Shikamoo A Housing Improvement

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Focus Areas: Housing

This greenfield incremental housing project is in Nakuru County, which is located to the North-west of Nairobi. The project involves the construction of twenty (20) houses financed by Akiba Mashinani Trust (AMT) on one acre of land. The land on which the houses have been constructed is community land. Eight (8) houses have already been constructed and occupied using SDI funds. An additional two (2) houses were built using community funds. 

Location: Nakuru, Kenya

Deliverables:

The purchase of land and the incremental development of twenty (20) houses on a site, which is one acre. As of June 2015, eight (8) houses had been completed and occupied.

Community capacity:

The community was able to purchase the one acre piece of land and also provided unskilled labor during the construction process.

Scale:

Conceptually, and as a result of having implemented a myriad of slum solutions, the Kenyan Alliance is repositioning to engage at a city scale rather than providing settlement-level responses. Programmatically the Alliance seeks to design for, and draw into slum improvement, both market and government resources. 

Impact:

Through this project, the Federation has used the interlocking blocks which have never been used in the entire region. Thus, they have received support and recognition from the Ministry of Housing. The project has impacted the Federation’s methods, particularly in the Federation's management of information and maintenance of proper financial systems. The Federation has been able to adopt proper financial and procurement systems for the building materials.

The project is applying and refining as yet untested Government subsidy policies for low cost housing, which include but are not limited to the provision of trunk and onsite infrastructure as well as significant tax and building standard incentives. The Kenyan Alliance has attained a number of commitments from Government in this regard.

Finance:

SDI Contributions:

SDI’s capital contribution is US$18,947.  

Market Generated Returns:

The current value of the land is US$26,167.

Costs recovered from community:

The beneficiaries of the nine (9) completed houses have repaid US$2,327.29 thus far. Altogether, the community has thus far repaid US$3,255.

Jack Makau jackmakau@sdinet.org (+254) 20 267 770 View Website
Project social media channels:


Project information updated: 17 November 2015

Project in depth

Detailed Information

Nakuru County is located about one hundred and sixty-five (165) kilometres to the north west of Nairobi. It is a major agricultural center thanks to the county’s favorable weather and the fertile farms that surround the town. Crops grown around Nakuru and sold in the town include maize, beans and wheat. Nakuru is also a popular stopover on the way to the western parts of Kenya.
 
According to the constitution of Kenya, community land will be held by communities on the basis of ethnicity, culture or similar interest. Community land comprises land registered in the name of group representatives, transferred to a specific community and land held, managed or used by communities as community forests, grazing areas or shrines.
 
Other pieces of land that fall under community land are ancestral lands and those traditionally occupied by hunter – gatherer communities, held as trust land by the county governments.
 
The above description thus qualifies the land on which construction has been done as community land as the members are brought together on the basis of having similar interests.

Deliverables:

The incremental development of twenty (20) houses on greenfield site.

Community capacity:

The community was able to purchase the one acre piece of land and also provided unskilled labor during the construction process.

Scale:

Twenty (20) houses, which would serve as a model for incremental upgrading .

Impact:

The projects seeks to apply and refine as yet untested Government subsidy policies for low cost housing, which include: provision of trunk and onsite infrastructure; as well as significant tax and building standard incentives. The Kenyan Alliance has attained commitments from Government on this.

Over the next two years the Alliance will also seek to impact, at a structural or systemic level, on redistributive mechanisms that provide greater access by the urban poor to land, housing and service provision.

Finance:

SDI Contributions:

SDI’s capital contribution is US$18,947.  

Costs recovered from community:

The repayments are put into the revolving (national urban poor) fund, which funds other phases of the project.

Kvarnstrom, D. (2014). Construction of Low Cost Houses in Informal Settlements: A Case Study of the Nairobi Region. [Online]. Available: http://publications.lib.chalmers.se/records/fulltext/193985/193985.pdf
 
Muungano wa Wanavajiji. (2013). Muungano wa Wanavajiji Introspects, 2013. [Online]. Available: https://muunganosupporttrust.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/muungano-wa-wanavijiji-introspects-2013
 
Wakely, P. & Riley, E. (2010). The Case for Incremental Housing, CIVIS. [Online]. Available: http://www.citiesalliance.org/sites/citiesalliance.org/files/CIVIS_3_English.pdf

Funding Information

Raised:

$18,947.00

Funding type:

Grant funding

Implementing Partners

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation


Muungano wa Wanavijiji


Akiba Mashinani Trust