If your NGO or Association is involved in development projects in West African countries of the Sahel, and you need to construct buildings, either for community use (health centres, schools etc), and/or for housing, the Nubian Vault (NV) technique might well provide a solution. The NV technique is less costly than most alternatives, and avoids the use of imported timber and expensive, fragile,corrugated iron roofing sheets. AVN's pump-priming strategy can help develop a local market in NV construction, providing at the same time training and employment for local masons and builders.
Working with AVN, and local representatives you could set up and run specific NV projects and help your target groups benefit from their impacts:
An example of a village program: In a village and its outskirts (~ 10 km radius) which you have chosen, we can together set up a four-year program to pump-prime a local market in NV housing. This would cost around 2,500€ per year, and would result in at least 20 vaults, 4 trained masons, 200 direct beneficiaries, an injection of the equivalent of 10,000€ into the local economy, and a carbon saving of 40 tons of CO2-equivalent.
An example of a Zonal program: In a zone of 20 or so villages (around a 60 km radius) which you have chosen, we can together set up a six-year program to pump-prime a local market in NV housing. This would cost around 20,000€ per year, and would result in at least 200 vaults, 20 trained masons, 2,000 direct beneficiaries, an injection of the equivalent of 100,000€ into the local economy, and a carbon saving of 400 tons of CO2-equivalent.
Three types of partnership are possible:
AVN manages the project, with your help in opening up your network of contacts and working with them to identify local 'champions', field agents, apprentices, and clients.
You manage the project directly in the region where you work. One of your local staff or collaborators is trained by AVN in the pump-priming method, and will be guided and supported by AVN throughout the project lifetime (participation in the annual AVN masons' congresses, quality control checks etc).
Example: the NGO UAVES has asked AVN to train one of its local staff to deploy the program from the pilot village of Tacharane in Mali.
You help AVN to research and test new procedures and strategies for helping to develop and promote the NV Program
Example : the NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde is running field trials with AVN of a micro-credit product to help poor families gain access to funding for NV housing.
> For more information on becoming an AVN Field PArtner
Contact Antoine Horellou, AVN Director of Development:
antoine.horellou@lavoutenubienne.org / +33 (0)6 98 21 7000
NV houses are being built for 27 families who lost their homes after a dam burst in the Nebba region of Burkina Faso in 2010. The project is financed by the SELAVIP Foundation, and implemented by the local Tinyenga Niyemba Burkina (TNB) Association, in partnership with AVN. Read more...
AVN has recently signed a partnership agreement with CVECA, a microcredit institution in Burkina Faso, to mount a two-year Crédit-Habitat project for NV housing. Read more...
Thomas Granier, CEO of AVN, was made a Knight of the French Order of Merit on May 15th, in recognition of his tireless work in promoting sustainable and affordable housing in Africa. Read more...
Click here to read 'A Roof, A Skill, A Market' - an essay by AVN member John Thackara on the Design Observer website.
Half-way through the 2012/13 season (at the end of March) , the latest results have just been made available; they show consistent progress in the growth of AVN's Program in West Africa. Read more...
NV houses are being built for 27 families who lost their homes after a dam burst in the Nebba region of Burkina Faso in 2010. The project is financed by the SELAVIP Foundation, and implemented by the local Tinyenga Niyemba Burkina (TNB) Association, in partnership with AVN. Read more...
