• Prof Odhiambo said building is expensive in Kenya starting with the land, but that is not as serious a problem compared to the cost of materials.
• Dr Mwiti said they have been developing low-cost construction materials, especially cement, which accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the building cost.
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Meru University is holding a two-day global workshop to seek solutions to the housing problem facing Kenyans and Africans at large.
The meeting is aimed at coming up with innovative and affordable housing materials.
University’s vice chancellor Prof Romanus Odhiambo said researchers from the institution and technical people from Italy, Sweden, Tanzania and Uganda have come together to find a solution to the problem.
“The housing situation in Kenya and the whole of the African continent is not very good and we are all aware that many people are moving from rural to urban areas where there are no proper housing facilities. This has resulted in cities and towns which are not good for people to live in,” he said.
Prof Odhiambo said building is expensive in Kenya starting with the land, but that is not as serious a problem compared to the cost of materials.
“The cost of building materials is so high that ordinary people can’t afford them, no wonder only about 30 per cent of the 50 million people have decent housing,” Prof Odhiambo said.
He said the university is trying to see how they can come up with less costly but innovative materials.
“This is based on research and after that, it is expected the researchers will come up with innovative products which they already have and eventually get to commercialise and work with people interested in this,” he said.
Dr Joseph Mwiti, a researcher from the university, said they have been leading in developing low-cost construction materials, especially cement, which accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the building cost.
“We are trying to lower the cost of cement by developing alternative cement that is clay-based bearing in mind that clay is virtually found in almost all the counties in Kenya.
He said they are also aiming at changing the landscape for the cement industry in Kenya, considering most of the cement industries are located along Nairobi-Mombasa Road in Athi River because of their proximity to the raw materials.
“We hope this is going to revolutionise the construction industry in terms of reducing the cost of cement which will in return lower the cost of construction,” Mwiti said.
He said the institution has innovated clay-based cement and is at the moment seeking industrial partners.
“We want to thank our partners in this endeavour including Prof Luca Valentini of the University of Padova, Italy, Prof Raine Isaksson, Uppsala University, Sweden, Dr Apollo, Makerere University, Uganda, and Dr Fatma Mohamed of the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, who have been very instrumental in ensuring we achieve the dream of affordable housing," Mwiti said.
He said the cement has been tested and has met East African standards for use as a cement binder.
“We look forward to having more clay in the cement and continue reducing the cost. We will also be having more engagements with policymakers who develop the standards so that we can even get more quantities of clay into this cement,” Dr Mwiti said.
He said clay-based cement is friendlier to the environment since it reduces the clinker used in production by 50 per cent.
“This is good news to the government in the sense that the carbon being emitted is proportional to the amount of clinker that we use. For every tonne of clinker that we produce, an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide is emitted,” he said.
“If we lower the clinker amount in clay-based cement by 50 per cent, we are likely to realise carbon reduction of an equivalent amount.”
He said they received great support during the development of the research through funding from the Kenya National Innovation Agency and the Housing department.
Antony Ng'ang'a from the Housing department said they are excited to partner with the university, especially on building technology.
“We usually use appropriate technologies that are available in the market, some of which are imported and we are really excited when we have the technology being produced here,” he said.
Ng'ang'a urged researchers to initiate better technologies and innovations in roofing materials to lower the cost of constructing houses as much as possible.
Edited by A.N