The Built & Human Environment Review, Volume 4, Special Issue 2.

2011

Widespread adoption of contemporary earth construction in

Africa to address urban housing crisis
Zami, M. S. & Lee, A.
Zami@ukzn.ac.za & a.lee@salford.ac.uk
School of Architecture, Planning and Housing, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa.
School of the Built Environment, University of Salford, Maxwell Building, Salford, United Kingdom.

Abstract
Several studies have shown that contemporary earth construction has the potentials to address the urban housing
crisis in the developing countries. On the other hand there is a wrong perception among the users and the
professionals that, earth houses are only used by the poor people. In this regard political support would help to
overcome peoples wrong perception, citing the example of existing earth houses in Africa. This paper identifies
and discusses the potentialities of contemporary earth construction to address urban housing crisis in Africa in
the light of the successful examples.

Keywords: earth construction, appropriate technology, urban housing crisis.

Introduction
Hundreds of millions of people in the world today live in poor housing under adverse climatic conditions that
stress their undernourished bodies toward the limits of human endurance and occasionally beyond (Shearer,
1986). According to UN Habitat (1996), housing shortage in African cities ranges from 33% to 90%. To meet
housing needs, many people have resorted to renting backyard shacks and squatting on illegal land. According to
the South African census report of 1996, 1,049,686 households lived in informal dwellings. People reside in
squatter settlements, where there are no provisions for social services and utilities. UN Habitat (1996) also
estimates that approximately 60% of the African population resides in shantytowns, slums and uncontrolled
settlements. The unprecedented boom in the construction industry since independence resulted in the high
demand of building materials that superseded the production capacity of the manufacturing sector in most of the
African countries (Zami and Lee, 2008). There is an urban housing crisis in most of the developing countries and
this is largely attributed by the rapid urbanisation (Dwyer et al, 1981, 33). According to Kamete (2006), the
housing crisis is often sold and pushed onto the agenda in pre-dominantly quantitative terms and the mismatch
between supply and demand is perhaps the scariest indicator used by proponents of increased housing delivery.
The majority of the urban local authorities and central governments did and do not have a tradition of providing
shelter to a large permanent population; there has been a lag of supply to demand of urban housing (Zami and
Lee, 2007).

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A house is composed of several materials such as brick, cement, timber, window frames and several other
building materials and the use of bricks as a standard building material began in the early 1900s in most of the
African countries. Brick, cement, sand and timber are the major construction materials in Africa up to date which
is unaffordable nowadays and an appropriate building material and construction technique needs to devise to
solve the urban housing crisis (Zami, 2010). For example, earth can be used as an appropriate construction
material in Africa. The aim of this paper is to evaluate earth as an affordable alternative material to housing in
such a way, that if compared to established materials, it should prove to be an ideal alternative. The experiences
and example of practice of using the earth construction will be analysed from other societies and countries and
demonstrate the dynamism of the material and construction in Africa.

Historical background of earth as a construction material in Africa

It is essential to look at historical evidence of the success of earth construction. It is currently estimated that over
one third (Dethier, 1981) to over one half (Smith and Austin, 1989) of the worlds population lives in some type
of earthen dwelling. The history of earth building lacks documentation, because it has not been highly regarded
compared to stone and wood (Houben and Guillaud, 1989, p8). 30% of the worlds population, or nearly
1,500,000,000 people, live in a home built in unbaked earth. Roughly 50% of the population of developing
countries, the majority of rural populations, and at least 20% of urban and suburban populations live in earth
homes (Houben and Guillaud, 1989, p6). There are cities built of raw earth, such as: - Akhetaten in Egypt
(Figure 1); Babylon in Iraq (Easton, 1998, p3). Fortified city in the Draa valley in Morocco was constructed out
of unbaked earth, which is around 250 years old (Figure 2).

Figure 1: Ancient city of Akhetaten, Egypt.

Figure 2: Fortified city in the Draa valley in Morocco.

Source: Ashton and Down (2006).

Source: Google images, 2011.

