holding meetings in villages to explain the VN concept, with the participation of VN builders and clients, and visits to existing VN houses
offering a small incentive (5% of the overall cost of a building) to the first client in a village, provided that this does not distort the potential market
providing supporting documentation (plans, guidelines...) to VN builders and clients
participating in exhibitions such as the SIAO in Ougadougou, where there is a VN show house.
A similar approach has been adopted for subsequent zones in Burkina Faso, leading bit by bit to a ’densification’ of the programme in each zone, as the trained VN builders develop into independent entrepreneurs with a growing clientele.
(Click on maps below to enlarge them)
The AVN’s strategy is geared to growth of a self-sustaining market for VN buildings, but this can be at odds with a a targeted approach which puts a priority on reaching a critical mass of VN buildings in each zone. As the programme develops, more requests come in from private and institutional clients outside the original target zones (and outside the country), and this move is likely to become the major driver in the scaling up of the programme over the next few years.