Continent: Africa

Chamazi Community Housing

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Chamazi Community Housing

Mismatches Location Segregation Services Vulnerable groups
Policies and regulations Governance Evictions
Financing Financial actors Savings systems Sustainable development financing Public-private collaboration
Promotion and production Public-private partnerships Self-management Self-promotion Self-construction Cooperatives Favelas/Slums
Ownership and tenure Shared ownership

Main objectives of the project

When the expansion of Tanzania’s Dar Es Salaam port led to the demolition of the homes of 36,000 individuals, the Chamazi Community Based Housing Scheme rallied displaced communities, civil society organizations, government entities, donors, and the private sector to collaboratively construct new and affordable housing. Currently, a new neighborhood is being developed, displacing informal settlements and presenting an innovative solution for addressing evictions. It serves as a model for transitioning from displacement to cooperative housing, demonstrating a proactive approach to housing challenges.

Date

  • 2006: En proceso

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: Muungano Housing Cooperatives
  • Promotor: Centre for Community Initiative
  • Promotor: Tanzanian Urban Poor Fund
  • Temeke Municipal Council
  • Reall
  • Slum Dwellers International (SDI)
  • Tanzania's Ministry of Land, Housing, and Human Settlement Development

Location

Continent: Africa
Country/Region: Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania

Description

In 2006, the Tanzanian government demolished 7,351 houses in Kurasini to facilitate the expansion of the Dar Es Salaam port, resulting in approximately 36,000 individuals being displaced. Despite the government offering relocation only to homeowners, a significant portion, about 80%, of the affected residents were tenants. In response, the community took proactive measures by securing 30 acres of land for resettlement and pooling together approximately 24 million Tanzanian shillings (equivalent to US$ 24,000) from 300 members to purchase the land. The Tanzania Federation for Urban Poor (TFUP), with support from the Centre for Community Initiative (CCI), played a pivotal role in assisting the dispossessed tenants in utilizing their savings for the land acquisition scheme.

This initiative was made possible through the establishment of the Chamazi Community Based Housing Scheme, also known as Muungano Housing Cooperatives, spearheaded by the affected community’s savings, along with the Tanzanian Urban Poor Fund. Collaboratively, they secured a loan of US$ 100,000 from Slum Dwellers International (SDI) and US$ 40,000 from the UK-based organization Homeless International (Reall) for water and sanitation infrastructure, including a solar-powered water pump for the community borehole, facilitated by the Temeke Municipal Council. Additionally, CCI provided training to the community in construction skills, enabling on-site fabrication of construction materials by community members who actively participated in house building. Other partners contributed expertise and professional guidance in surveying, land acquisition, building planning, and house design. The establishment of the Muungano Housing Cooperative played a crucial role in enhancing community-led land planning, ownership, management, and financial resource mobilization.

The project significantly improved access to water and sanitation facilities, with sewage now being treated using a constructed wetland employing recyclable water technology. One of the primary challenges encountered was the necessity to construct houses for a large number of people within limited land space. Through collaborative efforts with various stakeholders, the scheme successfully influenced the Temeke Municipal Council and the Ministry of Land, Housing, and Human Settlement Development to reduce plot sizes from a minimum of 400 square meters to 150 square meters. This reduction in plot sizes is essential for enhancing decentralized infrastructure services such as water supply and sewerage systems.

Another major issue has been the end of the funds. Many families, thus, are now in possession of a land but without the capability to build new homes. However, the community has lowered the price of the construction by using recycle materials. For example, they are building its community center with plastic bottles instead of bricks. An innovative approach used in other affordable housing buildings. They are testing it in the new community center under-construction. Thus, the community center building will function as a pilot project and learning platform for new affordable building techniques. One of these is the already mentioned bottle wall technique, where re-used water bottles are filled with sand and stacked like bricks for a load bearing wall structure.

The Chamazi Community Based Housing Scheme is an example of how dispossessed people can form a community, build affordable housing, generate new neighborhoods and propose a new governance scheme to tackle the housing crisis they live in.

Links

Authors:

CSCAE Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España

Inclusionary Housing in Johannesburg

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Inclusionary Housing in Johannesburg

Mismatches Segregation Diversity
Policies and regulations Local policies Planning
Urban Design Inclusion
Promotion and production Public-private partnerships Private promotion

Main objectives of the project

In 2019, the Johannesburg City Council approved the Inclusionary Housing project, making it the inaugural inclusionary housing policy implemented anywhere in Africa. This initiative aims to ensure that every development includes a percentage of social housing units. The objective is to augment the availability of smaller units in strategically situated areas of the city, thereby alleviating the housing backlog, gradually lowering housing prices, and diminishing travel times, expenses, and emissions in a city where these factors are excessively high.

Date

  • 2019: Implementation

Stakeholders

  • City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality

Location

Continent: Africa
Country/Region: Johannesburg, South Africa

Description

The framework works as follows: Inclusionary housing is mandatory for any development application under the jurisdiction of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality that includes 20 dwelling units or more. Different options (and associated incentives) are given for inclusionary housing that developers may choose from. In each option, a minimum of 30% of the total units must be for inclusionary housing. When inclusionary housing is applicable, it will be implemented as a condition for development (in land use/development approvals) by the City of Johannesburg. The City may take action against developers/owners who do not comply with the conditions for inclusionary housing outlined in land use/development approvals, as with any condition of approval. Yet, a developer developing below the threshold of 20 units, but who meets the criteria for one of the inclusionary housing options detailed in the framework approved, may still benefit from the incentives associated with the option chosen.

The incentives are, usually, the possibility to build extra units, hence, an increase in the allowable residential floor area, densifing the area in development. All the incentives depend on the options that planning allows and that the developer choose. Each option have some mandates regarding the 30% of inclusionary housing and some incentives. For example, Option 1 asks to have social housing units, hence, it has greater incentives than other options. Yet, in some options they can be sold in the open market. In those cases, incentives are tighter and the main goal is to densify the area and generating mixed communities by allowing a diverse typology of housing units.

Indeed, a primary objective of the program is to foster a compact city by densifying urban developments. By transitioning towards a more condensed urban landscape instead of perpetuating urban sprawl, the aim is to safeguard the remaining natural and biodiverse areas on the city outskirts, preserving the ecosystem services they offer. This approach is anticipated to enhance air quality by enhancing city efficiency. A compact city model is both environmentally and economically sustainable. It promotes increased density and proximity, resulting in reduced energy consumption for transportation, optimized land use management, and the conservation of rural land and biodiversity. Medium to high-density settlements in a city also lead to decreased service costs, improved accessibility to public facilities, and more efficient infrastructure provision, thereby enhancing economic sustainability and feasibility.

Links

Authors:

CSCAE Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España

Plastic bottle houses for Sahrawi refugees

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Plastic bottle houses for Sahrawi refugees

Policies and regulations Local policies Evaluation and impact
Urban Design Environments Quality Inclusion Equity Participatory processes
Promotion and production Participatory processes Innovation Materials Management and maintenance
Ownership and tenure Land ownership

Main objectives of the project

Plastic bottle houses transform life for refugees

Tateh Lehbib Barika is no ordinary engineer. He was born in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria, which are home to thousands of people displaced by conflict in Western Sahara more than 40 years ago. Growing up he experienced first-hand the harsh conditions endured in the camps, where metal roofing sheets on mud brick houses intensify the searing desert heat and often blow off during frequent sand storms.

After receiving a scholarship from the UNHCR (the UN’s refugee agency) to study renewable energy, Tateh Lehbib returned to the camps with an innovative idea to improve living conditions for his community, which had been devastated by floods. He set about building a new home for his grandmother using recycled plastic bottles filled with sand. His idea caught the attention of the local UNHCR office, which helped him secure USD$60,000 funding to build 25 more homes.

The community-led project demonstrated how readily and freely available materials could be used to build better homes, reducing refugees’ reliance on external aid and recycling problematic plastic waste. For 50 vulnerable people, the project has provided a safer, cooler place to live and for the community at large, the skills to continue building.

Date

  • 2018:

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: World Habitat

Location

Continent: Africa
City: Tinduf
Country/Region: Algeria, Tinduf

Description

Like most settlements of their kind, the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria were only ever meant to be a temporary housing solution for people displaced by erupting conflict in Western Sahara in 1975. More than 40 years after they were established, however, the camps are still home to thousands of people, many of whom have never lived anywhere else. Life in the camps is tough. Money and food are scarce and the refugees live in fragile mud houses or tents and endure harsh weather conditions.

Among the typical adobe structures used to house refugee families, are some newer buildings. They stand out because they are round rather than rectangular in shape but it is how they were constructed that is the most remarkable thing about them. The homes were built using recycled plastic bottles filled with sand and form part of an innovative project to improve the living conditions of Sahrawi refugees stuck in ‘temporary’ housing in the camps.

The project is the brainchild of Tateh Lehbib Barika, himself a Sahrawi refugee who was born and raised in the camps. He received a UNHCR (the UN’s refugee agency) scholarship to study renewable energy and returned to build the first prototype plastic bottle home for his grandmother after catastrophic flooding in 2015 destroyed 80 per cent of homes in the camp.

His idea caught the attention of the local UNHCR office in Tindouf, which provided USD$2,000 and helped secure USD$60,000 of funding from the UNHCR to build 25 plastic bottle houses across the five Sahrawi refugee camps in the province. Some refugees were originally sceptical about the initiative, wary it would take away resources from other areas like food assistance but Tateh Lehbib worked hard to raise awareness of the benefits of the project and people gradually came to accept the idea.

The build

Construction began in November 2016 and 27 buildings (two more than expected) were completed by April 2017. The plastic bottle homes have rehoused around 50 refugees who were selected because they are on very low incomes, elderly, or have special needs or disabilities. The homes were built by the refugee community under the direction of Tateh Lehbib. The project directly employed 200 people within the camps, who in turn paid a further 1,500 people to collect and fill bottles.

Each home took about one week to build and required around 6,000 plastic bottles, which were sourced from institutions, schools, hospitals and landfill. Groups of refugees formed to gather and prepare the construction materials. One group was tasked with collecting bottles while another filled them with sand from the dunes. Once filled, a truck transported the bottles to trained masons who stacked them horizontally, filling in the gaps with sand to make a basic cylindrical structure with two windows. The interior walls were covered with a layer of earth and straw, followed by a thin layer of cement. Cement was also used to seal the exterior of the building. The homes have a double layer ceiling to reduce the level of heat coming in – vitally important in an area where temperatures regularly reach 50°C.

Tateh Lehbib’s prototype plastic bottle house cost USD$291 to build. The initial cost of the project was USD$2,400 per home due to increased labour, staffing, transportation, training, materials and tools costs. This reduced to USD$1,630 as the need for training declined. The adobe structures typically used in the camps cost around USD$582 – USD$1,160 to build.

The plastic bottle homes are smaller than their adobe counterparts, but they offer superior protection from fire, sandstorms, floods and high winds. The temperature inside a plastic bottle home is around 5ºC lower than the mud brick alternative and people living in the homes say they feel safer.

Increasing self-sufficiency

A key objective of the project was to improve not only the living conditions within the camps, but also to increase the self-sufficiency of refugees. Used plastic bottles and sand form the bulk of construction materials and can be collected free of charge from institutions, landfill or off the streets. This leaves refugees more able to pay for other materials, like cement, themselves and reduces reliance on external funding.

Even though opportunities within the camps are limited, the Sahrawi people place great value on education, learning and innovation. The project built on this pre-existing culture by running training programmes and workshops for educational centres, women’s associations and youth groups to help inspire and motivate young people to develop their ideas as Tateh Lehbib did. The Sahrawi people’s willingness to learn new skills means the knowledge needed to continue building plastic bottle homes is now embedded in the community. This increased self-sufficiency is crucial in the camps because limited economic opportunities and the harsh climate force refugees to rely heavily on international humanitarian assistance.

The important social impact of the project is coupled with its equally important environmental impact. Plastic waste is a huge and growing problem globally, but even more so in areas where there is little or no formal recycling. Plastic bottle construction recycles tonnes of plastic waste that would likely end up in landfill or in the ocean.

The durability and abundance of used plastic bottles represents a huge environmental challenge – but these qualities also make them good, low-cost building materials for communities with few resources. The plastic bottle method also uses significantly less water than building with mud bricks, preserving a precious commodity in the desert.

The future

Plastic bottle construction is an emerging technique across Latin America and Africa. Following the success of the Sahrawi refugee project, plans are being formed to develop the method further. Tateh Lehbib intends to build a centre in the camp to investigate climatic building design with plastic bottles and hopes to attract engineers and creative architects to help improve design and efficiency, for example by replacing cement with lime and earth and improving ventilation and roof design.

Tateh Lehbib’s aim is to establish plastic bottle construction as common practice and he plans to use the method to build other much-needed resources, such as schools and health centres, in the five Sahrawi camps. He is currently involved in a research project with his professors at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to develop further solutions.