The great mosque of Timbuktu (Figure 3) was originally built in 1240 and still standing as a successful example
of earth construction in West Africa. The present mosque was begun in 1906 and completed in 1907. The Bobo
Dioulasso Grand Mosque (Figure 4) in Burkina Faso is a century old West African mosque similar in style to
great Mosque in Timbuktu and originally constructed out of unbaked earth. This mosque is situated at the edge
of the old city and currently under restoration with cement finishes, instead of mud.
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Figure 3: The Mosque of Timbuktu, Mali.

Figure 4: The Bobo Dioulasso Mosque, Burkina Faso.

Source: Google images, 2011.

Source: Google images, 2011.

In Africa, the Egyptian civilisation provides abundant evidence of the use of earth in building as found in the
early human settlements at the Merimd and Fayum sites in the Nile delta, which dates from the fifth millennia
before Christ. The dominance of the Egyptian dynasty promoted buildings of prestigious structures made of
brick from the Nile clay, desert sand and straw from the grain fields. These bricks were made by hand and dried
in the sun before the development of the mould. The excavation at Saggarah and Bbydos show the use of bricks
which were covered by stone. The art of brick vaulting was also developed in the lower Nubia, between Luxor
and Aswan (Rastorfer, 1985, 32). The Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathy devoted himself to housing the poor in
developing nations. According to Iskander (2005), Fathy aimed to create affordable and liveable spaces suitable
to the surrounding environment, thus improving the economy and the standard of living in rural areas. His
buildings were surprisingly inexpensive. He encouraged local materials and saw a more appropriate method of
building in the Vernacular Architecture of the Nubians (region of southern Egypt). Nubian craftsmen were
masters at constructing domed and vaulted roofs of mud brick which they also used for the walls. While
implementing the Nubian building techniques, he aimed to train Egyptian craftsmen to build their houses using
mud brick or Adobe, which was ideally suited to the local conditions of Upper Egypt (Serageldin et al, 1985). In
eastern Africa, movements by the Indian Ocean, the migrating Kushites and the influence of the Axum Kingdom
(3rd to 8th BC) from Nubia as far back as Kenya have spread the use of sun dried bricks. As a result there was a
great change in the architecture of the surroundings with the introduction of mosques. These were mainly built of
earth using local expertise. In Zimbabwe, building in earth dates back as far as the 12 th century when Great
Zimbabwe was built and earth has been used progressively mainly in the rural areas (Mubaiwa, 2002, p10).
Existing urban structures of earth can be seen mainly in the houses of the Crainbone suburb of Harare and in
Bulawayos Sourcetown suburb.

According to Denyer (1978), earth architecture should not of course be considered a miraculous solution to
neither all our housing problems, nor one which can be applied successfully anywhere, everywhere. Before any
building is constructed with earth, it is essential to identify the soil to be used. The identification process
involves various tests, which need the use of a laboratory. Apart from the laboratory identification process, local
knowledge of the soil and traditional skills are necessary. In Africa, suitable soil is found in most of the
countries. Adobe Block, Compressed Stabilised Earth Block (CSEB) and Rammed Earth (RE) are the most
common earth construction methods experimented in most of the countries in Africa (Zami, 2010). Considering
the local situation and the drawbacks of earth construction, the stabilised form (RE/ CSEB) of earth construction
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is most suitable to address the low cost housing crisis in most of the countries in Africa because the drawbacks
that are derived and discussed in the different literature are from the experience of un-stabilised earth
construction. The drawbacks associated with un-stabilised earth construction can be overcome by suitable
improvements in design and technology, such as soil stabilisation, appropriate design, and improvement in
structural techniques. For example: - problems of earth wall erosion by rain and flood water, rodents making
holes in the wall and floor, and poor performance during earthquakes can be solved by making the earth
stabilised. Reduction of shrinkage cracks, a solution to water erosion, enhancement of the binding force,
increasing compressive strength, strength against abrasion and increasing thermal insulation of earth building
material is explained by different researchers, such as Houben and Guillaud, 1989; Minke, 2006; Walker, 2005
and Maini, 2005 in their published books and journal publications (see reference list) in detail.

According to Maini (2005) a good soil for CSEB is more sandy than clayey. Cement stabilisation is preferable
for sandy soils and to achieve quickly a higher strength. Lime is rather used for very clayey soil, but takes a
longer time to harden and to give strong blocks. The average stabilizer proportion is rather low:

Cement stabilisation = 5% average. The minimum is 3% and the maximum is 8% (only for cost
reasons).

