In Africa, poor roads are one of the major blocks to development. The DFID-funded AFCAP Project (managed by Crown Agents) works with Governments in 6 countries to deliver safe and sustainable access to rural communities. As a result of their research, into the use of local materials and improved techniques, the project has been successful in developing innovative rural road construction and repair methods for low cost, low maintenance rural roads across sub-Saharan Africa, facilitating all year round access of villages and communities to towns, markets, schools and health care systems.
Through working closely with Partner Government Road Authorities new specifications are included in Government road design manuals. In Ethiopia alone, the Government significantly changed its rural road construction and maintenance polices and manuals, this will have an impact on 70,000 km of rural roads by 2020. The Ethiopian manuals will be adapted for South Sudan and Tanzania where conditions are similar. Kenya, Malawi and Mozambique are developing new standards as a result of AFCAP evidence. The project will influence over 200,000 km of rural roads by 2020 as the Governments of Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi, South Sudan and Kenya adopt the low cost, sustainable methodologies the project has developed.