While the UNHCR-funded project has come to an end, its impact continues to be felt by those living in the homes and also by the community at large. Plastic bottle homes may be basic but they are safe, durable and easily replicable. The self-sufficient nature of the construction method means future homes can be funded by refugees themselves (who have gained skills through participating in the project) or through individual grants. A culture of interdependence and support exists across the Sahrawi community and additional homes are already being built using the plastic bottle method, proving the initiative is sustainable without external funding.

View the full project summary here – available in English only

Links

Authors:

World Habitat

Building Malaria Prevention

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Building Malaria Prevention

Mismatches Security Functional adequacy Vulnerable groups
Policies and regulations Local policies
Promotion and production Public promotion Participatory processes

Main objectives of the project

Over 1,300 people have benefited from simple home improvements to stop mosquitoes entering their homes in one of Cameroon’s poorest areas, where four in every five children has malaria. With 80% of mosquito bites happening indoors at night, the home was identified as a key area to focus on to reduce the number of people contracting malaria.

Residents have been trained and encouraged to keep mosquitoes out of their homes, meaning they rely less on harmful insecticides and pesticides. They have been trained to plaster cracks in walls, improve sewerage and drainage, build and fit window and door screens, and grow mosquito repellent plants. Alongside this, malaria awareness campaigns have been introduced in nursery school classes and through radio advertising. It is estimated that, so far, the number of mosquitoes has halved in homes which have had these improvements.

Date

  • 2017:

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: World Habitat

Location

Continent: Africa
Country/Region: Cameroon, Yaounde

Description

Project Description

The project seeks to reduce the incidence of malaria by implementing home improvements that reduce the number of mosquitos entering people’s homes. The project is based in Minkoameyos, one of the poorest informal settlements in Cameroon’s capital city Yaoundé where 80% of children were found to have the disease. There have been significant reductions in the incidence of malaria globally, but it is still the biggest killer of children under five in Cameroon. Resistance to antimalarial drugs is increasing alarmingly, which means that drugs can no longer be relied upon to tackle the disease alone. Research has shown that home improvements can significantly reduce the incidence of malaria. A study in 15 Sub-Saharan African countries found that malaria infection rates of 70.6% in traditional housing were reduced to 45.5% for modernised housing. The study found that the home is the most important place for tackling the disease, because 80% of mosquito bites are experienced indoors at night.

The project focused on a number of measures designed to prevent mosquitoes getting into people’s homes. These included:

  • Fitting screens on doors and windows.
  • Closing eaves and gaps in walls and roofs.
  • Ensuring adequate ventilation.
  • Improving sewage and drainage to eliminate mosquito breeding sites.

These improvements were fitted to 219 homes (that housed a total of 1,314 residents). Households in the immediate vicinity of homes where work was completed also benefited indirectly from a reduction in mosquito breeding sites as a result of the interventions. ARCHIVE Global worked specifically with Cameroon’s National Malaria Control Program and the Ministry of Public Health to ensure the government was supportive of the project before work began.

The project also raised awareness of malaria prevention through educating community members on disease prevention and the links between housing and health. Five thousand community members underwent training on disease prevention. A radio campaign on how to keep mosquitos out of homes reached around 55,000 listeners.

This project was implemented by ARCHIVE Global in partnership with Cameroon Coalition against Malaria, the National Malaria    Control Programme and the University of Yaoundé. ARCHIVE Global is an international non-governmental organisation based in New York. They aim to create awareness about the link between poor housing and health issues by carrying out research which influences their practical housing adaptations to improve health. The organisation has a core team of three employees and numerous volunteers. It collaborates with local organisations across the world. ARCHIVE global has active projects in Swaziland, India and Bangladesh. The project in Delhi, India implements sanitation units to reduce water borne and bacterial illnesses such as diarrhoea. In Bangladesh they are building concrete floors to decrease the spread of parasitic pathogens which cause illnesses such as typhoid and hepatitis A and E. They have plans for future projects in Bolivia and Ethiopia. All their projects use both local expertise and resources.

The project was completed in February 2016.

Aims and Objectives

The project’s main objective was to reduce cases of malaria in the most vulnerable households by making simple low cost improvements. A further aim was to find out more about these improvements and encourage their uptake in the wider community.

Participating households were chosen based on their vulnerability to infection, and their willingness to be involved in the work. The risk criteria included having at least one child under the age of five, and more than two adults sleeping in the same room.

The aims of the project were to:

  • Reduce the incidence of malaria amongst the households in the project.
  • Research which housing interventions were most effective in reducing the entry of mosquitos into homes.
  • Train residents to carry out interventions which stop mosquitos entering homes.
  • Raise community awareness about the different types of malaria prevention and the link between better housing and reduced risk of malaria.

Context

According to the World Health Organisation there were 214 million cases and over 50 million deaths caused by malaria globally in 2015. Although there have been significant reductions in recent years, Sub-Saharan Africa continues to carry a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. The disease remains the biggest killer of children under five in Africa. In Cameroon it is responsible for half of all deaths of children under five. Traditionally, malaria has been prevalent in rural areas in Cameroon, but, as cities grow this is changing and the scale and impact of urban malaria is increasing.

Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite that has half its life cycle in people and the other half in mosquitos. Mosquitoes that transmit malaria tend to fall into two categories: indoor feeding and outdoor feeding. Indoor-feeding mosquitoes target people in their homes when they are asleep. Over time these mosquitoes have developed behaviours to more efficiently feed on humans. Their behaviour has measurably changed in recent years as more people live in urban areas. For example these mosquitoes will fly upward when reaching a wall, while most other mosquitoes will fly sideways. Flying upward helps mosquitoes find openings such as windows, cracks around doors or open eaves. Outdoor-feeding mosquitoes are generally less effective and target humans less exclusively.

There was a United Nations Millennium Reduction Goal to halt the spread and reverse the incidence of malaria by 2015. This was successful with a 58% global reduction between 2000 and 2015. The reductions were achieved by preventing transmission and treating those who were infected. The World Health Organization encouraged indoor spraying of insecticides in homes, and increasing the use of insecticide-treated bed nets. Although these worked they also presented risks. Some insecticides are believed to be harmful to people, some may be carcinogenic. The widespread use of insecticides has promoted insecticide resistance amongst mosquitos. There has also been a significant increase in resistance to antimalarial drugs, particularly by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, which causes the deadliest form of the malaria. This means that it is becoming increasingly difficult to reduce malaria further using traditional techniques. There is also evidence that these interventions have not been widely adopted in Cameroon with only 11% of children under five sleeping under mosquito nets and only 1% of these sleeping under insecticide treated nets.

Housing poverty is a big issue in Cameroon. According to the most recent Cameroon housing survey 12.3% of urban households and 39.7% of rural households live on less than US$2 a day. Many vulnerable groups live in poor quality housing. In the country’s capital of Yaoundé, 85% of settlements are considered to be informal. Much of the housing does not comply with national building standards. There are no clear borders between people’s homes, and many do not own the right to the land where they live.

In Minkoameyos, where the project is focused, it was found in 2012 that a staggering 80% of children had malaria demonstrating the urgent need for prevention.

Key Features

The project focused on easy and cheap interventions to ensure they could be replicated in the future without ongoing support from ARCHIVE Global. Each house was surveyed in order to identify the improvements that were needed. A member of each targeted household learned how to mosquito-proof homes. After training, residents were able to carry out some of the improvements themselves, and share this knowledge with their community.

Wider community training included health-related workshops and technical training in health and housing. Five thousand residents received training which showed them how to recognise signs of malaria and how to prevent it through housing improvements. The project reached a further 55,000 people in the wider community through information on malaria reduction in local radio broadcasts. These gave information and advice that sought to raise awareness of malaria and offered people advice on reducing exposure and preventing mosquitos from breeding.

As part of the project ARCHIVE Global published guidelines about how to achieve malaria control through home improvements. This has been distributed to the local community, and has been used in transferring the techniques to other projects.

What impact has it had?

Direct impact is difficult to measure because of the short duration of the project. There was incomplete information about the level of malaria infection before the project started. The project estimates that if home improvements and reduction in mosquito-breeding sites are regularly maintained, a significant reduction in malaria will be measurable in ten years.

The project evaluation has however demonstrated that numbers of mosquitos in people’s homes was reduced by 50%, which significantly reduces the risk of people being infected.

The project’s work with local universities, the Ministry of Public Health and the National Malaria Control Programme means that there is widespread support for and awareness of the project which will help positive impact to continue.

At an international level, governments in Namibia, Swaziland and Gabon and the Clinton Health Access Initiative have all learned from this project when developing their own mosquito-proofing interventions.

How is it funded?

The total cost of the project was slightly under US$500,000. The UBS Optimus Foundation, (a Swiss grant-making foundation dedicated to improving the lives of children worldwide) provided grant funding of US$165,000 per year (2013 – 2016). A grant for construction materials was received from the SELAVIP Foundation which funds housing projects supporting the poorest of the poor around the world.

Why is it innovative?

The project approach combines research into health with practical interventions in housing. Its promotion of housing as a prevention method for dangerous but avoidable diseases is innovative. It is rare to see a project where housing interventions are led by health experts. It demonstrates the potential for other sectors to collaborate on shared problems.

As more and more mosquitos are becoming resistant to pesticides and insecticides, it is becoming increasingly important to find alternative ways to control malaria. Additionally using chemicals poses significant risks to human health from skin irritation and nausea to cancer. This approach offers a solution which avoids the use of chemicals through making changes in the built environment.

The housing improvements used in the approach also last longer compared to other interventions for example spraying walls with chemicals which has to be repeated yearly.

The use of basic techniques and local materials meant that local people could carry out the work themselves and can now more easily maintain their adaptations. Empowering local people to prevent malaria themselves creates lasting impact.

What is the environmental impact?

The projects building interventions tried to use local materials to maximise environmental sustainability. However, some materials were not manufactured locally and had to be imported. Lumber used for doors and window frames was made of pine which is native to the area. Pine is a fast-growing tree which is more sustainable than using hardwood trees. Locally produced compact mud bricks were also used which have low embodied energy (embodied energy is the sum of all the energy required to extract, produce, transport and build any goods or services). The project also used passive design strategies (‘Passive design’ takes advantage of the climate to maintain a comfortable temperature in the home).

Chemical interventions which are most common in malarial prevention are harmful to the environment, including to people and animals. This project used chemical free interventions to break the chain of mosquito feeding, disrupting their reproduction and development. This not only reduces the number of mosquito breeding sites, but also improves the environment in homes.

Is it financially sustainable?

As the project had a defined timescale for grant use there were no additional plans made to achieve longer term financial sustainability after the grant was spent. However, the training and expertise given to residents through the project allowed certain residents to develop enterprises around mosquito-proofing homes. This demonstrates how the approach could potentially create economic opportunities.

ARCHIVE Global has produced evidence that the cost of home improvements can be reduced significantly if they are carried out at scale. Typical interventions cost US$300 to US$500 per unit. Subsequent projects modelled on what was achieved in Cameroon it has been possible to reduce costs of household interventions from US$300 – US$500 to US$30 – US$55 per home making future replications of the project more economic.

Even with reduced costs people on very low incomes would be unable to afford materials for interventions. So, to be repeated, the project would require further grant funding.

What is the social impact?

The project helped communities to understand how to protect themselves from mosquitos entering their home. Following the projects outreach and training community members have been able to fit their own mosquito screens without the support of ARCHIVE Global. This training did not only allow residents to become aware of what interventions were needed, but also gave them the practical building skills to achieve these interventions.

The project allowed communities to come together to work towards a common goal. As well as working on their own homes, residents worked with neighbours and shared their knowledge with other community members. By working with the poorest of the poor, the project reduces social inequalities by reducing the health risks faced by vulnerable groups. The housing improvements carried out by ARCHIVE Global led to a fall in mosquito numbers by 50%, reducing the risk of being bitten.

The wider activities and awareness raising led to significant increases in knowledge within the community. Far more people were trained to understand that blood tests could help to diagnose malaria and that screening windows and doors could help to prevent it.

Barriers

The project faced a number of barriers which were:

  • Coordination: working with multiple other organisations in different contexts was challenging this was overcome as relationships developed.
  • Higher than expected costs: This meant that they could not implement as many educational programmes in primary schools as they wanted. But, they partnered with a technical school as an alternative.
  • Data Collection: the research team struggled to collect information which resulted in delays. It also meant they could not focus on collecting evidence on malaria prevention for children under five.

Links

Authors:

World Habitat

Promoting Eco-sanitation in Informal Settlements

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Promoting Eco-sanitation in Informal Settlements

Mismatches Functional adequacy Cultural suitability Vulnerable groups
Policies and regulations
Urban Design Environments Quality Equity
Promotion and production Self-management Cooperatives

Main objectives of the project

This eco-sanitation project enables marginalised communities in urban informal settlements to access basic services through the community-led provision of bio-centres, which provide toilets and bathrooms and an additional floor for housing, offices, business spaces, etc. The community development process enables people to gain skills and a strong sense of ownership and to deliver an eco-sanitation facility that fits local needs. To date, over 70 bio-sanitation facilities have been put in place across Kenya.