Lime stabilisation = 6% average. The minimum is 2% and the maximum is 10% (for technical reason).

However According to Auroville Earth Institute the composition of a good soil is as follows illustrated in the
Figure 5.

Good soil

Gravel 15%

Sand 50%

Silt 15%

Clay 20%

Figure 5: composition of a suitable soil for stabilisation. Source: Auroville earth institute website.

Success of contemporary stabilised earth construction projects in Africa

From thorough investigation of the literature review it seems to appear that majority of experimented CSEB and
RE projects in Africa is successful. This section is going to bring in some successful cases of contemporary earth
construction in Africa.

Initially Zimbabwean professionals did not recognise the use of earth for construction of descent shelter for the
urban environment (Mubaiwa, 2002; Kannemeyer, 2006; Zami and Lee, 2007). The recognition of stabilised
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earth construction was expedited by the adoption of Zimbabwe Standard Code of Practice for RE structures
which was first published in 1996 (Kannemeyer, 2006) and included in the Zimbabwe Model Building Bylaws in
2004. The performance of experimental RE and CSEB construction in Zimbabwe is a great success to date
(Mubaiwa, 2002; Kannemeyer, 2006). One of the first stabilised earth projects was the British governments
Overseas Development Administration (ODA) funded, the DfID School block (Figure 6) at the SIRDC centre,
Hatcliffe, Harare, Zimbabwe. This project was mainly constructed to demonstrate that RE could successfully
support a roof span of 8m whilst at the same time being a test bed for the publication of RE Structures: A Code
of Practice. The building was inexpensive, and showed that wide span roofs are possible with the technology,
important for classrooms and clinics. The construction cost of this block was 60% cheaper than the traditional
concrete brick and blocks construction. The ISREC also carried out a number of RE projects in the country
among some of them were a private house (Figure 7) in Bonda, Manicaland commissioned by pioneering passive
solar architect Mick Pearce in 1997, Office and housing (Figure 8) in Chimanda on the North East border with
Mozambique.

Figure 6: Rammed earth DfID block at SIRDC,

Figure 7: Bonda private house. Source: In Situ Rammed

Hatcliffe, Zimbabwe. Source: In Situ Rammed

Earth Co. Ltd, Zimbabwe, 2005.

Earth Co. Ltd, Zimbabwe, 2005.

SIRDC built a RE teachers house at Rukanda Secondary School in Mutoko. As seen in Figure 9, the houses
appearance is impressive. Costs incurred in building the two roomed Rukanda teachers house shows that
construction using RE and roofing with MCR (micro-concrete roofing) tiles resulted in a low cost of 18 million
Zimbabwe dollars compared to $45 million when using conventional technologies. An important point to note is
that a good part of the $18 million was used for peripheral expenses such as transport, accommodation and
allowances of SIRDC technical staff who supervised the project. Besides making housing affordable to the
majority of the population, these two SIRDC initiatives have the added advantage of employment creation
amongst young people (the same as the Mutoko project).

The use of CSEB construction is fairly new in Zimbabwe (Zami, 2010). The Chitungwiza House is one of the
few known buildings made of CSEB. This was a deviation from fired bricks or cement bricks/ blocks and
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asbestos roof used for most of the low income houses in Zimbabwe. This pilot project by the Intermediate
Technology Group (ITG) was implemented with the participation of the Chitungwiza municipality in 1993 as a
low income house. The aim of this project was to evaluate the response of the people towards earth structure and
the performance of low tech and sustainable materials used in the construction of low cost housing. The use of
local labour and the absence of imported materials sent a message to the local communities that the solution of
affordable sustainable and low cost housing is possible. Until now this structure stands as a success to all
participants working in the housing industry in Zimbabwe. Therefore, all the experimented low cost stabilised
earth construction housing projects have been a success. Surprisingly stabilised earth construction technology
has not been adopted to address the low cost housing crisis in Zimbabwe despite the fact that the experimental
projects are successful (Zami, 2010). Therefore, it is essential to investigate the factors influencing the
widespread adoption of contemporary stabilised earth construction.

