber of difficulties, which are discussed below (see also Phillips et al,1992).

2.1 Building capacitySince the priority in short-term programmes is to establish as many pro-jects as quickly as possible, there is insufficient time to develop trainingmaterial and establish proper training programmes. This leads to lowproductivity and low quality. In addition, skills obtained are often lost atthe end of a programme. Short-term programmes have limited funds, andthe emphasis is usually on providing employment to as many of the tar-geted people as possible. Available resources are therefore thinly spreadand there is often insufficient money for proper training and supervision.

The costs of developing improved construction methods are spread overfewer projects in short-term than in long-term programmes, resulting inhigh overhead costs. In long-term programmes planning, training, organ-isational and institutional development, development of appropriatedocumentation and development of improved construction methods usu-ally make up most of the programme costs during the first two or threeyears. Once a programme is well established these costs are a small partof total costs.

2.2 MaintenanceShort-term programmes afford little time for planning, often to the neglectof planning for maintenance. Low-cost products usually have high main-tenance requirements, which are rarely met in short-term programmes.A further maintenance problem is introduced by the frequent lack ofconsistency in product standards.

2.3 Capital expenditureAs it may not be technically or economically feasible to use labour every-where, some equipment is needed for labour-intensive construction. Ifcapital expenditures are spread over a short time, a large part of projectcosts will go to machinery. There might then not be funds to purchasethe necessary equipment.

2.4 Poor product qualityHow much a particular project is affected by the constraints imposed by ashort-term approach depends on a number of factors, including theknowledge, experience and commitment of the professionals involved.Generally, the quality and cost of products built in short programmes inSouth Africa do not compare favourably with those achieved in longerprogrammes elsewhere in Africa (Greyling, forthcoming; De Veen, 1984).Poor-quality infrastructural products mean inefficient use of theresources invested in them and waste of other resources. The standard ofliving of a community may even deteriorate as a result; for example, badlybuilt water reticulation in areas with poor sanitation may lead to anincrease in water-related disease. In Lesotho the Civil Works Section

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undertakes short-term emergency road construction tasks. Labour-intensive methods aim to provide relief employment, and there is inade-quate supervision and little training of supervisors. Roads constructed bythe section have been a major cause of soil erosion (Pama, 1993). Incontrast, the Labour Construction Unit's long-term programme approachto labour-intensive road construction emphasises product quality andtraining programmes for labour supervisors.

3. PLANNINGIn addition to the types of public work activities which should be includedin a programme, other project selection criteria should be considered.

3.1 Beneficiaries and wagesA programme might be targeted at all the unemployed, at households inwhich everyone is unemployed, at youth or women, or at people from acertain area. The targeted should actually benefit from a programme; forexample the wage rate could be set so that only the most desperate areattracted, or the programme could be limited to certain groups.

Setting the wage rate can be difficult. It is undesirable to attract workersaway from more permanent work opportunities. If the wage rate is set toohigh it may not attract only the poorest people and if it is set too low itmay result in resentment, poor productivity and poor-quality work. Thereare minimum wage regulations in many areas of the country.

3.2 FinancingThe cost of the programme should be estimated before approaching fund-ing bodies. Programmes whose costs are too high may have to bereduced.

Financiers may place conditions on how funds are to be used, forexample only for certain types of work activities or certain beneficiaries,or that their representatives should have a part in planning and exe-cuting a programme, or that the programme should be structured andmanaged in a certain way. The financing institution's stipulations shouldbe acceptable to the planners and the targeted communities.

The limitations of a programme should be recognised. If there are insuffi-cient resources to reach all of those targeted, this should be made clearat the start of the programme to avoid falsely raising expectations.False expectations may lead to resentment and then to disruption of aprogramme.

It should be decided whether a programme's finances are to be managedby a community-based committee, a professional project manager, thefinancing institution or someone else; how payments are to be made; andwho is to be responsible for making payments.

3.3 ManagementResponsibility for managing a programme and supervising the work couldbe allocated to community representatives, professional projectmanagers, local authorities or the financing institution. The level of

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supervision required and the cost of management and supervision needto be established.

If a programme is to be managed by community representatives, theirability to provide the necessary administrative, managerial, financial andtechnical skills should be determined. Additional capacity may have to beprovided and the time and cost requirements of developing this need tobe estimated, bearing in mind short-term imperatives.