Date

  • 2015:

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: World Habitat

Location

Continent: Africa
City: Nairobi
Country/Region: Kenya, Nairobi

Description

Project Description

Through this eco-sanitation project, the Umande Trust seeks to involve marginalised communities living in urban informal settlements in accessing basic services through community-led provision of bio-centres. The Trust facilitates community participation and provides training and support to enable informal settlers to lead on the planning, design and management of the facilities. This community development process enables people to gain skills and a strong sense of ownership, and to deliver an eco-sanitation facility that fits local needs.

The facility is made up of a bio-sanitation facility (toilets, bathrooms) with an additional floor for housing, offices, business spaces, etc. The bio-gas generated from the facility provides clean energy for cooking and lighting.

The project started in January 2013 and, to date, has successfully put in place over 70 bio-sanitation facilities across Kenya in five counties: Nairobi (in Mukuru, Kibera, Mathare, Korogocho and Kibagare settlements), Kisumu, Nakuru, Embu and Kirinyaga. Five of the completed facilities also include a total of 23 housing units. These facilities are spread across schools and other institutions, urban informal settlements and market places around the country. The projects have so far worked with 70 self-help groups or community-based organisations and delivered facilities that each receive around 500 people per day.

Aims and Objectives

The overall objective of this particular project is to increase the use of eco-friendly sanitation technologies and their by-products for improved health and livelihoods in the informal settlements in Kenya by means of improved management of human waste, increased access to sanitation services and safe water through the construction of the sanitation facilities (bio-centres).

The initiative responds to issues that communities in informal settlements face in terms of lack of access to sanitation, inadequate housing and water crisis. Beneficiaries include:

  • community groups who manage the facility and benefit from economic returns from the use of toilets and from the businesses within the building such as kitchens, internet cafés, nurseries, etc.;
  • households living and working near the facility through improved sanitation;
  • disabled people, given the provision of accessible toilets;
  • children in school through improved sanitation and educational activities linked to some bio-centres such as libraries, gardening and environmental awareness activities;
  • community-based hygiene promoters through improved sanitation and increased opportunities to raise awareness of hygienic practices;
  • community-based workers who earn an income from being involved with the construction;
  • the residents of the five bio-centres (three in Mukuru, one in Korogocho and one in Kibera) that have built 23 houses between them through good quality affordable housing. These residents are from the informal settlements and have been chosen by the community groups;
  • the users of the by-products (residents and businesses within the facilities) have cheap access to energy for cooking, lighting, etc.;
  • the users of the additional services offered, i.e. internet connection; community courses on environmental issues, micro-credit, social audits; spaces for meetings, rehearsals and the screening of football matches.

Currently, only the occupiers of the building can make use of the bio-products. However, in the next five years Umande Trust plans to have a factory that can process and store the bio-gas in cylinders and the manure in containers. This will serve residents, households and small-scale businesses within the informal settlements.

Context

Around Kenya, houses in informal settlements are characterised by low-lying, non-permanent structures constructed of walls and roofs made of mud or iron sheet and concrete floors. These houses generally lack access to toilets, bathrooms, sewerage systems and proper lighting. As urban growth increases, the quality of the environment across informal settlements is deteriorating at an alarming rate. This is manifested in the loss of bio-diversity, the accumulation of solid waste and faecal matter, the increasing prevalence of disease and other indicators of low quality environmental factors. The geographical location of many informal settlements, which are often found in valleys, high risk zones etc., makes them difficult to access, leading to complex water and sanitation issues.

The limited access to sanitation means that residents have to use inadequate methods for waste disposal such as buckets, flying toilets[1] or open defecation. This hygiene disaster has created numerous disease outbreaks of cholera, dysentery and diarrhea. Various measures have been taken to help improve access to water and sanitation; such as communal pit latrines, portable toilets etc., but had not been able to tackle the scale and depth of the problem.

The eco-sanitation facilities (bio-centres) are designed by the community group to address the issues that the community faces in accessing decent sanitation, and other needs such as the lack of housing and multifunctional spaces.

[1] Use of plastic bags as toilets, which then get ‘flung’ away – hence the term ‘flying toilets’

Key Features

Umande Trust believes in community-led processes based on the full and effective participation of all stakeholders. The scope of activities within the programme include initial selection of the community group who will lead the delivery of the construction, research to determine the scale and location of the toilets, training the group on hygiene promotion, financial literacy and governance and the construction of the sanitation facility.

Initially, the Trust sends out a call for community groups to apply to manage the bio-centres, using posters placed within the informal settlements or via key stakeholders such as village elders, ward-level local government officers or members of the county assembly as a way of reaching community based groups.

The characteristics of a community group suitable to lead this work include:

  • Groups that have been in existence for more than six months.
  • A group with a set of values and focus or activity that binds them together already and where the income from the bio-centres is complementary to existing income streams rather than a sole source of income, for example:
  1. table banking: where members meet once every month, place their savings, loan repayments and other contributions on the table then lend either long-term or short-term loans to one or a number of interested members.
  2. merry-go-round: where members contribute a small sum of money on a regular basis and each time money is collected, the full sum is paid out to one of the members. The members take turns to receive the pay-out, so after one full cycle, every member of the group has had a turn.
  3. environmental groups that focus on waste collection, cleaning the environment or tree planting.
  4. art-based groups such as dance classes, yoga, drawing etc.
  • Groups that have been legally registered by the Government of Kenya, under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development. Under the constitution, the group would have outlined how often they should meet and by looking at their records the Trust are able to see if they are following the objectives laid down in their constitution.
  • Groups that invest in their members by loaning or buying assets that will increase the membership of the group.
  • Some community-based groups involve purely women or girls but where there is a gender mix, the trust operate a 2/3 rule (i.e. a maximum of 2/3 of the management is male).

Once a group has been chosen, a design session is held in which they give inputs into what they want the building to look like as part of developing a work plan. The activities start with a survey to determine the number of users and their attitudes to fees for using the services. This involves quantifying the number of households in the informal settlement to establish potential demand to guide the design process.

The programme aims to build the capacity of the community-based organisation to manage the facility by offering training on financial management, marketing and governance, hygiene promotion, entrepreneurship skills and management skills so they can run the facility in a transparent and accountable manner. The design of the bio-centre is undertaken by the Umande Trust and the community so that the groups have the chance to choose what they want in the spaces built above the sanitation facilities. The groups are also in charge of hiring labourers from within the community. These people are trained on the job and earn some income from their work, while also gaining construction skills that they can use to gain employment. Umande Trust offers technical guidance through the process.

The money for the construction is deposited in the group’s bank account for easy accountability and management and in order to train the group to be accountable. For transparency, periodic accountability sessions are held to determine how much money has been used.

The construction phase itself consists of three stages:

  1. The construction of a bio-digester underneath the ground.
  2. Construction of the sanitation facility, toilets (female and male) with both sides containing specific toilets for people with physical disabilities and children.
  3. Construction of the housing units or other spaces on top of the sanitation facility.

Once the construction has been completed the group takes charge of managing the project with Umande Trust staff monitoring their progress and acting as advisor to the group. The Trust works closely with the county government and relevant ministries who are in charge of approvals i.e. of the land which is acquired through the groups and also the provision of water to the sanitation facility.

They also work with donors, who provide three types of funding:

  1. Donor funding/grants: these are funds that a donor has provided as they have seen a need that they want to address. These funds are supplemented by the group in terms of sweat equity.
  2. Loans: under the Umande Trust’s Sanitation Development Fund groups are able to apply for funds for the construction of these projects.
  3. Social entrepreneurship: this is the consultancy wing of the Umande Trust where expertise in the construction of the bio-centres is sought either from schools or public/private institutions.

What impact has it had?

The project has succeeded in developing an impact on the plans of local authorities and at a county-level, the bio-centre technology has been identified as a priority in ward development plans by the County Government. This has been achieved via a Memorandum of Understanding between the Umande Trust and the County Government which focuses on demonstration projects in the counties of Kisumu, Machakos and Busia. The local authorities in these areas have allocated funds to implement the bio-sanitation model as pilots within schools and market places to the tune of Kenyan Shillings (KES) 23,000 (USD $230,000). There is also an ongoing discussion on the development of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Umande Trust and Nairobi County, on the integration of the bio-sanitation model within health provision.

How is it funded?

The bio-centres are mostly funded through a mix of community contributions and international donor funds from organisations such as the French Development Agency, Oxfam GB, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Swedish Embassy, the Finnish Embassy SustainableEnergy, etc. The local or national government and its agencies, such as the Nairobi Water and Sewage Company have also offered support. This income has been achieved as a result of fundraising activities by the Umande Trust but also individual schools/organisations.

For example, the implementation of one of the bio-centres in Mukuru started with an initial grant from the Embassy of Finland in Nairobi, and a Finnish civil society organisation, Wimma Liikuttaa ry. The total amount of this grant was KES 3.5 million (USD $35,000) and was used to cover the capital costs of the construction of the whole project: the toilets, bathrooms, housing, installation of bio-gas cookers and lighting in the houses.

The local community group within Mukuru contributed approximately 20% of in-kind support by undertaking the management of the excavation of the site for the bio-digester, ensuring the wider community were able to participate and managing the labourers, who came from the local community and who were paid for their work within the budget. The members of the group will provide security of the materials that will be in use during and after construction and project staff and labourers are also taken care of as not all settlements are safe. The Kenyan Government also contributed a lump sum of approximately KES 60 million (USD $630,000) to support the programme.

Since starting the project in 2013, the Umande Trust has made some changes to their financing model for the bio-centres, moving from a Build and Transfer model to a social entrepreneurship model which operates on a Build-Operate-Transfer basis. This revised approach works by supporting the construction of sanitation facilities by groups who are capable of managing the process and who have the prerequisite space and approval documents from the Government. The Umande Trust then enters into an agreement to provide a loan which will be recovered from the operation of the facility over an agreed period of time. Upon recovery of the capital investment and agreed interest, the facility is entirely transferred to the group concerned to run as a business venture for the benefit of all the members of the community.

There are three types of bio-centres:

  1. Bio-centres based in or near market places, serving traders and customers.
  2. Bio-centres based in residential areas, serving the residents within the informal settlements.
  3. School-based/community-based bio-centres serving users of these facilities in the area.The design of the bio-centres themselves is chosen by considering the population that will use the sanitation facility and the costs of construction might be as low as KES 1 million (USD $10,000) or as high as KES 5 million (USD $50,000) depending on the size and specification of the facility.In terms of the costs of the housing units, the usual housing costs in the informal settlements range from KES 2,500 (USD $25) to KES 4,500 (USD $45). The lack of access to basic services at home means that the residents are forced to cover the cost of toilets, water services and cost of fuels from their daily income. In comparison, the cost of the housing units at the bio-centres is of KES 5,000 (USD $50) for a large room and as low as KES 2,500 (USD $25) for a small room with amenities included: toilets, bathroom services, water and bio-gas for cooking and lighting. The revenue from the rental of these properties is managed by the community.

The bio-centres have been designed to be self-sustaining through income generated from the services offered: toilets, bathrooms, bio-gas, housing and rental space. As the bio-centres are constructed in different settlements there isn’t one generic model. Some bio-centres earn up to KES 91,000 (USD $900) a month with others earning as little as KES 30,000 (USD $300), depending on the size of the facilities and the levels of usage. The centres achieve an average income of KES 50,000 – 60,000 (USD $500 – 600) a month, which is paid into the bank account of the community group.

Why is it innovative?

Innovative design responding to multiple needs for sanitation, energy, income, community activities/services and housing: The eco-sanitation model of the bio-centre responds to the need for the provision of dignified sanitation and also to the high demand for energy by supplying safe bio-gas to households and by providing natural compost to improve urban gardening. Bio-gas use replaces the use of conventional fuels like kerosene or wood fuel, which in the long run supports the conservation of the environment by protecting forests. Beyond the provision of sanitation, the multifunctional facility provides spaces to include activities, businesses and services that the community has identified for the benefit of their neighbourhood, expanding the benefits to include income generation and social impact.

Use of technology: There are several technological innovations within the bio-centres, such as sensors at the entrance and counter systems in each toilet that provide a headcount of all the people accessing the facility. The bio-centres also include the use of digital platforms for payments such as M-Pesa and Kopo Kopo (operating systems for mobile payments), or BebaPay (a system supported by Equity Bank and Google that uses the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Users tap a card on their phone and the service charges are deducted and transferred directly to the group’s bank account). In this way, the community members and bio-centre managers can avoid dealing with cash directly, which has improved the control and security of financial assets, helped increased trust and transparency in handling finances and made the use of the facilities quicker and more efficient.

Community governance through design process and management: Their construction governance procedures ensure that community groups and neighbourhoods are at the driving seat in proposing and determining the architectural design and plan of the proposed bio-centre. Before construction, each community group establishes task specific teams to play key decision-making roles in construction, operation and management.

