Kitwe Urban Development Forum: Social Housing Programme in Zambia

The Social Housing Programme in Zambia is a crucial initiative aimed at addressing the country’s housing deficit

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Lusaka office has agreed in principle with local partners to increase dialogue and work together on the Just City working line in Lusaka and Kitwe. The partners include, the Civic Forum on Housing and Habitat (CFHH), the Mineworkers Union of Zambia, the Copperbelt University, department of Urban and Regional Planning, the Alliance of Zambian Informal Economy Association (AZIEA) and the Kitwe City Council (KCC). Estimates show that 1 billion people live in informal settlements across the globe, most of them located in the countries in the Global South (UN-Habitat 2015). It is projected that informal settlement dwellers will increase to 2 billion by 2030 and 3 billion by 2050, especially if the current trends of not formalizing these informal settlements continues. Informal settlements are characterized by poor public service delivery and inequalities.

Zambia’s inadequate capacity to respond to populations growth and poor integrated planning have contributed to the raising housing deficits. Currently, Zambia housing deficit is estimated at about 1,5 million units of which 40% is urban and 60% in rural areas (Nation Housing Policy 2020-2024). To bridge this existing gap over 220, 000 conventional housing units needs to be constructed annually between now and 2030. This is necessary to avoid the projected 3.3 million housing shortage will accrue by 2023.

Zambia just like many other countries in Africa, faces significant challenges in providing adequate and affordable housing for its rapidly growing urban population. To address this issue, the Zambian government, has been working on the Social Housing Programme to cater to the housing needs of low-income and vulnerable populations. The Social Housing Programme in Zambia is part of the broader National Housing Policy and aims to provide affordable and decent housing for citizens, especially in urban areas, where the demand for housing is high due to urbanization. The initiative is crucial to mitigating the housing deficit, which is compounded by population growth and migration to cities. The Social Housing Programme in Zambia is a crucial initiative aimed at addressing the country’s housing deficit, particularly for low and middle-income households. While there have been successes in terms of construction and partnerships, the program still faces challenges related to financing, land availability, and infrastructure. Moving forward, greater public-private collaboration, along with innovative construction techniques, will be key to achieving sustainable and inclusive housing for all.

The objective of the Kitwe Urban Development Forum is to; -

• Promote dialogue, participation and policy engagement among policy makers, local authorities, and non-state actors in addressing housing deficits, public delivery of goods and services especially to informal settlements
• Contribute towards the achievement of SDG 11 of making Cities and Human Settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable and,
• to create an information sharing and networking platform on urban development in Kitwe.