Figure 8: Chimanda office under construction.

Figure 9: House built by SIRDC at Rukanda School.

Source: In Situ Rammed Earth Co Ltd.

Source: The Herald, ZITF Supplement.

Compressed stabilised earth blocks were successfully used for low-income housing in Sudan (Adam and Agib,
2001 cited in Hadjri et al. 2007). According to Adam and Agib (2001), the cost of producing compressed
stabilised earth blocks will vary a great deal from country to country and even from one area to another within
the same country. Unit production costs will differ in relation to local conditions. Adam and Agib (2001) also
noted that block making can be carried out on a self-help basis, where labour costs are eliminated and soil is
often available at no cost. The Al Haj Yousif experimental prototype school (Figure 10 and 11), was constructed
from compressed stabilised earth blocks, and was found to be very cost effective by Sudanese standards. The
total savings made, in cost per square metre, were approximately 40% compared to conventional brick and block
construction. Reduction of the cost of blocks was approximately 70% and of the roofing sheets 48%. Similar
findings were also reported in Kenya where the average unit cost of compressed stabilised earth blocks is
approximately 20% to 70% that of concrete blocks, depending on the method of production followed (Adam and
Agib, 2001).

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Figure 10 El Haj Yousif School under construction

Figure 11: El Haj Yousif experimental School.

with CSEB. Source: Adam and Agib, 2001.

Source: Adam and Agib, 2001, p8.

Ahmad et al (2002) investigated on four low cost housing (Figure 12) schemes in Sudan whereby earth
(stabilised mud with asphalt) was used as construction material. Ahmad especially focused and criticised on the
housing pattern (Figure 13) of the housing schemes. However the researchers interviewed the residents in an
opinion survey intermittently throughout the study period. The residents expressed dissatisfaction on several
issues mainly focused on the small sizes of the plots, minimum acceptable level of privacy between
neighbouring households, the inadequacy or absence of services, the vulnerability of the construction process to
inflation and mismanagement, the location of the housing too far away from city and employment centers. It is
important to note that resident did not complain about the building material (stabilized earth). According to
Ahmad et al (2002), it emerged from interviews and discussions that no steps were taken to reflect the changing
needs of the communities in designlet alone probe the special needs of disadvantaged groups: - women,
children, the elderly, etc. However, Ahmad et al (2002) acknowledged the positive features that have been
introduced in some these housing projects pertaining to new building materials and forms, services and
architectural character.

Figure 12: A view of Hai Al-Hajar housing.

Figure 13: Hai Al-Hajar housing pattern.

Source: Ahmad et al (2002).

Source: Ahmad et al (2002).

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Similar to the Al Haj Yousif school, Gando Primary School (Figure 14) in Burkina Faso is also a success story
of CSEB. This school is the result of one mans (Architect Dibdo Francis Kr) mission to improve conditions
in his village. Not only did he design the school and raise the funds to build it; he also secured government
support to train people in building with local materials, and drew on the strong tradition of community solidarity
to engage all of the villagers in the construction of this school for their children. Construction of the school
began in October 2000, carried out largely by the villages men, women and children. After the school was
completed in July 2001, construction of buildings for resident teachers began along similar principles. To
achieve sustainability, the project was based on the principles of designing for climatic comfort with low-cost
construction, making the most of local materials and the potential of the local community. It was also conceived
as an exemplar that would raise awareness in the local community of the merits of traditional materials. All the
people involved in the project management were native to the village, and the skills learned here will be applied
to further initiatives in the village and elsewhere. The way the community organized itself has set an example for
two neighboring villages, which subsequently built their own schools as a cooperative effort. The local
authorities have also recognized the projects worth: not only have they provided and paid for the teaching staff,
but they have also endeavored to employ the young people trained there in the towns public projects, using the
same techniques (Website: Aga Khan Award for Architecture).

Figure 14: Gando Primary School, Burkina Faso. Figure 15: Mumemo RE construction, Maputo, Mozambique.
Source: Aga Khan Award for Arch website.