The responsibility for designing public infrastructure needs to be allo-cated. To produce the designs, both the type of infrastructure and thelevel of service should be agreed upon. Given limited resources, a fewpeople could benefit from a high level of services or many people couldbenefit from a lower level. Who decides this and how it is decided are alsoimportant. The (possibly considerable) time and cost implications ofdesign by professionals with participation by the community should beestablished.

Legal regulations may have implications for a programme; for examplebuilding regulations could affect the construction of social infrastructuresuch as housing and schools. Contractual arrangements between thevarious parties may need attention; thus, if an engineer is appointed todesign storm-water structures and a contractor to manage the construc-tion work, established contract documents for the civil engineering indus-try will be used; but if workers are directly employed by a community-based committee, appropriate contractual documents may have to bedrawn up.

The issue of who controls and manages a programme could lead to con-flict in a community if the programme empowers one group rather thananother. There are many sources of division within communities, includ-ing political affiliation, religion, clan, family, class, age and gender.Although from an initial survey a community may seem united, divisionsmay become apparent later in a programme. The injection of newresources into a peaceful community may itself induce conflict.

3.4 Maintenance and operationIf problems are to avoided later, responsibility for maintaining the fin-ished product must be allocated. Similarly, extra resources may berequired to operate a new facility; for example, if a school or a clinic isbuilt, teachers or nurses are needed.

3.5 Subsequent employment for workersWhat will happen to workers when a programme ends should be con-sidered. If the aim is to alleviate poverty temporarily but for some reasonexpectations of permanent employment are raised, resentment and dis-ruption of the programme could result. It may be possible to facilitateintegration of workers into the economy once a programme has ended byawarding training certificates, promoting savings for use in establishingsmall enterprises, obtaining government commitment to providing conti-nuity of work opportunities for those who have gained skills, integratingworkers into government services, and establishing maintenance teams.

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Once these issues have been resolved, planners would be in a position tostart designing the programme. Failure to resolve the issues could causeproblems later. Ideally, a programme should be planned to start smallwith a pilot project and then only expand as the required technical,supervisory, administrative and managerial capacity becomes available.In emergencies, when this may not be possible, planners should remem-ber that lack of capacity in these areas may cause problems in execution.The size of the programme, the number of people to be employed and thenature of the work need to be known before the training and capacity-building requirements can be determined.

4. STRUCTURING PROJECTS4.1 Community participation by consultationEmployment creation programmes need to be structured so that commu-nities participate in their planning and execution. Community partici-pation is required for work to be done which is desired by the community.Although a technology may be appropriate to the available funds and thesocial conditions and operating and maintenance capacity in the commu-nity, it may be rejected by the community as inferior because it differsfrom that used in wealthier areas. The community should participate inassessment of its resources and subsequently in the choice of technology.

Although essential, community participation in South Africa is fraughtwith difficulty. Communities are highly complex and not single cohesiveunits. In the absence of legitimate and effective local government, otherrepresentatives of the community have to be identified. It may be difficultto determine whether an individual or organisation is representative ofthe community. A community organisation which is unrepresentative cancause resentment and conflict which may curtail a programme.Alternatively a development committee may be formed. Although a devel-opment committee may be representative and motivated, it has no stand-ing in law and no legal framework within which to function (Abrams,1992). As a result a committee can be taken over by undemocratic ele-ments who wish to empower themselves through the project. Problemsmay also arise if the leadership of organisations representing the commu-nity changes or if other organisations become more powerful during aprogramme. A programme may also be affected if a legitimate and effec-tive local government system is brought into being before it ends.

Some of these problems might be avoided by a careful approach to com-munity participation. The validity of claims to be representative must betested as early as possible. All interest groups in the community shouldbe identified and consulted. This may be done by holding public meetingsor advertising in newspapers. Publicity material about a proposed pro-gramme can be distributed at public meetings. It should not be assumedthat spokespeople at public meetings represent the majority or all of thecommunity. Spokespeople may also say what they think outsiders wantto hear in order to further their own positions or to be polite.

The process of securing community participation may require much timeif it is to be managed carefully and it may turn out to be expensive if

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professionals are involved. Friedman (1993) discussed the difficulties ofcommunity participation in the transition period.

4.2 Community-based projectsIn community-based projects (Abrams, 1992), the community controls aproject and makes the important decisions, although professionals suchas engineers may provide expertise, and finance may be provided byexternal financial sources.

For a community to control projects it must acquire administrative andmanagement skills. It must establish an organisation with responsibilityfor management and administration. Community-based development inSouth Africa at present is faced with similar difficulties to communityparticipation since local institutional management capacity is not sus-tainable without an enabling local authority legal framework.

