Building with scarce resources: Against housing hunger in Africa

Abstract

This publication is the result of the work carried out over decades by the author and all his collaborators within the framework of the Cooperation Institute for Basic Habitability. The postulates discussed at the three UNCH-HABITAT world congresses that the author attended constitute the conceptual and theoretical basis from which all the actions carried out and described in this publication are built. An ethical duty towards a society in need within the framework of the so-called “informal sector”–which represents 90% of the planet’s inhabitants– leads us to pursue the goal of “doing more with less”. From this starting point, some fundamental questions arise, such as the importance of training the native workforce, the search for appropriate and appropriable local materials, the use of local production teams, the adaptation of construction processes, as well as the development of mainly participatory processes.

A series of projects carried out in Africa during the 2005-2015 decade are presented, which are considered of interest due to their achievements.

The proposals developed in this publication are not intended to compete with market products, but rather to facilitate basic habitability for the most disadvantaged. The work developed and presented aims to provide proven and reliable tools to improve living conditions and help overcome poverty in the context of Africa. In order to do this, materials such as adobe, bamboo, ferrocement, and agricultural residues are used. An effort in the form of mutual aid, assisted self-construction, participatory cooperativism is also made, making possible solutions against the persistent African need for basic habitability. In other words, as the author would say, against the “hunger for housing in Africa”.