Housing the Poor in West Africa: Public and Private Provision

SUMMARY Public housing in West Africa mainly provides subsidized housing for families of middle and upper income, while the poor are left to fend for themselves in the private housing market. Even those poor who are accommodated in public housing are dissatisfied with what is provided. This paper compares public and private housing in a number of West African towns in relation to the heterogeneity of residents, the physical and social environment which is provided and the reasons for tenant satisfaction or dissatisfaction. RÉSUMÉ Loger les pauvres en Afrique occidentale: dispositions publiques et privées En Afrique occidentale les pouvoirs publics fournissent des logements subventionnés aux familles ayant des revenus élevés ou moyens, les pauvres étant obligés de se débrouiller par eux?mêmes sur le marché privé. Même les pauvres logés par les pouvoirs publics ne sont pas satisfaits de ce qui leur est fourni. Cet article compare le secteur public et le secteur privé du logement dans plusieurs villes de l'Afrique occidentale, en ce qui concerne l'hétérogénéité des habitants, le milieu matériel et social créé et les raisons de la satisfaction ou de l'insatisfaction des locataires. RESUMEN Planes de alojamiento para el pobre en Africa Occidental: provision publica y privada Los planes del sector público para la producción de viviendas en Africa Occidental provee principalmente casas subvencionadas para familias correspondientes al sector económico de clase media y de clase alta, mientras que las clases más pobres quedan a merced del mercado privado, incluso aquéllos pertenecientes al sector más pobre, que han sido alojados en viviendas del gobierno, no están satisfechos con lo que se les ha dado. Este informe compara el plan de alojamiento público y privado en un número de ciudades de Africa Occidental, en relación a la heterogeneidad de los residentes, el ambiente físico y social que se provee y las razones de la satisfacción o la insatisfacción del inquilino

Family help for the elderly in Africa: a comparative assessment

Many people argue that 'modernization' will deprive the African elderly of their former roles and support. This paper focusses on the positive side. It argues that help has always been limited by resources and that 'development' will limit resources even further. Many elderly Africans receive support from children and grandchildren- as do large numbers of elderly people in industrialized countries; a few elderly Africans are entirely dependent on this help. Most get less help than they need, and some are abandoned, for various reasons. But this has always been the case. Although there were many problems, the majority of children in the studies reported here gave financial, material or physical help to their parents, depending on their circumstances. While governments develop welfare programmes, it is useful to measure the variability of help received, of various types, by men and women, urban and rural residents, in different regions and countries. Such information can help governments and NGOs to target those who are most in need

Housing and the elderly in Zimbabwe

This paper is based on a study of people aged 60 years and older living in Harare and Mutare in Zimbabwe, and villages located within 50 km of these cities. The main areas studied were home ownership, household composition, number of rooms in a house, occupancy ratio, services, building materials. and the condition of the houses. The study showed that the majority of the respondents who lived in rural areas owned their houses. However most respondents who lived in urban areas were either tenants or people of no fixed abode. The majority of the respondents were heads of households; the majority of the household heads were widows. Occupancy ratio, as expected, was higher in urban than in rural areas. More houses in urban areas than in rural areas were built from “modern" materials, because of standards imposed by urban authorities. Houses in urban areas were better serviced -for example. they had electricity and piped water - and were of a better quality than those in rural areas. In general the respondents were satisfied with their living arrangements. However a surprising finding was that some respondents in the urban areas where houses were considered to be of poor quality and overcrowding was common, were very satisfied with their living arrangements. The policy implications of the findings are discussed briefly