Report to the Joint intergovernmental Committee on human settlements and environment on appropriate technology for intervention in the provision of low-income, shelter, infrastructure and services in rural areas

Abstract

The formulation and implementation of rural settlements development policies in Africa deal, particularly, with the development of social infrastructure such as housing and basic services, whose implementation costs depend essentially on the technology and materials used, The concretization of national housing programmes initiated by member States come up against various socio-economic problems including higher housing demand arising from population increases and increasingly high implementation costs. Moreover, the consumption of building materials has almost doubled in ten years, increasing from $US 40, 5 million in 1975 to $US 75 million. The cost of building material imports amounts to $US 3 billion or about half the food import bill.