Earth and dung have been in use for thousands of years as a building material, but few houses surpass those built by the women of the Himba tribe. Like giant pots, these tiny houses they keep the occupants cool in the day and warm at night. This is sustainable green building at its best, designed to fit the environment and melt back into the landscape when the family moves on.

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As Kowie Bamboo Farm - EcoPlanet's Bamboo Plantation in South Africa's Eastern Cape - undergoes a transformation from degraded old agricultural land to a sustainability certified bamboo farm, the lives of those working for and living around EcoPlanet Bamboo's operations are also changing for the better... Learn more about the Kowie Bamboo Farm http://bit.ly/2rl33Gr

EcoPlanet Bamboo's Ghana bamboo farming operations were showcased by this short documentary at the Sundance Film Festival at the request of the Earth Day Network. Learn more about EcoPlanet Bamboo's plantations in Ghana, West Africa http://bit.ly/2seHerQ

Bamboo: an undeveloped resource and Africa's green gold.

Experts from Ethiopia on why the country needs to do more to develop this valuable giant grass. Fast-growing, sustainable and versatile, this incredible plant has a lot to offer the country.

This video was produced by Asehnafi Lakew Manila and INBAR's East Africa Regional Office.

The International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation, or INBAR, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to promoting the use of bamboo and rattan for inclusive, green development. We research and strengthen the global knowledge base for bamboo and rattan and raise awareness of their use for:

♣Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation
♣Land Restoration
♣Poverty Alleviation
♣South-South Cooperation
♣Sustainable, Affordable Construction
♣Accessible, Green Energy.

INBAR Official:

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Follow our Youtube channel for practical tips for growing, processing and marketing bamboo and rattan products as well as interviews, speeches and more from our work around the world.

Our third session, held on 16th December, was dedicated to two speakers, Andy Horn and Eckardt Dauck, who introduced us to two very different ways of building with straw.

Andy Horn who is a South African Architect and Principal of Eco Design Architects with over 24 years of experience demystified the notion of building with straw bales. He also showcased previously completed projects, shared his experiences and findings as well as the various experimentations his firm has done with the material.

We were also delighted about the presence of the founder of Zero Carbon Designs, Eckardt Dauck, who presented to us his made-in-Uganda Zero Carbon straw panel, and how it is being used in construction throughout East Africa.

The modern problem of deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa has created a housing crisis. So Association la Voûte Nubienne looked 3,500 years into the past and used an architectural solution to create a home that people are proud to live in. via Dezeen & the Future Makers Series.

Nowadays, because of climate change and deforestation, there's not enough locally available construction timber in the Sahel region of Africa. Traditional roofs are often replaced by imported corrugated zinc sheets and sawn timber frames - an expensive and climatically inappropriate solution. But with the Nubian Vault technique, using raw earth as the principal construction material, a building can go up without using timber Such buildings are well adapted to both rural and urban contexts.

Between 2014 and 2017, AVN was instrumental in the construction
of the very first village built entirely of Nubian Vaults, implemented
by the NGOs Banlieues du Monde and Le Partenariat, and funded by the Dubai Charity Association.

Located in Mauritania, practically on the frontier formed by the river Senegal, the Sheikh Zayed Village of Diakré is made up of 51 private houses, a mosque, a literacy centre, and a maternity clinic. The beneficiaries of the project are Mauritanian refugees who fled their country during the war.

AVN présente les solutions qu'offre son programme en terme de bâtiments communautaires mais également en terme d'assistance technique pour la construction.

Construire des maisons sans bois ni tôles au Sahel ? Un pari fou relevé depuis plus d'une décennie et gagné par un maçon de la région de Montpellier, Thomas Granier. Le secret, c'est la Voûte nubienne, un procédé architectural antique, venu du haut Nil il y a plus de 3000 ans, inconnu en Afrique de l'Ouest.

Depuis plus de dix ans, l'association La Voûte nubienne (www.lavoutenubienne.org) a adapté, simplifié et codifié cette technique ancestrale qui permet de construire avec un outillage basique, des matériaux locaux et des compétences techniques simples des habitations aux toitures voûtées restaurant la possibilité du toit terrasse.

Un programme de vulgarisation et de formation à grande échelle « pour des Toits de Terre au Sahel » a été lancé dans sept pays afin de propager ce modèle à l'ensemble de l'Afrique sahélienne qui manque cruellement de bois et utilise de la tôle importée.

Ces images sont extraites du film « le salaire de l'espoir » de l'excellente série « Artisans du changement » produite par Lato Sensu Productions (www.artisansduchangement.tv / www.latosensu.tv) et diffusée sur Ushuaïa TV et TV5 Monde.