Examples of sub-committees:

  • Procurement and tender committee: ensuring transparent and affordable access to building materials;
  • Works team: responsible for planning and implementing works;
  • Audit team: responsible for audit reports during regular (monthly and quarterly) accountability sessions between members and staff of the organisation;
  • Business management committee: tasked with business planning and development of the facility as well as post construction management (hygiene, bio-gas, accounting etc.);
  • Executive committee: responsible for overall coordination and compliance with the Memoranda of Agreement.Community shareholding scheme: This scheme, designed for basic urban services, is to ensure that individual members of the community-based groups managing the bio-centres benefit from a profit-sharing scheme. The business plans in place stipulate that 60% of the incomes are allocated to members as dividends; 30% is set aside for operation and management and 10% is deposited in the Umande Trust’s Sanitation Development Fund.

What is the environmental impact?

The environmental issues addressed include sanitation, land and water pollution, renewable energy and atmospheric pollution. The project promotes renewable energy helping the shift from wood, charcoal, kerosene and gas to biogas for cooking. Bio-sanitation closes the loop in the waste management process by turning human waste into a resource. The bio-centres apply ecological sanitation principles to ensure that human waste is turned into valuable bio-products by producing gas through bio-digester systems and producing fertiliser as a by-product.

One standard bio-digester produces at least 12 m3 of bio-gas (1 m3 of bio-gas will generate 4,500–5,500 Kcal m2 of heat energy when burning effectively). This heat is sufficient to boil 100 litres of water or light a lamp with a brightness of 60 – 100 watts for four to five hours. And 30 m3 of biogas is equivalent to 18 litres of diesel oil. This renewable energy source has been used to power commercial and household activities within the facilities. Estimating an average per capita consumption of 3 kg of wood per day for energy (cooking, heating and boiling water) per household, the daily per capita demand of energy equates to approximately 6 kWh which could be covered by about 1 m3 of bio-gas. Biogas use, replacing conventional fuels like kerosene or firewood, helps in the conservation of the environment, in particular the trees surrounding the informal settlements. In addition, the bio-gas digester effectively reduces the amount of methane directly released into the atmosphere, by trapping it and facilitating its use as a green fuel.

The bio-centres also positively impact on the surroundings of the facility. Cases of flying toilets and open defecation within the informal settlements have dramatically decreased in areas where bio-centres are located. This containment of human waste also reduces the pollution of water bodies and helps to curb water-borne diseases. The bio-slurry produced by the bio-centres is currently used for urban greening in areas with space in the local area, improving the environment for residents and some of the bio-centres have embarked on activities to promote urban farming and tree planting. For example, the bio-centre within Mashimoni Primary School has organised an agriculture club.

Is it financially sustainable?

The project is self-sustaining as the bio-centres generate income from the use of the toilets, bathrooms, bio-gas and the rentals from the business space and housing. Approximately 300 people use the facilities on a daily basis each paying KES 5 (USD $0.05) for a toilet and KES 10 (USD $0.10) for hot water in the bathroom. Bio-gas is charged at KES 10 (USD $0.10) whereas traditional fuels such as firewood, kerosene cost KES 81 (USD $0.80) a litre and briquettes KES 20 (USD $0.20) respectively.

The centres achieve an average income of KES 50,000 – 60,000 (USD $500 – 600) a month which is ploughed back to finance future activities that may arise for consideration from the project and are then distributed as follows:

  • 60% is shared out as dividends to group members to be used as savings for members and/or can be used as loans to individual members.
  • 30% is used for the operational expenses of the facility including a salary for the caretaker, management fees, repairs and maintenance.
  • 10% is paid as a contribution to the Sanitation Development Fund which is a revolving fund financing sanitation owned and operated by Umande Trust for the benefit of the community group and to enable other facilities to be set up across the settlements in order to meet the growing demand for better services.

As donor funding has decreased, this revolving fund has been used as a way to help groups get loans for sanitation facilities and pay these back with 10% interest after completing the construction of the facility. This model was developed given demand from not only community groups but also institutions and landlords who weren’t able to get support from financial institutions or the government. This helps a greater number of people to access the funds lowering the reliance on other funding agencies and allows individuals, institutions or communities get funding and scale up the improvement of sanitation in low-income urban settlements.

The bio-centre involves many different stakeholders at a local level within communities and has generated both part-time and full-time work opportunities for the local community. Youth groups have particularly benefitted from the income generating opportunities attached to the bio-centres and the jobs associated with the construction of the facility. For example, in Lunga Lunga, the youth groups used their savings from the bio-centre to buy car washing equipment and employed other local young people to wash vehicles. Local people have also been able to access loans to start new businesses using the income from the bio-centres as security. The cashless system used provides more accuracy and transparency, making the project more financially sustainable and reducing risks of financial mismanagement.

The rates charged for renting the housing varies based on the size of the rooms and the local market conditions. They are generally in line with the cost of housing in informal settlements but offer housing of a much higher build quality and with access to sanitation. The costs of the energy coming from bio-gas are lower than conventional fuels and sources of energy/lighting and are relatively affordable for their users.

What is the social impact?

The approach also includes the establishment of working groups of people from the community who focus on areas such as finance, energy and sanitation, all of which helps strengthen ownership and participation. This participatory approach also enhances the involvement of women and young people. Through the project, they have had the chance to contribute towards community development through the setting up and running of the bio-centre and/or by initiating their own projects through the self-help groups within the settlements.

Community groups can manage the bio-centre effectively and this has been made possible through the training provided in the capacity development strategy on a range of topics including accountability, promoting hygiene, leadership, procurement and tendering procedures, record keeping, financial management and reporting, governance, etc. These, and other skills gained, allow members of local communities to have a means of earning a living.

The community spaces provided in the facilities have created a platform for dialogue amongst residents and as an opportunity to share common issues and offer a space for leisure activities (watching football matches, music rehearsals, etc.), and other services such as training, access to the internet etc. Some bio-centres incorporate community halls that allow for meetings and discussions to be held between leaders and residents or just for residents to use discuss issues or undergo training.

The dividends received from the income goes to the community groups and are used to support the community in a variety of ways. Increased access to sanitation facilities reduces the costs associated with seeking medical attention for water-borne diseases thereby reducing household bills. Frequent hygiene promotion activities are carried out by the group members in the neighbourhood and these directly involve residents, who are encouraged to get involved in community ‘clean-up’ activities and to dispose of waste correctly. Community education and sensitisation on conservation and hygiene have increased people’s awareness of the importance of practices such as hand washing after using the toilet to reduce disease outbreaks within the community.

Access to water, proper sanitation and bio-gas fueled stoves has lowered the incidence of common diseases such as eye infections, respiratory disease, smoking-induced coughs, diarrhea, dysentery, cholera and parasites among both adults and children. Women and children experience fewer bronchial problems and can expect to live longer; in turn the money they would use on going to hospital is saved.

The facilities are designed to be accessible to people with disabilities, which makes this an inclusive solution, which is appropriate for all ages and all physical conditions, hence reducing inequalities in terms of access to sanitation. An additional outcome that has been noted is that people living in the areas close to the bio-centres have started upgrading their own housing in line with the improvements made to their local area.

Barriers

Since the construction of the first bio-centre coincided with the general elections in 2013, there was a fear that the construction area would be unsafe due to civil unrest. This led to delays in the supply of materials and higher costs for materials as suppliers delayed transporting materials as tension was still high at the time and the increased prices were caused by suppliers attempting to protect themselves from losses.

The construction also coincided with a rainy period which led to the excavation site becoming water-logged. Some informal settlements have narrow roads making them inaccessible which made it difficult for lorries to access the site.

These challenges were addressed as follows:

  • A partnership with the local administration helped provide security which was maintained through frequent visits by the Local Administration Chief.
  • Signing a Memorandum of Understanding with different suppliers delivered a wide range of materials at different prices.
  • The lack of access to the site provided employment opportunities for young people in the area as they were used to carry materials from the drop off point to the site using wheelbarrows.

Some barriers remain in terms of resource availability, cultural barriers to using energy from waste and spaces that are linked to sanitation and limited dissemination of knowledge. There is unmet potential in terms of wider provisions of eco-sanitation but the Umande Trust aims to keep on partnering with communities to increase awareness of the benefits of the bio-centres.

Lessons Learned

  • Community participation in the management of services creates a sense of ownership and increases their responsibility.
  • Partnerships helped the organisation and communities to achieve their goals, which would otherwise be difficult to achieve.
  • Opportunities for joint planning and for periodically reviewing the project proved worthwhile as this helped raise awareness of the priorities for the organisation.
  • Community contracting and work-related interventions add value to poverty reduction strategies as they offer employment opportunities.
  • Integrating community contributions including at inception and design stages of the project help with a strong sense of ownership.
  • Income from facilities can provide an alternative source of finance for landlords.

Clear messages through targeted marketing are key as they can challenge and over the stigma associated with the use of bio-gas and bio-slurry from human waste. Effective marketing strategies have included:

  • Open days: where communities are able to access the toilet free of charge on a particular day or cook using bio-gas without paying.
  • Hygiene promotion: involving group members training residents on cleanliness and proper hygiene.
  • Different pricing: depending on the time of day, with higher rates charged at peak times (early mornings and evenings) helped with income generation and also helped lots of members of the community to access the facilities.

Evaluation

A range of tools are used by the Umande Trust to evaluate the programme:

  • Business plan with quarterly monitoring and reporting.
  • Financial reports including annual audits to review the progress of the groups.
  • Field visits by Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) officer and Area managers.

Links

Authors:

World Habitat

A Roof, A Skill, A Market

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A Roof, A Skill, A Market

Mismatches Cultural suitability
Policies and regulations Participatory processes
Urban Design Quality
Promotion and production Participatory processes Materials Self-construction

Main objectives of the project

Date

  • 2016:

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: World Habitat

Location

Continent: Africa
Country/Region: Burkina Faso

Description

Project Description

The project revives an ancient architectural approach to overcome the problem of unsuitable materials being used for roofs in houses in the Sahel. Traditionally house roofs were timber framed, but deforestation and the increasingly arid environment led to a scarcity of timber. In its place metal girders, concrete and sheet metal were used. These provide poor heat insulation, have to be imported at great expense and have high embodied energy.

The Nubian Vault Association’s programme “A Roof, a Skill, a Market” promotes a sustainable and affordable alternative: the vaulted earth roof. This approach uses sun dried mud bricks to create a vaulted roof that supports itself and so doesn’t need supporting beams or joists. The design borrows building techniques and materials used in ancient Egypt. A house built using this technique is more comfortable, healthy and robust than one with a sheet metal roof. It is also cheaper and can be made from freely available local materials. The project started in Burkina Faso but has spread to other parts of Western Africa including Mali, Senegal, Benin, and Ghana.

A previous submission to the World Habitat Awards from the Nubian Vault Association for ‘Earth Roofs for the Sahel’ – which was a finalist in 2009 – focused on the initial stages of this work in Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal. This submission describes how the Nubian Vaults programme has developed and achieved greater impact though the process of scaling up and the transfer of the programme to two other West African countries via training, capacity building and network development.

This market -based programme aims to generate, grow and sustain the local supply and demand for the Nubian Vaults via three interconnected concepts:

  • a Roof (referring to the development of appropriate housing within a local housing market),
  • a Skill (i.e. supporting the training of masons and entrepreneurs),
  • a Market (creating economic opportunities by encouraging those involved in the housing market to take up this solution).

The Nubian Vault Association works through pan-African collaborations and knowledge exchanges between a wide range of actors (masons, project leaders and key stakeholders) in order to progress the work at a regional level and learn from different experiences.

Since its inception, the association has constructed 2,000 buildings, and housed 24,000 beneficiaries in five countries, trained 440 masons and 400 apprentices, contributed 2.4 million euros (USD $2.6 million) to local economies and saved an estimate of 65,000 tons of CO2 equivalent (calculated over a 30-year lifespan of the building).The core target group for the programme are rural populations of West Africa, living on less than USD $2 per day and outside formal economies. But, the concept is flexible and appropriate for various uses and types of clients: urban and rural, private and community, low and high income. The association adapts the technical research undertaken in order to adjust their offer and techniques to these differing variety of needs.

There are several groups who benefit from the Nubian Vault Association programme:

  • Local populations with access to affordable and suitable alternative housing and improved livelihoods.
  • Women and children, in particular, are the primary users of houses and courtyards.
  • Local young people have access to vocational training, helping them to find a place in the workplace regardless of their previous level of education. Most of the apprentices and masons are seasonal farmers, with little income security. The jobs within the programme provide them with and additional income during the off-season; masons also learn from other masons from different west-African countries, enriching their experience and knowledge.
  • Local artisans and building companies benefit from a new product which enhances their competitiveness in a green growth context. The Nubian Vaults are low-tech and cost-effective, an ideal business solution.
  • Community members are trained as ‘key people’ – in charge of liaising with other members of the community, and through the programme they learn new skills of community organising and awareness-raising.
  • Local stakeholders using offices, shops, agricultural facilities, classrooms, health centres etc. gain access to adequate and appropriate infrastructure and increased levels of comfort.

