Blantyre Incremental Housing
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This project, which began in 2011, sees the incremental construction of five hundred and forty (540) houses in Blantyre. The houses will be built in three (3) phases.
Location: Mzuzu, Zolozolo, Botanic, Salima and Karonga, Blantyre, MalawiThe construction of five hundred and forty houses in an incremental manner. The houses are to be constructed in three phases. The first seventy-seven (77) beneficiaries have been identified.
Community capacity:The Federation’s technical teams assisted with the construction process. They received technical assistance from the Deustche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Technical advisor, who worked on improving designs for increased affordability.
In Mzuzu the Federation contributed to the project in the form of bricks that they had kilned. Federation members learnt technical skills through this project helping sustainability and maintenance and help with earning income after the project is complete.
Scale:The ability for the project to go to scale has been improved by the Federation’s ability to ensure loans are repaid on time. Slum upgrading efforts have already been scaled up with respect to the use of revolved funds for sanitation projects in Lilongwe. A challenge for the project and its scaling up has been the devaluation of the currency, which has eroded the purchasing power of the local currency.
Impact:The relationship between the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development (MFCPD) and the Alliance improved through this project, with the Ministry pledging support for resource allocation through the Local Development Fund (LDF). Discussion on the housing agenda has been revitalized due to projects such as this one, with housing and land being given due consideration in the revision of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy II (MDGS II).
The revolving funds of the project were channeled into scaling up sanitation in Lilongwe. Sanitation loans are being issued to households in Lilongwe's slums. This has allowed the Federation to support Government in the implementation of the National Sanitation Policy and the Lilongwe City Development Strategy (CDS) of sanitation. As a result, development approaches in Lilongwe have become increasingly pro-poor – evident in the LCDS of which the Center for Community Organisation and Development (CCODE) is an implementer.
Finance: SDI Contributions:SDI contributed US$350,000.00.
Resources Leveraged:The Federation was able to leverage technical assistance from GIZ.
State Subsidy:The Blantyre Assembly provided land for the project.
Market Generated Returns:None to date.
Costs recovered from community:None to date.
| Contact | Telephone | Website | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Chikoti | patrickchikoti@gmail.com | (+265) 1 756 781 | View Website |
Project social media channels:
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Project information updated: 26 January 2016
Project in depth
Detailed Information
The aim was to provide loans for the incremental construction of five hundred and forty (540) houses.
Community capacity:Community participation in this project was primarily through their savings group. The community, through their technical teams, also participated in the design and construction processes.
Scale:The potential to scale up the project is very high as there is a high demand for both housing and sanitation. However, this potential will be limited by the Federation's ability to recover loans as well as further devaluation of the local currency.
Impact:The revolving funds have been used primarily to cover the growing demand for sanitation services in informal settlements within the city of Lilongwe, Malawi. Both Federation and non-Federation members benefit from these loans.
Finance: SDI Contributions:SDI contributed US$350,000.00. Of this amount US$150,000.00 was utilised for project-linked technical assistance.
Market Generated Returns:None to date.
Costs recovered from community:The project has seen improvements in savings and participation of Federation members. To date ten percent (10%) of the total funds disbursed have been recycled allowing for new loans to be issued. Challenges to this include slow recovery rate because of the devaluation of the Kwacha. A new discourse in savings culture emerged, called Kusonkha ndicholinga (saving for a purpose). This discourse advocates for the making of clear goals for savings to work towards.
d'Cruz, C. et al. (2014). Community Savings: A Basic Building-block in the Work of Urban Poor Federations. [Online]. Available: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/10711IIED.pdf.
Malawi Homeless People's Federation. (2011). Federation Sensitises Community Leaders on Slum Upgrading. [Online]. Available: http://halala-homelessbutnothopeless.blogspot.co.za/2011/03/federation-sensitize-community-leaders.html.
Malawi Homeless People's Federation. (2011b). Federation Trains "Community Mobilisers" in Blantyre. [Online]. Available: http://halala-homelessbutnothopeless.blogspot.co.za/2011/03/federation-trains-community-mobilisers.html.
Funding Information
Raised: | $350,000.00 |
Funding type: | Grant funding |
Implementing Partners
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
