Tanzania -- Habitat for Humanity Int'l 1
Tanzania
Why Habitat is needed in Tanzania
Dar es Salaam is Tanzania’s largest city. It is a rapidly growing port city located on the Indian Ocean. Habitat for Humanity Tanzania operates a housing microfinance program in Temeke, home to approximately 940,000 people and the poorest of Dar es Salaam’s three municipalities. The majorities of Temeke residents have low incomes and live in dense, informal settlements.
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The owner of this house in Temeke municipality is saving in-kind for future building. She has hired someone to make blocks for her several times when she had money for cement and labor.
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With an average household size of slightly over four people, the population of Temeke is composed of approximately 200,000 households. Based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics 2004/2005 Demographic and Health Survey, out of these 200,000 households,
- 153,264 have no more than two sleeping rooms in their homes.
- 68,326 have earthen floors in their homes.
- 195,030 have traditional pit latrines.
- 139,131 do not have electricity.
- 79,686 have homes made of mud-and-stick or sun-dried brick walls.
- 29,864 live in homes with thatched-grass or other non-durable roofs.
Mortgage facilities are underdeveloped in Tanzania, and the majority of Temeke residents living in informal settlements would not qualify for existing mortgages due to low incomes and insufficient land title. There are very few affordable housing options available, and none meet the size needed or the demand. In the absence of any realistic hope of a formal housing solution, thousands of families in Temeke are improving their housing situation: informally and incrementally.
Incremental building is a self-financing strategy used by the poor around the world to improve their housing. There are a large variety of incremental building methodologies. In Dar es Salaam, for example, families often save cement blocks on site where they intend to build. This in-kind savings mechanism converts cash into building materials, where it will be safe from other household demands that arise. When there are sufficient funds, foundations and walls are built to continue the in-kind savings in the form of the structure of the house. Saving for the roof, however, is difficult because the length of roofing materials makes it difficult to save in small living spaces, and the materials would be stolen if left on site. Many houses are stuck at roofing level as families try to finance them.
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House building is often stalled at roofing level due to a financing gap. The owner of this house received a Makazi Bora loan to finish it, installing doors and windows in addition to a roof. The “teeth” protruding from the wall show the owner’s intentions to extend the house at a later time.
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Some families build incrementally by adding more rooms to their small houses as the family grows or they experience other needs, such as space for home-based businesses. Others build large houses, occupy them before the houses are finished and finish the house over time. Although there are a variety of methods, the majority of houses owned or occupied by low-income households in Dar es Salaam’s informal settlements were built incrementally and are most likely still in an incremental building process.
How Habitat Helps
Habitat for Humanity Tanzania has developed the Makazi Bora home improvement loan. Makazi Bora roughly translates from Kiswahili to “better housing” and succinctly communicates Habitat Tanzania’s goal: to improve living conditions through affordable housing finance. The Makazi Bora loan is designed to support the incremental building activities of households in Temeke by helping to bridge the finance gap associated with basic home improvement activities. Each loan keeps the homeowner in control, as it fits the homeowner’s unique housing process. Makazi Bora is being implemented from the Mbagala Branch office in the heart of Temeke’s informal settlements. Makazi Bora loans can be used for
- Completions: Working on a new house that has not yet been occupied. Many completions are for roofing.
- Finishing: Doing new work on an occupied house. This may include cementing floors, plastering walls, installing ceilings, connecting electricity and similar activities.
- Extensions: Constructing additional rooms on an occupied house.
- Repairs: Replacing worn-out components on an existing house.
- Auxiliary structures: Adding a separate structure on the client’s plot, such as a ventilated improved pit latrine or an outdoor kitchen.
In the first month of operation (July 2009), 45 percent of the loans were for finishing, 27 percent for completion, 14 percent for repairs, 9 percent for auxiliary structures and 5 percent for extensions. The average loan amount in the first month was $692.00. Homeowners were spread out over several settlements around Mbagala, ranging from dense urban, informal settlements to semi-rural settlements on the urban fringe of southern Dar es Salaam.
The initial response by local residents to the Makazi Bora home improvement loan has been highly positive. Makazi Bora will be evaluated in early 2010 to prepare for expansion into other areas later in the year. Habitat for Humanity Tanzania plans to develop its housing microfinance program into a sustainable housing intervention that targets households with low incomes in Tanzania.
Highlights
- Board action: In September 2008, Habitat for Humanity Tanzania approved housing finance for the poor and the promotion of social performance in housing microfinance as the core business of the organization. It approved the transition to a housing microfinance program model. In May 2009, the board approved the Makazi Bora Temeke pilot project, which allowed the program to start.
- Mbagala branch: Habitat for Humanity Tanzania officially opened its Mbagala branch in Temeke municipality on June 22 2009. The branch office currently serves informal settlements in the wards of Azimio, Charambe, Chamazi, Mbagala, Mbagala Kuu and Tuangoma.
- Homeowner principles: When the Habitat for Humanity Tanzania board of directors approved Makazi Bora in May 2009, it also adopted the SEEP Network’s Client Principles. These principles dictate how the affiliate interacts with homeowners and includes quality of service, dignified treatment, truthful and transparent information, appropriate pricing, protection from unethical and illegal practices and client information privacy. The principles are translated into a pledge and operational procedures to protect our homeowners’ interests.
- Social performance: Social performance in microfinance is the degree to which the institution effectively serves the poor. In 2010, Habitat for Humanity Tanzania will integrate social performance measures into its processes so it can effectively measure how well it is (or is not) serving the poor and make necessary adjustments in the future to improve service.
Volunteers and Global Village
Due to a shift in program focus from construction to affordable housing finance, Habitat for Humanity Tanzania no longer hosts Global Village work teams and no longer has openings for volunteers interested in building in Tanzania.
Facts about Tanzania
Location: East Africa
Population: 39.7 million
Languages: Kiswahili, English and local languages
Climate: Tropical along the coast to temperate in highlands
Religions: Islam and Christianity
Government: Republic
Economy: Agriculture, including coffee, cotton, tea and sisal
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