Aims and Objectives

The main purpose of the programme is to help as many people as possible across the Sahel region of Africa access appropriate (affordable, decent and durable) housing. The programme also aims to boost the local economy, create jobs through the training of masons and reduce the impact of climate change. Ultimately the association’s goal is to significantly scale up the programme so that it delivers 300,000 homes and trains 60,000 masons by 2030.

Context

Housing is precarious for the majority of the population of the Sahel Region. Incomes are low and the local economy is weak. Urban growth and deforestation have led to the disappearance of the natural timber resources used in traditional architecture. Alternatives to traditional housing construction such as the materials used (cement, steel, corrugated iron roofing) and the monetary systems involved (imports, use of cash), have failed to deliver sustainable housing to the majority.

Sahelian societies are characterised as predominantly rural (80%) and are mainly subsistence farmers. These populations struggle to meet their daily basic needs and have a significant need for income-generating opportunities. Political involvement is usually weak, yet the interest in better housing solutions using local materials has recently grown, given the challenges posed by climate change. The National carbon reduction policies in Burkina Faso and Senegal specifically mention the Nubian Vault as an appropriate solution for sustainable development.

Key Features

The roofs are affordable because they use widely available material, and communities participate in the construction. For example a 25 m2 Nubian Vault in Burkina Faso would cost about 450 euros (USD $500), of which 300 euros (USD $332) is provided by the client in materials and sweat equity. By comparison, a cement and iron roof in the same area would cost about 1,000 euros (USD $1,107).

They are environmentally sustainable. Materials have low embodied carbon because they are locally available reducing the need for transport.  They reduce the local demand for timber which helps reduce the threat of felling trees. The techniques are embedded in local traditions as a revised version of a vernacular form of architecture. These offer a great degree of energy-efficiency and thermal stability. The strategic approach taken by the association is to create and sustain an affordable local market for the Nubian Vaults solution, both in formal and informal ways, in order to make it accessible to as many people as possible.

The initial dissemination methodology is focused on pilot villages, in which agents of the Nubian Vault Association supported by a ‘community stakeholder’ (a key member of the community) conduct awareness-raising activities in order to generate an initial demand amongst potential clients. The community stakeholder is a person with a certain degree of influence in the area, who believes in the value of the vaults as a solution for housing, employment and economic development and who has the capacity to convince others within their own communities. Typically, this person is a farmers’ group leader, or someone already involved in a similar organisation. Many of these key people are women. Their role is central to creating more opportunities to disseminate the concept. Similarly, local Civil Society Organisations play a key role in the dissemination of the concept and growth of a local market for the vaults. This dissemination also happens in parallel to the training of masons through apprenticeships and in some cases this training is delivered by masons from other countries where the project is at a more advanced stage. From these villages the Nubian Vault concept is spread to surrounding communities in order to stimulate a local market for the solution. The masons themselves participate in this dissemination by promoting it through their networks and activities.

In terms of spreading across the region: in the early stages of the programme, new countries (Mali, Senegal) came on board in an ad hoc way at the invitation of local NGOs. But as the project has reached maturity, it has made more strategic choices regarding which countries to work in. Representatives of the programme have undertaken exploratory missions to find out about that the quality of the earth, rainfall levels, types of beneficiaries and the interest levels of potential partners.

For each new country, an international volunteer is trained to lead the implementation by staff from the Burkina Faso office. As trainees participate directly in the daily activities of that office, overheads and training costs are kept low. A strategy for regional duplication is established from the start, to maximise dissemination opportunities, according to resources and relevance. A national team is put together to conduct awareness-raising activities among the local population generating a demand for the vaults and interest in training masons and other building professionals and among local civil society as well as local, regional and national institutions and private sector organisations.

One of the first actions when starting in a new country is building a new office. This itself is an important part of the programme, as the construction of this office serves as an opportunity to train local apprentices in the technique. The finished building becomes a demonstration model of the concept. The land on which the offices are built is not bought by the Nubian Vault Association but granted rent-free to the organisation by local landowners, in exchange for the transfer of the building ownership after an agreed term (around 10 years).

In recent years, building upon its success, the programme has developed new strategies to stimulate the market and reach as many people as possible:

  • They have developed more extensive technical and entrepreneurial training for masons enabling them to increase production every season and to successfully embed their work into their local market.
  • The programme also encourages other organisations to include the vaults into their construction projects.
  • The programme has introduced microcredits and subsidies to improve access to housing for those for whom the low cost of a vault is still too high.
  • Regular meetings of masons and organisations are held across the Sahel region so people can exchange experiences and increase their collective knowledge and to provide a platform for people to report back on progress and share achievements.

A key aspect of the programme is that it supports the relationship between masons and clients. It does this by marketing the concept of the vaults to the public in order to stimulate demand. It also mediates between masons and clients where there are misunderstandings and disputes. This helps reduce the risk of the mason leaving the work unfinished or the client leaving the mason unpaid. The programme also has a vocational training scheme. To date, 440 masons have been trained, there are currently 400 apprentices.

The seasonal nature of the programme complements subsistence farming. Vaults can only be built during the dry season, whereas subsistence agriculture (which is the major source of work) is only possible in the rainy season. Without this scheme there is little work in the dry season, this situation has led to an exodus of young men seeking work. The scheme helps stem this exodus. The Nubian Vaults Association works in an open source manner. This enables it to focus its activities on setting up the programme in new areas and then withdraw leaving the implementation and running of the programme to local people.

What impact has it had?

The programme has played an important role in helping countries of the Sahel region meet their climate change commitments. All United Nations member states were asked to produce commitments for climate change alleviation for the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (called “Nationally Determined Contributions” by the UN). These commitments were expected to show how the countries were going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transform practices to adapt to climate change. The Nubian Vault technique was identified by the governments of Burkina Faso and Senegal in their commitments to this conference.

The Government of Mali also chose to identify Nubian Vaults as an appropriate tool for development in its 2016-2018 Strategic Framework for Economic Stimulus and Sustainable Development. This is a public policy framework connecting economic growth and better living conditions for people. In Benin and Ghana the association has led sustained advocacy work throughout 2015 and although the Nubian Vault is not specifically mentioned in the Nationally Determined Contributions of these countries, there is recognition of the importance of the construction and housing sectors in climate change alleviation and adaptation. This represents a step forward in transforming the construction and housing sectors, by recognising that there needs to be a change. Although it is difficult to attribute the impact of this, in Ghana, interest within public sector organisations in the Nubian Vault increased after the Paris Climate Conference.

How is it funded?

The costs of running the programme have increased yearly with the growth of the programme.

  • In 2005, the annual budget was of 11,700 euros (USD $13,000), all staff were volunteers.
  • In 2012, with three countries in operation, the budget had grown to 366,000 euros (USD $405,000) and the programme had 20 salaried employees.
  • In 2016, the budget of 1.4 million euros (USD $1.5 million) covers five countries and a wider range of activities is supporting the work of 70 employees.

The Nubian Vaults Association itself is funded by grants.

  • The first major funding received was a grant from the French Foreign Affairs Ministry of 30,000 euros (USD $33,500) in 2003-2004. Prior to that, activities were funded through individual donations and the personal investment of the co-founders.
  • In 2015-2016, the association received half its support from public sources (French Development Agency, French Facility for the Global Environment) and half from private and corporate foundations.

Why is it innovative?

The innovation lies firstly in the technology itself, simple, replicable, modular and affordable. The mud bricks are sun-dried, requiring no machinery, and assembled with an earth mortar following a simple technique. The social entrepreneurship approach taken by the Nubian Vaults Association is innovative.  Rather than building houses directly, the programme creates and supports a local market in which local masons, apprentices, businesses and clients can operate.

The pan-African nature and cross-country collaboration of the programme is unusual. All country and regional teams meet every season for regular steering committee meeting. Masons in training also have the chance to meet annually at the Masons Congress organised in early June. In 2016, Malian masons were invited to the Burkina Faso congress, with the aim of enhancing skills, capitalising on knowledge and sharing experience from mason to mason across the sub-region. The programme also mobilises the most experienced masons – from Burkina Faso and Mali – to train the first generations of masons in the new countries (Senegal, Benin and Ghana).

What is the environmental impact?

The Nubian Vaults technique facilitates the construction of sustainable, low-carbon buildings and represents a real solution for climate change mitigation and adaptation for the housing sector in West Africa. The main building materials are sun-dried mud bricks, made from locally available earth and the vaults do not require iron roofing sheets, most commonly used in the Sahel despite their environmental inappropriateness (imported, heavy carbon footprint for production and transport).

Earth bricks have very low embodied energy: they are produced without any machinery or fuel wood, on or close to the construction-site and their use is sustainable given the geological nature of these territories. The thickness of the walls and roof and the natural isolation qualities of the earth bricks, provide improved thermal comfort compared to all other construction solutions available in the region. Comparative thermal measurement studies in Burkina Faso and Senegal have confirmed the advantage of the Nubian Vault solution in this respect.

This thermal stability also improves community buildings, such as health centres, schools (longer school hours are possible, in particular in the afternoons, and students and teachers alike benefit of better studying and working conditions), or agricultural facilities (better productivity, longer storage of perishable products). For a 25 m2 building and over a 30-year life cycle, carbon emissions are estimated at 20.5 tons. Nubian Vault constructions also safeguard natural resources, using neither wood nor straw. Traditional houses used both of these materials for the roofs.

Is it financially sustainable?

Costs are expected to grow in line with the growth of the work of the organisation and with the increased demand for its presence in new regions or countries. Expectations for forthcoming budgets are: 2 million euros (USD $2.2 million) in 2016-2017, 2.5 million euros (USD $2.7 million) in 2017-2018 and 3.3 million euros (USD $3.6 million) in 2018-2019.

The Nubian Vault Association maintains its fundraising activities in line with this projected growth. It is preparing to adjust its economic model in the near future to leverage more support from social investors. In keeping with its determination to work with others in an open market, the association aims to create a hybrid for/non-profit model to make it financially viable. This would transfer ownership of the development of a sustainable housing market to local actors (states, training centres, businesses etc.).

The association’s financial partners are not just philanthropists, they are social investors who expect social returns: houses built, masons trained, improved economies and climate change adaptation strategies. Results-Based Financing is a perspective on social investment that focuses on real impact rather than specific projects or processes. This approach allows the Nubian Vaults Association to build a comprehensive, integrated programme aiming to deliver its overarching mission, anticipating its results while providing it with the capacity to adapt its strategy to the context.

What is the social impact?

The Nubian Vault programme has already provided better housing for 2,000 households, with the associated health benefits of improved room temperatures etc., improved living standards and cash savings, especially in very low-income communities and rural areas. Women and children are key beneficiaries of given that they spend more time at home than men.

The nature of the architecture (using raw local materials) encourages the clients and their close circles to participate directly in construction. This helps reduce the costs of the building but also generates a greater sense of control, ownership and achievement, encouraging the custom of community participation and reinforcing traditions of cooperation. The programme has the potential to operate throughout the Sahelo-Sudanian strip, from Senegal to Djibouti, the Nubian Vault has the potential to transform the housing situation of millions of people.

As in most parts of the world, construction in the Sahel is traditionally a male profession. However, Sahelian women are responsible for domestic expenses, including the costs of building the homes. The participation of women in the programme is very important as women have a key role in choosing the type of house the household buys or builds. This does not imply that all decision-making is done by women, but that they often have a key role in household finances. The savings involved in Nubian roofs can help money be redirected to other domestic expenses such as health, education, food, and fuel.

Barriers

A first barrier encountered was the prejudice against earth construction, seen as too poor, too fragile, not modern enough. The Nubian Vault Association’s strongest argument to counter this prejudice has been the vaults themselves, which demonstrate the versatility and modernity of earth architecture. Today, demand is stronger than the supply of masons, proving this challenge has been successfully overcome.

A second barrier is the lack of organisations involved that support the growth of a sustainable housing market. From the start the programme has had a sustained advocacy strategy but the response was initially slow. With environmental challenges and climate constraints, there has been recently a positive change, indicating the early stages of adoption of the Nubian Vaults by organisations and market stakeholders who are looking for sustainable and low-carbon solutions for human settlements. The Nubian Vaults Association continues to capitalise on this progress in order to boost and accelerate replication.

Lessons Learned

The Nubian Vault Association’s experience initially demonstrated that its exclusive focus on rural communities was not sufficiently efficient: for macro-level impacts they realised they needed to reach to all layers of society and include all possible actors (rural, urban, private, institutional etc.).

The strategy is therefore now much broader and the inclusion of beneficiary communities in the activities (key people in communities, masons, training apprentices, local partners replicating the method), is also a key to long-term success, to enable better knowledge transfer and dissemination.

Evaluation

The programme is evaluated annually, through a bottom-up data collection process in which information is incrementally transmitted from field agents to the international coordination, to create a country-level report. External evaluations also take place regularly to provide non-biased analysis. The results demonstrate the programme’s significant success, with a 30% average growth in the Nubian Vault market.

