In building materials:
• Deliberate selection of materials and
components that can be produced locally. For
example in roofing materials, it might be better
to use micro-concrete roofing tiles which can
be produced locally, rather than corrugated iron
sheets industrially produced at a factory miles
away.
• Establishing building yards to ease problems
in the supply of materials. The high demand
for building materials can create shortages
and high prices. The problem can be eased for
small contractors if agencies set up building
yards stocked with commonly-required materials
(cement, timber, nails and screws, window glass
etc). The agency should be able to procure
the materials at a cheaper price because they
are buying bulk. For examples of how this has
worked see Kreutner et al (2003) and the case
study from Orissa below.
• Establishing Housing Resource Centers where
both material production and improvement of
quality are developed, along with training and
capacity building of craftsmen, artisans and
skilled labour.
For entrepreneurs:
• Making information resources for builders and
materials producers more widely available.
• Diversification and development of skills. Where
people are trained in a building trade as part of
the reconstruction effort, further training can
help them diversify their skills for other types
of business once the bulk of the rebuilding has
been completed. For example carpenters could
later be trained in making furniture.
• Training in business management as well as
technical skills. The aim is give people the
capacity to manage and adapt their business to
the changing market conditions, rather than to
leave them with just with a fixed set of technical
skills.
• Linking cash payments (transfers or cash for
work) to microfinance for business development.
• Where people are eligible for grants to rebuild
both their livelihood and their home, it would be
better to allow flexibility in how they divide up
the funds.
• Opportunities for entrepreneurs in services
associated with housing, such as in community-
based solid waste and water management. For
example, there are business opportunities in
the safe collection, composting, re-use and
recycling of waste, and marketing opportunities
for compost if links can be facilitated with local
farmers.
Local production of building materials can generate incomes.
Women’s groups in Zimbabwe produce bricks and roofing tiles
using stabilised soil block and micro-concrete technologies
which reduce the cost. These materials were used extensively
during rebuilding after Operation Murumbatsvina in 2005
For vulnerable groups:
• Considering the needs of tenants as well as
homeowners. Reconstruction grants usually only
provide the funds to rebuild a small core house,
so rooms and structures that were rented out
to tenants usually take far longer to be rebuilt.
Incentives need to be provided to encourage
homeowners to also rebuild their rental rooms,
and to rebuild in such a way that tenants can
continue with their home-based enterprises.
• Helping those who do not have secure tenure
or official proof of residence. Even where it is
apparent that someone lived in the area and
that their house has been destroyed, if they were
settled illegally they are often excluded from
grants for reconstruction.
• Helping families to use their house and land to
address food security e.g. by seeds distribution
for planting in home-gardens, and through
incentives to start small shops to sell or store
goods.
The needs of vulnerable groups like these
are one of the reasons for the move towards
people-centred reconstruction. A people-centre
approach also involves greater levels of community
participation which can avoid problems of false
claims about the prior ownership of land or assets.
Communities can also, successfully, be put at
the heart of decision-making on the distribution
of grants. A number of examples have shown how
this can be effective with communities themselves
monitoring entitlements to cash payments and
ensuring fair distribution (see for example the
case study of the Coffee Growers’ Association of
Colombia).
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