promotional campaigns in selected geographical zones
training of apprentices to become VN builders
helping VN builders to become independent entrepreneurs
the management and quality control of VN building sites
putting potential clients in touch with VN entrepreneurs.
As a result, a self-sustaining and growing market in VN buildings is being developed, as the VN technique is increasingly adopted by people in the Sahel. By 2010, the VN concept has been validated both technically (> 1000 vaults built), and socially (a 65% increase in demand, year on year, over the last 9 years).
Our priorities in the next few years are to:
devise strategies for increasing the throughput of trained apprentices
strengthen our base in Burkina Faso through the establishment of a national AVN there and the setting up of a VN builders’ cooperative
lay the foundations for the development of similar structures in Mali and in Senegal
implement appropriate IT tools and procedures for the management and communication needs of the programme
strengthen existing local partnerships and establish new ones
continue the search for support funding from public and private sponsors.
A major innovation in the 2008 / 09 construction season has been the introduction of four-year Pilot Village and Pilot Zone Deployment Programmes (PVDP / PZDP), to help generate a sustainable local construction market in selected regions of Burkina Faso and Mali.
The kernel of each PVDP/ PDZP is a local ’champion’ and a core group of potential apprentices and clients in an area including several villages. AVN makes available teams of experienced NV builders to train local villagers in the technique and to supervise the construction sites.
The PVDP ( Pilot Village Deployment Program) strategy, phased over a four-year period, involves: (1) Identification of a local champion and client base for VN buildings and houses in the village community (2) Agreement with AVN on a construction schedule, and on numbers of local apprentices to be trained on-site, Year 1 (3) AVN provides a team of experienced VN masons to construct the houses and train apprentices in Year 1. (4) Assuming a positive evaluation, a schedule is drawn up for the next 3 years; the team of VN masons returns to the village in Year 2 and Year 3, to supervise construction and help select and train new apprentices. The program spreads to neighbouring villages.
The range of impacts of a typical DPVP in terms of numbers of vaults built, of direct beneficiaries, of monetary value, and numbers of apprentices and masons, depend on local social, economic, and resources and circumstances, which can, of course, vary widely from one village community to another.
In the medium term (by 2015), we hope to marshall the necessary human, strategic, and financial resources to scale up the prgramme by an order of magnitude; in the long term (by 2030), we hope to achieve macro-economic results to the extent that 5-10 % of the population of the Sahel will be involved, and the VN technique will have become integrated into the popular architectural landscape of the region.