Analysis has shown that demand is now higher than the level of supply achievable with the number of trained masons, indicating potential for further growth. Consequently, the association has established activities aimed at accelerating production (training units, entrepreneurial support and financial incentives for masons) and the adoption of the vaults solution.

Recognition

The work of the Nubian Vaults Association has received considerable international recognition and over 15 awards for its work for better building in Africa.

Nubian Vaults are frequently visited by neighbours and people who have heard of the concept (in the country or abroad, including other continents).

All built Nubian Vaults serve as ‘model homes’ for the programme and act as key dissemination tools by showing the benefits directly (temperature, comfort, solidity, aesthetics etc.).

Transfer

Initiated in Boromo, Burkina Faso, the programme has since spread to other regions of Burkina Faso (2006) and to neighbouring countries: Mali (2007), Senegal (2010), Benin and Ghana (2014). A few pilot construction projects were also led in other countries, Zambia (2010), Mauritania (2014), operated by local or international NGOs.

Its change of scale began in 2007 with the opening of a second country programme and has accelerated since 2014 and the approach has considerable potential for growth (300,000 houses, three million beneficiaries, 60,000 masons and apprentices by 2030). The association hopes to deploy its programme to other countries of the Western Sahelian region, adjacent to its present territories of action. These would include: Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea and is also looking to expand to other African sub-regions: Sudan, at the Eastern tip of the Sahel-Sudanian strip, and Rwanda, a key location for expansion both towards Eastern and Austral Africa.

The Nubian Vault construction technique is potentially transferrable to any area where there is low rainfall and timber is in short supply. The association is constantly working to disseminate the concept to local community-based organisations.

Imagery credits: C. Lamontagne Cosmos

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World Habitat

Empowering the Poor: building the capacity of urban and rural communities

0

Empowering the Poor: building the capacity of urban and rural communities

Mismatches
Policies and regulations Local policies Governance Participatory processes
Urban Design Inclusion Equity
Promotion and production Public promotion Self-management

Main objectives of the project

Date

  • 2015:

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: World Habitat

Location

Continent: Africa
City: Lilongwe
Country/Region: Lilongwe, Malawi

Description

Following the Slum Dwellers International approach and challenging Malawi’s ‘hand out culture’, this project is very much community-driven. It focuses on poor communities across the country, particularly in urban areas, and takes a comprehensive approach to development by empowering communities to organise, improve their living conditions and infrastructure, and increase their incomes by setting up viable enterprises.

 

Project Description

Aims and Objectives

The main aim is to empower poor people so that they are able to transform their own lives. This is done by working with the Federation of the Rural and Urban Poor using the Slum Dwellers International approach in the following areas:

  • Development of poor people’s organisations: carrying out activities such as assessment of community needs; developing partnerships; community-to-community learning; fundraising; community mobilisation and awareness campaigns; training on leadership, governance, financial management and budgeting.
  • Community data for change: empowering organisations with skills and knowledge to collect and present data about their communities using SDI tools such as community-led profiling, mapping and enumerations.
  • Basic services and infrastructure: setting up and lobbying for funds to support slum upgrading; construction of sanitation units, waste management and water connections; construction of housing and training of community contractors.
  • Skills and livelihoods: achieving self-sustainability for the community members including setting up savings and loan groups; business development training and learning exchanges between entrepreneurs.

NGO CCODE is dedicated to empowering the poor in Malawi, through providing support to the Federation of the Rural and Urban Poor, a Federation of organised groups of poor people. CCODE particularly focuses on the fields of decent housing, water and sanitation, income generation, governance and rights. CCODE works to make people aware of the benefits of participation in their programmes. No activity is undertaken without communities giving their prior commitment. CCODE is one of few organisations addressing Malawi’s fast-paced urbanisation, providing infrastructure and housing but also pushing for policy change.

Context

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than 60 per cent of the population living below the poverty line. Poverty is both rural and urban but cities have seen a rapid rise in population and with an annual growth rate of 5.2 per cent, Malawi is one of the fastest urbanising countries in the world.
Informal settlements without adequate infrastructure and basic services have increased in number and size and this urbanisation trend is set to continue. Currently 15.3 per cent of the population lives in cities. This is expected to double by 2030 and reach 50 per cent by 2050.

Despite this, the country’s political priorities and resources for development are still largely focused on rural areas and although some government initiatives are aimed at helping the urban poor, no approaches have reached scale and hundreds of thousands remain in need.

In the capital city Lilongwe, only 37 per cent of the population lives in permanent housing. There are no government programmes relevant to low income, informal sector workers, who are unable to apply for formal loans. There have been some attempts to provide micro-finance for shelter but these remain very limited in scale and politicised.

Key features

Demand-driven, continuous support to organised groups/communities: unlike most NGOs working in Malawi, CCODE sets up activities based on the real needs of the communities instead of the demands of donors. CCODE works with communities that show an interest in participating and leading on projects.
Recognising the urban poor as active leaders of their own development and supporting processes so that people can improve their living conditions themselves rather than focusing on handouts. The approach is very practical, using tools such as revolving funds to provide infrastructure or housing loans, skills development and support for business start-ups. The Federation members live in the communities where CCODE operates and they play a key role in the planning and design of the activities and projects.

Empowering communities through data and skills: through the ‘Community Data for Change’ and ‘Building Organisations of the Poor’ programmes, CCODE helps communities to have an open dialogue with government and other stakeholders.

In addition, CCODE believes sustainability and impact depend on long lasting partnerships at various levels, for example:

  • Design and planning: working closely with donors and networks, especially SDI’s members in Southern Africa, to plan strategies and programmes based on good practice and experience.
  • Development: working with communities, different levels of government, local universities and service/utility providers to carry out, monitor and evaluate activities.
  • Ongoing management: the Federation plays a central role in the planning and management of the activities undertaken by CCODE.
  • Other: relationship with Enterprise Development Holdings (EDH) and its subsidiaries as part of a long-term financial sustainability strategy.

What impact has it had?

  • Between 2003-2013: over 1,000 households achieved secure tenure and decent housing as result of CCODE programmes. This included setting a precedent for cooperative housing in Angelo Goveya.
  • Secured tenure for 372 families in Salima and Liwonde.
  • More than 2,500 households accessed improved sanitation.
  • More than 1,500 households have accessed piped water through CCODE water loans that leverage on relationships with service providers.
  • Improved food security for 500 households by using manure from ecological sanitation toilets.
  • Improved public sanitation in four market places through the construction of ecological sanitation (EcoSan) public toilets managed by women’s groups – increased to nine market places by 2015.
  • Enlisted over 70 communities onto a slum-upgrading programme, generated real and updated data through profiles and enumerations.
  • Increased income through skills development and help in setting up small-scale businesses.
  • For the wider community, improved governance (a stronger civil society making government more accountable), organised communities, increased social equality, improved public health.
  • Impact on various policies. Negotiations with the local councils and the Ministry of Land and Housing successfully led to the reduction of standard plot sizes to 13×18 m2 making housing more affordable for low income families.
  • Advocated for funding for community-led housing initiatives. The government of Malawi has provided MK 16 million (US$33,800) towards Federation housing in Salima district.

WHA2015_MALAWI4

How is it funded?

As of 2015, the financial turnover of CCODE is MK 309,126,554.00 (US$702,560) per year.

Resources to run the organisation come from several donors – including Reall, Comic Relief, WeEffect, Slum Dwellers International (SDI), UN-Habitat, Practical Action, African Development Bank, Tilitonse Fund, Scottish Government, Cara Malawi, European Union, SHARE project and Selavip.

In terms of the Federation, it started as network of savings groups and the Mchenga Fund, the successor of these original groups, and is made up of the contributions of Federation members and additional donor funding. This fund enables people in poor communities to access loans for housing or income generation.

In 2013, Enterprise Development Holdings (EDH) was created as a sustainability social enterprise of CCODE. It is made up of a number of private companies that provide different services and products including: marketing; research on development and urban issues; housing construction and rental; ecological brick construction; land development; financial management and business advice; solar products; procurement services; administration and human resource management. The profits from EDH’s activities provide grant funding to CCODE. Reall supported the setting up of EDH through the Community Led Infrastructure Finance Facility scheme.

 

Why is it innovative?

  • Working through long-term continuous community support, instead of donor-driven, time-limited projects is innovative within the context of Malawi.
  • The link with the Federation provides access to the ‘heart’ of communities enabling the work of CCODE to be genuinely community-driven.
  • CCODE works with communities through processes that lead to greater long-term commitment when compared to projects based on handouts.
  • The continuous ‘micro up-scaling’ of initiatives allows communities to learn from each other.
  • CCODE’s focuses on urban issues, as opposed to the rural focus of most national or international development projects in Malawi.
  • The focus on long-term collaboration with government at different levels is another innovative aspect. Most organisations avoid the challenges involved but CCODE believes making government accountable to citizens is a key aspect of sustainable development.

 

What is the environmental impact?

  • All construction (housing, toilets) is done with locally available materials.
  • Eco Matters (EDH’s subsidiary) introduced Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln technology into Malawi, a low-embodied energy and highly efficient brick production method.
  • CCODE also partners with Green Energy, a solar-lantern retailer, for awareness and distribution of solar products in low-income areas. Electrification in Malawi is around 7 per cent, and as a result many families use firewood for lighting and cooking, increasing deforestation.
  • Construction and sales of ecological cooking stoves by a Federation enterprise in Salima, decreases the amount of firewood needed. The stoves are made with locally available materials and sold to households for around US$1 per stove.
  • Training women from the Federation as ‘solar engineers’ at the Barefoot College in India means they earn an income from the installation and repair of solar systems in rural areas, and will be training girls who are school leavers.
  • EcoSan toilets have environmental benefits as they do not require water and produce organic compost that can be used instead of chemical fertiliser.
  • When connected to the water supply network, families receive training on the appropriate use of water, to avoid expensive bills and safeguard the environment.

 

Is it financially sustainable?

For CCODE:

  • Having diverse sources of funding from donors helps increase financial security by spreading the risk of losing a source of funding.
  • The income from EDH’s activities provides an additional source of funding.

For the communities:

  • One of the four themes of CCODE’s work is ‘Skills and Livelihoods’ which focuses on developing skills and income streams, which enable people to save, improve housing etc.
  • Housing loans and access to land provided for the most marginalised communities.
  • CCODE also helps create enterprises by providing business skills training.
  • Training and employment of local contractors for the construction of household EcoSan toilets.

 

What is the social impact?

  • Community cooperation and organisation are both a requirement and result of CCODE’s activities. This happens through bringing communities together to discuss their development priorities and create Community Development Strategies.
  • CCODE believes that strong community leadership is essential and therefore supports training on leadership skills.
  • Building advocacy skills helps communities take an active role in society. It empowers communities to negotiate with authorities and other stakeholders to encourage support for their initiatives.
  • More ‘applied’ skills including settlement planning and situational analyses, entrepreneurship, finance, community fund management, construction, etc.
  • CCODE encourages ‘the training of trainers’ and peer exchanges activities for different groups to learn from each other.
  • Appropriate construction techniques increase the safety of residents, as previously many houses were destroyed during natural hazards, putting people at risk.
  • There are increases in hygiene and sanitation through improved toilets and household water connections accompanied by awareness campaigns on health issues, such as ‘HIV and Housing’ programme in Salima.
  • There is a focus on women and young people and on the need to increase the participation of these marginalised groups in all programmes. Currently around 80 per cent of participants in the programmes and activities are women. This helps reduce social inequalities.

 

Barriers

  • Working closely with many stakeholders (public authorities, service providers, private sector) means there is a need to adapt and adjust to different timings and priorities. Delays are common. To counteract this, CCODE and the Federation conduct regular meetings with stakeholders to follow-up on issues and develop memoranda of understanding where possible.
  • The culture of charity and handouts that exists in Malawi creates problems when trying to develop leadership and entrepreneurship in communities. Some people with expectations of handouts can be disappointed by the community-led approach. To overcome this, CCODE focuses on building awareness of the advantages of leadership, creating a culture of the ‘collective good’ and promoting the benefits of communities ‘doing it themselves’.
  • The lack of commitment of some communities, individuals or organisations can create a challenge. A community-led approach is not possible where the ambition for improvement does not exist. In response, CCODE maintains a flexible approach with plans or areas of work being modified according to the ‘readiness’ of the communities.
  • Poverty in Malawi is a challenging factor, as the country’s institutions and systems are weak – creating a difficult context.
  • Limited capacity: despite growing and evolving over the years, CCODE is still a grassroots organisation with limited capacity and funds. Monitoring and Evaluation systems, documenting and other internal processes are currently in development.

 

Lessons Learned

  • The power of working collectively: groups can achieve much more than individuals. For example, repayment rates show that group-loans perform much better than individual loans, since support and peer-pressure make people more accountable.
  • Managing expectations: in a country dominated by NGOs and aid based on handouts, it takes some time and work to help people understand the value of long-term collective efforts.
  • Working with women: women are a vulnerable group and in Malawi there are social constraints that make their participation difficult. However, once included in the programmes, their commitment and determination to achieve goals help move things forward in incredible ways. Women, who make up 80 percent of the Federation’s members, have proven to be strong and resourceful leaders and members.
  • Achieving more with partnerships: collaboration between different organisations is not common in Malawi. CCODE, however, realised that uniting efforts can help achieve much more and stretch resources further.
  • Listening and adjusting: CCODE believe that it is not worth getting to a destination quicker, but rather getting there in the best way possible.