Source: Mumemo website, 2009

Mumemo is about a training course carried out in Mumemo (Maputo, Mozambique) on earth construction by
two Portuguese architects, Miguel Mendes and Teresa Beirao, during May and August 2006. The project was
created for the inhabitants of a new village, created as a resettlement for the victims of the massive floods in the
year 2000. The course gave students a wide and solid knowledge about earthen construction and three main
techniques (rammed earth, adobe, compressed earth blocs) as well as provided them with the ability to direct
similar courses in other communities. During the course, a small 50m2 house was built as shown in Figure 15
(Website: Mumemo, 2009).

A team carried out a detailed design of structural vaults built from local soil for a new museum at the World
Heritage Site of Mapungubwe in South Africa designed by Peter Rich Architects. Michael Ramage (Cambridge),
John Ochsendorf, and Philippe Block designed the unreinforced structural masonry vaults (Figure 16) in
collaboration with Henry Fagan in South Africa, Matthew Hodge developed the cement-stabilized tiles in
collaboration with Anne Fitchett (University of Witwatersrand). Based on his experience building the domes of
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the Pines Calyx in the UK, James Bellamy supervised the vault construction on site. The project was part of
masonry research conducted by MIT.

Figure 16: Vault built out of CSEB, Mapungubwe in

Figure 17: Hydraform house, Angola.

South Africa. Source: Bldg. in South Africa-james-Picasa

Source: Hydraform website, 2010.

web albums.

Founded in 1988 by Jochen Kofahl and Robert Plattner, Hydraform operates from offices in Johannesburg,
South Africa. They have regional offices throughout Southern Africa, East Africa, West Africa and Asia
yielding representation in over 50 countries worldwide (Website: Hydraform, 2010). Figure 17 shows a low cost
house constructed out of Hydraform (a form of CSEB) in Angola.

According to Earth Architecture website (2011), the new Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and
Research (Figure 18) was completed in 2009. This architectural design introduces state-of-the-art techniques for
conserving, exhibiting, and studying these famous Timbuktu manuscripts. DHK Architects of Cape Town
designed phase one, creating an archive of 20,000 manuscripts and a public library with reference materials on
the culture of the region. Andre Spies, the project architect for DHK, designed the institute completed phase two
fitting out the interiors (Figure 19). To respect the vernacular architecture of the region, Spies chose to build
primarily with mud, which requires maintenance after the annual rains. He used local mason who mixed mud
with concrete to make the facade rain-repellent, and he purchased mud bricks from craftsmen on the streets
(Earth Architecture website, 2011). This project is surely a success on promoting earth as a building material.

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Figure 18: Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Islamic

Figure 19: Interior of Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher

Studies and Research, Mali.

Islamic Studies and Research.

Source: Earth Architecture Website, 2011.

Source: Earth Architecture Website, 2011.

The aim of analysing all these contemporary stabilised earth construction projects was to evaluate the response
of the people towards contemporary earth structure and the performance of low tech and sustainable materials
used in the construction of urban housing. The use of local labour and the absence of imported materials sent a
message to the local communities that the solution of affordable sustainable and urban housing is possible. Until
now these projects stands as a success to all participants working in the housing industry in Africa. Surprisingly
stabilised earth construction technology has not been widely adopted to address the urban housing crisis in
Africa despite the fact that the experimental projects are successful. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the
factors influencing the widespread adoption of contemporary stabilised earth construction. It is worth
investigating the factors and discusses why this technology has not been adopted to address the urban housing
crisis in Africa.

Conclusions
Earth is affordable and available and would be appropriate in the case of low cost house construction in many
African countries. This paper has argued the promotion and implementation of earth as an alternative material is
worthwhile and contemporary earth construction in Africa can address urban housing crisis. It is possible to use
un-stabilised raw earth as rammed earth or compressed earth blocks; but the stabilised form is more suitable for
the African situation in terms of by-laws and housing standards. The only challenge that prevents earth becoming
the preferred choice of building material amongst the professionals, politicians, decision makers and the clients
is acceptability. An awareness and understanding by people to environmental issues such as air pollution,
deforestation, land degradation and energy conservation would help them change their attitudes and views
towards earth building. The flexibility and simplicity in technology incorporated in earth building affords
adaptability and easy transfer of knowledge between different stakeholders in the building industry. Individuals
and community as a whole can easily participate in building their own homes in affordable ways.

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