This video can be downloaded here: www.ashdenawards.org MRHP won an Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy in 2006. You can follow us on: Facebook bit.ly Twitter twitter.com Blog: www.ashdenawards.org The Mwanza Rural Housing Programme (MRHP) has trained villagers in northern Tanzania to set up enterprises making high-quality bricks from local clay, fired with agricultural residues rather than wood. These enterprises have made sufficient bricks to construct over 100000 homes with greatly improved comfort and durability, in 70 villages. Mwanza, the second city of Tanzania, is on the southern shores of Lake Victoria. The area close to the lake is fertile, but further away the land and people are poorer and there is extensive deforestation. Here houses are usually made from mud, and need frequent repairs and rebuilding because of damage from rain and minor earth tremors. Using wood to make durable, fired bricks has exacerbated the deforestation. MRHP has developed processes for making high-quality bricks from local clay, which are fired using readily-available agricultural residues like rice husk and cotton waste, instead of wood. Houses made from the fired bricks are durable, comfortable and clean. Homeowners are freed from the hassle of frequent rebuilding, and many use their improved housing for businesses as well. The quality of the bricks is such that they are now being used in building programmes in the city as well as in the rural areas. MRHP has trained local people in ...
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