 

Evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation activities have been carried out since the beginning of CCODE’s work mostly according to donor demands and criteria for specific projects. Since 2014, an internal monitoring and evaluation position has been created to develop comprehensive systems for the organisation.

 

Transfer

Scaling up: The project has been expanding in scope and scale throughout the country using a ‘multiplier approach’: projects are local, small-scale and focus on groups of up to 20/30 people on the ground. These initiatives are then replicated in the cluster, neighbourhood, city and region or across the country. People learn from each other, through the training of trainers, peer exchanges and community-to-community exchanges.

Transfer by other organisations: In Lilongwe, after negotiations and the securing of land for pro-poor housing construction, the City Council adopted the same approach for its work with other organisations such as Habitat for Humanity. Nationally, CCODE’s approach has been also adopted by other City Councils like Blantyre, Mzuzu, Kasungu and Salima, who followed the example of Lilongwe in terms of land provision for the poor. At international level, CCODE, works with other SDI affiliates in the region to support the transfer of the approach through mutual learning, with countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, etc. CCODE and the Federation receive regular visits from SDI network members and other organisations such as WeEffect or the national government of Mozambique and have hosted international exchanges/workshops to share aspects of the project and learn from others.

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World Habitat

Community-Led Infrastructure Finance Facility (CLIFF)

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Community-Led Infrastructure Finance Facility (CLIFF)

Mismatches Financing Functional adequacy Vulnerable groups
Financing
Promotion and production Favelas/Slums

Main objectives of the project

Date

  • 2014:

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: World Habitat

Location

Continent: Africa
Country/Region: Kenya

Description

CLIFF starts from the philosophy that the poor are worthy of investment. Instead of giving one-off grants, CLIFF helps establish organisations in Asia and Africa with the capacity to provide slum dwellers with access to affordable housing finance. This approach not only facilitates the construction of affordable homes and neighbourhoods, it also generates enough financial return to allow the organisations it funds to achieve financial sustainability. In Nepal, this approach has enabled CLIFF investment to act as venture capital, proving the viability of projects that then achieve investment from established banks and lenders. Currently operating in fourteen countries, CLIFF has supported more than 70 housing and infrastructure projects in Asia and Africa between 2010 and 2014.

 

Project Description

What are its aims and objectives?

CLIFF stands for Community-Led Infrastructure Finance Facility. It defines its core work as, ‘to support slum dwellers to improve their lives and find lasting solutions to urban poverty’. CLIFF aims to address housing and basic services of slum dwellers, which are not adequately addressed by the local government or private sector.  CLIFF is a project coordinated and partly funded by UK based organisation Reall (formerly known as Homeless International).  It provides affordable finance to its Implementing Partners. Reall then work with these organisations to develop financially viable housing projects for their low-income communities. The long-term ambition of CLIFF is to help the projects achieve significant scale. It does this through:

  • Using the projects as demonstration projects.
  • Reducing the risk of investment in housing for low-income people.
  • Unlocking large-scale, private investment for future CLIFF projects.

CLIFF’s approach is to develop self-reliant housing projects that are capable of creating sustainable settlements, shelter and services. This is delivered through a long-term partnership approach with Implementing Partners, funding partners, and technical partners. Reall play a strategic management and coordination role in this process.  CLIFF provides capacity grants and revolving capital funds to the Implementing Partners. The Implementing Partners use the revolving funds to offer loans and to make strategic investments, such as the purchasing of land.  Through CLIFF, the Implementing Partners are also able to influence national policies and have amplified the voice of the urban poor at local, regional and national levels.

What context does it operate in?

According to UN-Habitat there are over one billion people living in slums. The vast majority of these slums are in developing countries. The housing and basic services needs of this population are not adequately addressed by local government or private sector. The institutions responsible for land planning, land markets and basic services are often weak or dysfunctional. Most of them lack both resources and capacity. Market-based projects aimed at upgrading slums tend to be short term and not sustained by responsible public institutions, while aid money is insufficient, considering the rate and scale needed to tackle the problem.  The CLIFF programme is set up within this context and starts with the premise that the urban poor are worth investing in. The programme is underpinned by the logic that if a financially sustainable implementing organisation is created and maintained, then the programme will continue to grow, irrespective of changing donor climates.  CLIFF has 14 partners in 15 developing countries and is involved in 70 projects across 33 cities. Where possible it also works with municipal authorities and is positioning itself to be able to receive loans/funds from both private sector and donor/development bank type organisations.

What are its key features?

What makes CLIFF different is its belief that the urban poor are worthy of investment and lending. CLIFF was established on the belief that housing and basic services designed and built in an appropriate and affordable manner can be paid for by the urban poor themselves. As a result, the programme works to counteract the current exclusion of urban poor groups from appropriate housing finance. To do this, CLIFF builds the capacity of local organisations committed to supporting the urban poor and delivers its vision with a twin approach programme:

  • To build capacity of partner organisations, helping them to consolidate their strengths and address their weaknesses. Through the support of CLIFF a number of Implementing Partners have developed the capacity to influence the policies of local and national level governments and financial institutions. For example, in Nepal LUMANTI, a national NGO and long-term CLIFF Implementing Partner, has been able to secure as much as 80 per cent of their total project costs from local banking institutions.
  • Alongside and connected to this capacity building, CLIFF provides Implementing Partners with recoverable capital funds to buy land, construct houses and to provide affordable micro-mortgages to slum dwellers. Early on in the CLIFF programme, capital funds were only recycled at a national level. However, as the CLIFF Implementing Partners have matured into sustainable Community Development Enterprises, a change in approach has occurred. Broadly speaking, Reall now distribute capital funds to CLIFF partners as a loan, allowing the recycled funds to be redeployed anywhere across the global portfolio. This approach encourages financial discipline amongst CLIFF’s Implementing Partners and rewards this with access to a larger, more responsive, capital fund.

Through a long-term partnership approach, CLIFF is able to support partner organisations towards a position of operational sustainability. In this way, the programme demonstrates a commitment to building institutions capable of accessing sustainable sources of finance and delivering housing projects at scale and in perpetuity.

How is it funded?

At present, CLIFF is supported by two international donors, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). In 2013/14, the largest donor was DFID, its funding is committed until 2015. Discussions are already underway to ensure continued DFID support for CLIFF Phase 3. The project has good economic sustainability strengths, with a number of partners already progressing to a position where they are able to receive their capital funds as a loan. In terms of repayment rates from communities, CLIFF is targeting a 100 per cent repayment rate, with partners encouraged to maintain a Portfolio at Risk rate of between 5 and 10 per cent. During the early stages CLIFF provides grants to help build the capacity of its local Implementing Partners. Overtime, this grant funding is phased out, with organisations covering their operational costs through effective business planning. The reduction of capacity grant funding has the potential to boost the amount of funding available for capital projects.  In 2013/14, CLIFF spent £7,685,753 on capital grants and loans to its partners. In the same year it had an income of £10,801,603 (including £1,377,539 carried forward from the previous year). The majority of its income is raised from donors. Reall’s revenue costs for operating CLIFF were £678,355. The excess of income over expenditure in 2013/14 was absorbed by the programme in the opening part of the 2014/15 financial year.

What impact has it had?

The CLIFF project has had a very significant and positive effect on the communities it has served.  The housing finance system has created a significant amount of suitable affordable housing that would not have otherwise been built. Indeed there is evidence that this has had a catalysing effect leading to more homes being built. For example, CLIFF funded the construction of 180 houses by the Vashandi Housing Cooperative in Zimbabwe but this led to an additional 500 being built, with a further 500 now under construction. Moreover, the house building has had a positive effect on local economic activity. The Vashandi project has led to the direct creation of at least 200 jobs.  In total, the CLIFF 2 programme has approved, commenced or completed the construction of 10,699 homes. As of April 2014, 17,183 people had already occupied their new homes, complete with improved water and sanitation, with a further 35,062 set to benefit.

Beyond housing projects, the CLIFF programme is also set to benefit a further 101,617 people through numerous sewerage disposal and sanitation projects approved in India and Nepal.  CLIFF has also influenced the housing policies in many developing countries. Causing policy change is one of CLIFF’s performance indicators. It targeted changes in six countries; in fact there has been change in eight.  For example, CLIFF’s Angolan Partner, DWA, was able to secure a reduction in the minimum plot-size requirement; whilst ZINAHCO, CLIFF’s implementing partner in Zimbabwe, gained formal acknowledgement of the cooperative housing model. Some projects have also been successful in changing local investment policy from lenders. In Nepal, LUMANTI have been successful in securing as much as eighty per cent of the total project cost from local banking institutions, a percentage previously unobtainable. The project has received international recognition by receiving the UN Scroll of Honour in 2014.

 

Why is it innovative?

With its belief that the urban poor are worthy of investment and lending, it delivers its programmes with a twin approach.

The innovation CLIFF brings to the sector is to build capacity of partner organisations, help them maintain their strengths and enabling them to work on more complex dimensions of housing programmes, such as land and financing. A number of CLIFF partners have also developed capacity to influence the investment policies of local and national banks. For example, in Nepal LUMANTI, a national NGO and CLIFF partner, was able to secure 80 per cent of the total project cost from local banking institutions. CLIFF uses donors innovatively. It uses them to build partners’ capacity through ‘capacity funds’ and provide them with additional recoverable capital funds to buy land, lend micro-mortgages to slum dwellers and to invest in physical construction. All capital funds are recoverable from the partners. Once recovered, the funds are recycled through the same or different partners.

 

What is the environmental impact?

CLIFF projects have the opportunity to reduce the carbon footprint of urban development by championing the cause of appropriate-tech, sustainable settlement solutions. A good example is the use of adobe mud bricks in Tansen, Nepal which have very low embodied energy values and are very locally sourced, saving on transport and energy costs.

Additionally, the design of LUMANTI’s apartment building in Lalitpur, Nepal, tackles the city’s frequent water shortages by implementing a rainwater harvesting system, allowing residents constant access to water for cleaning and cooking with low energy inputs. Similarly, the use of solar powered electricity builds resilience against the cities frequent power outages.

 

Is it financially sustainable?

The long-term aim is for CLIFF to become fully self-sustaining, although this aim may not be realised for many years. The establishment and growth of CLIFF has been made possible by the significant contribution of donors. At present, there is a continued donor interest in building the capacity of CLIFF. CLIFF was established with financial sustainability built in at all levels. In-country partners are helped to grow sufficiently to generate enough financial return to allow them to operate without grant based support. This has helped the organisations to begin pursuing alternative sources of investment with the aim of becoming fully self-sustaining.

 

What is the social impact?

The project provides support to those who would otherwise be excluded from participating in the urban development process. It promotes greater community cooperation and encourages gender equality.  More than 75 per cent of the programmes beneficiaries are women or children and the model offers particular support to social cohesion initiatives through the empowerment of women-led savings groups. In some countries, CLIFF has supported projects for people with disabilities, offering hope to this uniquely disadvantaged demographic. In all cases, the programme builds the abilities of community organisations to negotiate, advocate and to better manage their operations.

 

Barriers

  • Dysfunctional local governments are a major challenge for CLIFF. The experience of the project is that the housing sector has been neglected, not understood or financed properly in developing countries. As a result, in some cases CLIFF’s work is seen as a unique solution.
  • Linked with the above, CLIFF partners are expected to address a number of sector-related issues, including the complexity of land tenure and sustainable supplies of materials.
  • In a number of countries where CLIFF works, there is a certain perception about the role of international NGOs. They are either seen as advocacy organisations or those which deliver free goods. The role of CLIFF in supporting financial and technical capacity has been difficult to communicate.
  • CLIFF believes that the urban poor are worthy of investment. However, large financing institutions are under pressure to offer ‘safe lending’ and do not see the opportunity immediately. The challenge for CLIFF is to demonstrate this bankability in order to attract large private finance.

 

Lessons Learned

  • It is important to deliver such programmes at scale in order to deliver a meaningful impact on the knowledge and practice in the sector. This means changing a number of practices, including community engagement and financing models.
  • CLIFF sees the future of partners as new urban institutions which bridge the gap between markets and governments. Therefore business modelling and long term financial sustainability is extremely important for CLIFF partners.
  • CLIFF still believes that the urban poor are worthy of investment and that the finance and opportunity to deliver this at scale is available. However, it is important to recognise that housing is not only about finance, the method of delivery is equally important.

 

Evaluation

CLIFF sets its own performance targets and monitors them continuously. Monitoring reports are produced every three months, with major external evaluations dictated by donor funding cycles. Indicators on finance and growth show the project is on target or exceeding its targets. Indicators on the provision of basic services are, however, below target. The findings of the reports/evaluations appear to be used to make improvements to the programme.

