Tanzania NGO initiate an affordable hosuing scheme for the urban Poor By Tim Ndezi

Tim Ndezi (PhD) - Director of Centre for Community Initiatives based in Dar-es-Salaam

Tanzania NGO with the name Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI) has pioneered a community based housing scheme for the urban poor in the city of Dar-es-Salaam. With a support from Slum Dwellers International, the programme intends to construct 500 houses in Chamazi are in the south west of Dar-es-Salaam city.

This aims at providing alternative land and housing finance to the urban poor. The project was able to secure 30 acres land; surveyed it and developed a collective security of tenure for the whole population (500) through a Muungano housing cooperative society. Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI) provides technical and financial support to the Muungano Housing Cooperative Society.

Housing and Infrastructure Microfinance support is quite new in Tanzania. This has motivated few NGOs and establishment working on housing microfinance to establish the Housing Microfinance Working Group of which CCI is a member. We are encouraging other development partners to join us in supporting the urban poor in Tanzania with affordable housing and infrastructure. This indeed will help to bridg the gap of provision of adequate shelter to millions of people and thereby be able to attain the Millenium development Goal.