A particular difficulty facing community-based projects in short-term pro-grammes is the long-term nature and complex training needs of institu-tional capacity-building since there may be insufficient time andresources to accomplish this.

4.3 Construction projects with conventional contractualarrangements

If service infrastructure or social infrastructure such as public buildingsis to be constructed, conventional contractual arrangements of the civilengineering and building industries may be used. An engineer or archi-tect would be appointed to design and contractors to build.

In the conventional contractual arrangement engineers or architects carryout the design work and act as expert representatives of the client in theirdealings with the contractor. There is also a contractual relationshipbetween client and contractor. The combination of contract and profitmotive influences the contractor to carry out the work efficiently and tothe required standards.

Contractors usually have their own permanent labour force, and specialconditions of contract may be required to ensure that local labour isemployed for a short-term employment creation project and that localtraining and capacity-building take place in the programme.

Close community participation in the design process may require somereorientation on the part of contractors, engineers and architects,although these professions are increasingly aware of the need for commu-nity participation (Wall, 1993). As mentioned earlier, community partici-pation in design may be expensive in engineers' and architects' time.

4.4 Construction projects aimed at small contractor developmentIf a programme also aims at the development of small contractors,conventional contractual arrangements may be used with certain specificconditions.

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A project manager is appointed to manage the construction work. Thisperson trains and supervises the small contractors, who have a contrac-tual relationship with the client. A disadvantage of this approach is thatthere is no financial incentive for the project manager to ensure that thework is carried out efficiently and to required standards. On small con-tractor development in labour-intensive construction projects see DBSA(1992), Phillips et al (1992), City of Soweto (1992) and Mkhize (forthcom-ing).

The development of small contractors requires long-term training, forwhich there may be insufficient time and resources in short-term pro-grammes. Small contractors also often need long-term support beforethey can become independently competitive. For example, small contrac-tors may only develop to a certain level within a short-term programmeand when the programme ends find that they do not yet have the exper-tise and experience to compete in the open market with other contractors.Furthermore, if their acquired skills are not to be wasted, there needs tobe other work in the area for them to tender for when the programme hasended - work which may not be available if the area is depressed.

4.5 Force account projectsAnother way of structuring projects in short-term programmes is forworkers to be employed directly by local, regional or national government.An advantage of the force account approach is that it utilises existinginstitutional capacity, so getting around one of the problems of short-term programmes.

A disadvantage of this approach is the lack of profit motive for encourag-ing efficiency and quality. A discussion of some force account projectsmay be found in DBSA (1987) and Greyling (forthcoming).

5. CONCLUSIONSuitable work activities have been identified for short-term employmentcreation programmes. These activities should be relatively simple, notrequire the establishment of complex new human and institutionalcapacity and not have high maintenance requirements. If work activitiesthat do not have these characteristics are attempted in short-term pro-grammes, a number of difficulties arise affecting the cost-effectiveness,quality and sustainability of the products.

Issues which need to be resolved when planning a short-term employ-ment creation programme include project selection, targeting, financing,and control and ownership. Community participation in the planning ofemployment creation programmes is essential, albeit fraught with difficul-ties.

Simple or well-established organisational structures requiring little newtraining and capacity-building are most appropriate for short-term pro-grammes. However, established government and professional institutionsare to varying degrees discredited in the eyes of many communities.

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There may be insufficient time and resources for institutional capacity-building for community-based organisational structures in short-termprogrammes. The choice of an organisational structure for projects inshort-term programmes depends on many factors, such as the objectivesof the programme and the resources available.

This article offers planners an introduction to the preparation phase ofshort-term employment creation programmes. The programme would bedesigned in detail in the following phase. It should be started with aninitial test phase for training trainers and testing work methods andorganisational structure. Thereafter it should only expand as the requiredhuman and institutional capacity is developed.

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PHILLIPS, S, McCUTCHEON, R & MEYER, D, 1992. Employment creation, povertyalleviation, and the provision of infrastructure: Lessons from the labour-basedconstruction of municipal services in Ilinge. UrbanForum, 3(2): 81-113.WALL, K, 1993. Involving communities in decision-making on urban engineeringprojects: A personal anthology. Proceedings of the Annual National Congress of theSouth African Institution of Civil Engineers. Durban.WORLD BANK, 1986. The Study of the Substitution of Labour and Equipment inCivil Construction (SOL): Final Report Washington, DC.

Submitted November 1993; final version accepted for publication January 1994.

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