 

Transfer

Significant scaling up has taken place within the project. When it started in 2002 CLIFF operated with one in-country partner (in India) it has since expanded to ten countries. The number of homes built as a result of the project has grown each year. There are good reasons to believe that expansion will continue. The in-country partners are also expanding their capacity. There is no evidence of transfer outside the project, but perhaps in a large devolved model there is no need for this to happen.

There is good evidence that local individual projects have expanded and are delivering more homes. Three in-country partners (LUMANTI in Nepal, NACHU in Kenya, and ZINAHCO in Zimbabwe) have grown to become the largest delivery agent of formal pro-poor housing in their countries. Many individual projects have been successful in documenting and disseminating learning and good practice.

There is also good evidence that national transfer is occurring. The number of in-country partners has increased significantly. Many partners are actively engaged in transferring good practice within their country and sometimes beyond. For example, LUMANTI in Nepal has established a research centre and has helped establish new research centres in new CLIFF project areas across the country.

Internationally, significant transfer has occurred. The project has expanded into ten countries. There is good evidence that cooperation and support is occurring between the in-country partners. A highly successful new partner WAT- HST from Tanzania received significant help from partners in Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe, enabling it to scale up its activity significantly.

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Authors:

World Habitat

Hebron Old City Rehabilitation Programme

1

Hebron Old City Rehabilitation Programme

Mismatches Functional adequacy
Policies and regulations Planning
Promotion and production Participatory processes Transformation and adaptation

Main objectives of the project

The Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (HRC) is a semi-governmental organisation dedicated to the revitalisation of the Old City of Hebron. The HRC offices are located within the Old City, in an area which is currently under Israeli military control. The main components of the project include the securing of decent housing, infrastructure and services, the stimulation of economic activity, and the provision of legal assistance to protect the residents’ rights. As a result of the programme, several thousand new residents have moved into the Old City. Economic conditions are improving and the social fabric of the area has been strengthened by social integration awareness and community participation.

Date

  • 2013: Ganador

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: World Habitat

Location

Continent: Africa
City: Tel Aviv-Yafo
Country/Region: Israel, Tel Aviv

Description

Project Description

Aims and Objectives

The Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (HRC) was established as a semi-governmental organisation in 1996 by a presidential declaration from former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in order to rehabilitate the Old City of Hebron. The programme’s key objectives include the re-population of the deteriorated city centre, the preservation of cultural heritage, local economic development, the engagement of the population and the provision of affordable housing.

Context

Hebron is one of the oldest cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for over 5,000 years. Its historic centre is characterised by the density of its architectural fabric, narrow, winding streets and stone masonry structures of significant heritage value. Following the Israeli occupation of the Old City in 1967, the area was progressively abandoned and over time the physical condition of the city’s old buildings had badly deteriorated. Curfews, closures, difficulties with Israeli settlers and tight restrictions on the movement of residents, together with increasing economic problems, caused most residents to leave the area, leaving only those who were socially marginalised and unable to afford to live elsewhere. By 1995, approximately 9,500 Palestinian residents had left, with less than 400 remaining. The economic life of the Old City was also severely affected, with the closure of 77 per cent of its shops and commercial activities.

Key features

The Hebron Old City Rehabilitation Programme involves the restoration and reuse of historic buildings in Hebron’s Old City for housing purposes, combined with improvements to public spaces, urban infrastructure and services, social and legal assistance and measures to stimulate job creation and develop the local economy. The programme comprises the following four key areas:

  • Housing: Through a sensitive rehabilitation and restoration process using traditional techniques and materials, over 1,000 housing units have been renovated and are now inhabited by approximately 6,000 people (78 per cent of whom are tenants and 22 per cent of whom are owner occupiers). Large residential properties originally built to accommodate extended families of 20 or more people have been converted into smaller apartments to adapt to current cultural and household requirements. Local residents are employed and locally produced materials are used wherever possible.
  • Infrastructure and services: Social assistance, education and health care is provided to low-income families free of charge and a community centre, children’s playgrounds and public gardens have been established. Infrastructure upgrading has included a new sewerage network, water and electricity supply, improvement of paved areas, sidewalks and stairs, planting of trees, handrail installation and street lighting. Public spaces, formerly used as dumping grounds, have been reclaimed.
  • Social development: The programme has increasingly focussed on the social development and enhanced the role of residents in the revitalisation process through the implementation of several awareness programs and activities.
  • Economic development: The programme has increasingly focussed its work on reviving local economic activity and creating jobs in and around the Old City in an effort to reduce poverty and unemployment. Shops have been restored and various activities have been organised to encourage tourism. A vocational training school was established in 2009 in partnership with the Spanish government.
  • Human rights: With funding from the Norwegian government, HRC has established a comprehensive programme aiming at the protection of Old City residents from human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, physical abuse, damage to property, expropriation of houses and land, closing of streets and business to Palestinians and preventing rehabilitation of building in the Old City. By providing legal assistance, HRC hopes to create an environment of accountability that will contribute towards the safety of the community and prevent future depopulation.

Covering costs

  • Funding for the programme has been obtained from a range of sources, including the Palestinian National Authority, other government sources and international multi- and bilateral donors including many European governments. Since the beginning of the programme in 1996, more than US$32 million has been received from over 20 donors in 16 countries to cover the costs of housing rehabilitation, urban infrastructure provision, training, economic development and social and legal assistance for the residents of the Old City. The average cost per unit for housing rehabilitation is US$26,000.
  • On-going operating costs of the programme are met through a combination of grants from national and international donors, other revenues and in-kind donations, totalling approximately US$2.7 million per year.
  • Funding in the amount of US$600,000 was provided by AECID for the establishment of a vocational training school in 2009.

Impact

  • More than 6,000 people are now living in the Old City, ensuring the continuous use and maintenance of historical buildings and urban spaces that had previously been abandoned. The more than tenfold increase in the number of people living within the rehabilitation programme area has been the most important indicator of the success of the programme.
  • Rehabilitation of infrastructure, services and public spaces has significantly improved the living conditions in the Old City.
  • The legal unit of HRC has assisted shop owners and families in getting back properties that had been closed down or expropriated through a ruling in the Israeli Supreme Court. Rulings such as this have protected the rights of the Palestinians.
    Over 160 shop owners have reopened their shops and 207 permanent jobs have been created to date.

Why is it innovative?

  • Combining heritage preservation (carried out in accordance with international conservation standards) with job creation and the provision of high-quality affordable housing for low-income families in central areas, making use of existing infrastructure.
  • Adaptation of residential buildings originally built to accommodate extended families into separate, independent single-family apartments, addressing changing household needs and the transition from extended to nuclear family structures.
  • Broad partnership with a range of international organisations and donors as well as local and national government agencies.
  • Providing an example of how to address a difficult situation of military occupation and urban conflict in a peaceful manner.

What is the environmental impact?

  • Restoration and reuse of existing buildings with traditional, locally available materials with low embodied energy, such as stone masonry, handmade tiles and lime renders.
  • The original elements of old houses were preserved, such as the thickness of the stone masonry walls, minimising the loss of energy and allowing for both protection from the heat of the day and retaining warmth on cold nights. The programme also involves the installation of improved water and sewerage networks and a water-cooling system on the parapet roofs.
  • A drainage and rainwater collection system has been designed which separates rainwater from waste water and helps to prevent flooding. The improved sanitation system has had a positive effect on health as well as the environment.

Is it financially sustainable?

  • Whilst the programme relies on national and international grant funding for its operations, partnerships and funding arrangements with a wide range of organisations helps to reduce the reliance on a single funding stream.
  • The programme has been running successfully for 17 years and funding is in place for on-going activities in the coming years.
  • The programme promotes the use of labour-intensive methods as a means to create sustainable employment opportunities, provide specialised training on traditional methods of conservation and increase the level of income of the community. More than 1.7 million working days have been created from the beginning of the project. Graduates from the vocational training school for restoration established by HRC represent 20 per cent of the contracted workforce.
  • A job creation programme has been implemented to provide Palestinian refugees with short-term job opportunities in order to financially assist them with a monthly salary of up to US$420. Workers were placed in different positions according to their health capabilities and their specialisations.
  • HRC is implementing measures to revitalise the economy and encourage tourism. Forty-one shops have been restored in the old market to date.
  • Residents have access to extremely favourable rents (avg. US$200/month), including an initial five year rent-free period. Those on lowest incomes also have access to multiple free services (including electricity, water, health insurance) and tax reductions. These benefits are provided as an incentive to stimulate the repopulation of the Old City and have made housing of acceptable quality affordable for those on very low incomes.

What is the social impact?

  • A range of social development initiatives have been established to facilitate greater community cooperation, including setting up a community centre, outreach activities, school trips to the Old City and special activities for young people.
  • An overall achievement of the programme has been the reintegration of the Old City into the social fabric of Hebron as previously decayed areas separating the two parts of the city have been restored, fostering movement between them.
  • The improvements to basic infrastructure and services, particularly in terms of the availability of safe drinking water and sanitation, in the area have a positive effect on residents’ health. Sixty per cent of residents receive free health insurance.
  • The legal assistance provided by HRC helps to protect residents against human rights violations and seeks to create an environment of greater accountability by the military forces and settler groups within the Old City.
  • HRC works to address the urgent housing needs of the most marginalised in Hebron, seeking to reduce existing social inequalities. The rehabilitation programme has a number of initiatives that target specific groups including, for example, vocational training activities for women, activities with disabled persons and income-generating activities for refugees.
  • Residents are involved in the planning stages of the programme and in wider decisions affecting the community.
  • Awareness-raising activities and the work of the human rights unit encourage residents to take a more active role in society.

Barriers

  • A key barrier is the presence of Israeli settlements in the Old City, where it is difficult to get permission to work and where Israeli military forces on many occasions have prevented tasks from being carried out. The closure of access roads to the Old City has made it difficult to bring in building materials. Despite the extended curfews, closures and restrictions on movement, HRC has managed to achieve a great deal under difficult circumstances. In order to bypass a ban on motorised vehicles in the Old City, HRC uses horse-drawn carts.
  • There was a lack of comprehensive maps of the Old City, its historic areas and buildings and its relationship to the city of Hebron as a whole. HRC engaged in gathering of information and mapping of the area.
  • The integration of the community with the rest of the city has been a key challenge. The vast majority of residents are poor since those that had the means to live elsewhere left. HRC has undertaken a comprehensive approach, from restoration and service provision to addressing broader issues of fragmentation, social erosion and unemployment.
  • A key barrier encountered was the restoration of the extended family homes of multiple occupancy and ownership. A house may have a large number of different owners, most of who live outside the Old City or even outside the country. The solution has been a double-lease system: HRC negotiates a contract with the owners according to which the organisation leases a building for free for a period of five years. Once renovation is complete, the owners can either return to the home or HRC lets the apartments for free for another five years. When those five years are up, the tenant is entitled to keep the apartment by signing a new rent-controlled contract with the owners.

Lessons Learned

  • In addition to housing, it was essential to provide public facilities, services and parks within the Old City. This has led to positive effects in terms of raising cultural and environmental awareness and providing much needed recreational facilities. A focus on wider social and economic issues is key to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the approach.
  • Lessons were derived from the adaptation of the extended family houses into smaller, more modern housing units that better fit the current needs of residents. HRC has documented these adapted buildings and trained a team to ensure the accessibility of this information to future researchers and renovators for their future work.
  • Citizens are the ones playing the most important role in the preservation and revitalisation process, the involvement of local community is essential to guarantee its sustainability.

Evaluation

Regular monitoring and evaluation of the programme is carried out by HRC. Donor agencies also commission and/or carry out periodic studies to assess the impact of the programme and inform the allocation of funds. This has led, for example, to an expansion of activities and an increased focus on measures to address issues of social cohesion and economic development.

Transfer

From the initial restorations in 1996, the work of HRC has since grown, reaching two-thirds of the historic buildings in the Old City by 2013, and plans are in place to rehabilitate the remaining buildings and public spaces.

HRC has also expanded the scope of its activities to address wider social and environmental issues.

HRC has been invited by a number of government agencies and private institutions to advise them on service provision and how to build positive relationships with residents.

Solutions have been developed along with the Hebron Municipality for the rehabilitation of streets and infrastructure across the rest of the city.

Nationally, the renovation standards set by the HRC have been used as a technical basis for other similar projects, including the Bethlehem 2000 project.

HRC regularly organises workshops, training sessions and study trips to share its experience in heritage preservation and housing provision to students, institutions and international visitors.

Links

Authors:

World Habitat

Cooperative Programme for the Development of Urban Neighbourhoods

0

Cooperative Programme for the Development of Urban Neighbourhoods

Mismatches Diversity Vulnerable groups
Policies and regulations Regulation Participatory processes
Urban Design Urban fabrics
Promotion and production Self-management

Main objectives of the project

Date

  • 2013: Finalista

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: World Habitat

Location

Continent: Africa
Country/Region: Cameroon, Yaounde

Description

Links

Authors:

World Habitat