With a population of about 31 million Ugandans, there is very high demand for housing facilities. This demand will continue because Uganda’s population is exploding. Construction is a fast-growing industry with a growth rate 13 per cent, thus responding to the high demand for housing given a housing deficit of 550,000 units.
Most houses are made from traditional bricks. These are cured bricks made from clay or arable soil. Brick-making is a lucrative business and hence creates employment opportunities. Cured bricks in Uganda cost about Shs200 each.
The high requirements for firewood in curing bricks and the associated scarcity of firewood has pushed some communities in Wakiso, Mukono, Yumbe, Arua and other parts of Uganda to use fruit trees such as mangoes and jack fruits. In Lukwanga, Wakiso District, brick layers are using arable land thinking brick-making is more lucrative than farming on depleted soils. This will advance food insecurity considering that all the arable land will be mined for brick-making.
This is worrying because the process of curing bricks is associated with loss of trees and forest. This has negative impact on the climate since it has an effect on rainfall patterns, resulting in droughts, crop failures, and limited access to firewood for household energy use.
There are modern, sustainable technologies for brick-making though underutilised. The Interlocking Stabilised Soil Blocks machine is a good option. In Uganda, since 1991, Dr Moses Musaazi, an engineer at Makerere University, developed a technique which, by mixing soil and cement and then compressing the dampened mixture, produces an interlocking block that is stronger and uniformly shaped than a conventional traditional brick.
With this technology, 35 bricks are produced every 8 hours, saves 10 tonnes of trees because firing is not required.
Unfortunately, there are weak initiatives by the national and local governments to regulate and control brick-making. At the national level, the Draft National Soils Policy (2002), one of the key policy instruments for regulating brick-making, has been in offing for the last 16 years.
Unfortunately, there are weak initiatives by the national and local governments to regulate and control brick-making. At the national level, the Draft National Soils Policy (2002), one of the key policy instruments for regulating brick-making, has been in offing for the last 16 years.
Furthermore, there is limited education of brick layers about modern technologies that are more sustainable with minimum impacts on the environment. Awareness creation about the implication of unregulated brick-making should be advanced while demonstrating and supporting sustainable technologies for brick-making in Uganda.
Joshua Zake,
The information is good according to Uganda and its need for construction growth rate Thank you very much and I love that.
ReplyDeleteThe ISSB bricks are cost effective, environmentally friendly and do not require much skilled labor except when building foundation, they are bigger in size than the normal traditional burnt bricks. A small contained house with bathroom and kitchen could cost about 2000 bricks compared to 3000 traditional burnt bricks excluding cement, sand, water and extra cost of labor involved.
ReplyDeleteI opted for this method of making bricks from soil when I visited Uganda in December, 2010. The food and gas were at high inflation causing constant public demonstrations.
The government was blaming the people for cutting trees for use as fire wood, which caused severe drought and food scarcity I looked around then and I realized that the construction industry was booming and many people were using the burnt traditional bricks and many forests were being destroyed.
When I returned to Canada, I made research for hand powered machines which could make bricks from soil, after months of searching, I contacted one company in China which told me that they can make machine of my desired specifications.
I have been advocating via local media in Uganda to embrace this kind of construction using ISSB. On the other hand, by supporting buying ISSB you will be creating more jobs whereas changing the trend of construction to protect the environment.
If you have any questions, you can reach me at jkm@jkasumbas.com or you if you want learn about this new technology of ISSB or want to make order in and around Kampala, Uganda.
Joe
Thanks for sharing this blog. Visit us for various brick making machines. Wangda India
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