Adoption of Interlocking soil technology in development of adequate and sustainable housing projects in Nandi County, Kenya

Abstract

Adequate and sustainable housing projects take into account the social, economic and environmental aspects of development to provide housing that has adequate privacy, space, infrastructure, affordability and accessibility. Adoption of appropriate technologies such as the interlocking soil technology requires resource mobilization, capacity development, legitimization, entrepreneurial experimentation and market formation. A combination of population explosion, rapid urbanization, widespread poverty and escalating costs of providing housing has rendered access to adequate and sustainable housing an elusive dream to the majority of Kenyans especially those on the low and lower middle income groups. One of the strategies the Kenyan government has adopted to address this challenge is the promotion of the interlocking stabilized soil block technology in housing projects. The programme was conceptualized, planned and implemented across the country. The uptake of the technology has however been slow. This study sought to evaluate the adoption of the interlocking soil technology and development of adequate and sustainable housing projects in Nandi County. The objectives of the study were to examine the level of knowledge of the process of production, to assess the level of community participation, to evaluate the benefits attributed to the technology and to analyse the challenges of costs and information dissemination faced in the implementation of the technology in Nandi County. The study was guided by the Innovation Diffusion and the Systems Theories. The study adopted a mixed research design. The target population was 81,672 households in three sub-counties. The sample for the study was 155 households based on Yamane‟s Formula. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the respondents using excel randomization formula. Primary data was collected using questionnaires, an interview schedule and observation. Data was analyzed descriptively using percentages, frequencies, the mean and standard deviation and inferentially using regression and correlation analysis. Respondents demonstrated an average knowledge of the processes of production and felt that community participation was not embraced at all stages of project development. The findings of the study also indicated low effectiveness and efficiency of information dissemination. Most of the respondents seemed to appreciate the benefits of the interlocking blocks but felt that the costs associated with use of the technology were not affordable. The interviewees were of the view that the level of knowledge of the processes and community participation was low and the intended users had not been able to fully understand the benefits of the technology. They also felt that the costs of the technology were high and information dissemination techniques were not effective. The correlation analysis using the Karl Pearson‟s coefficient of correlation indicated a positive and significant relation between the dependent and independent variables. The regression model yielded an R 2 of 0.849 indicating that the independent variables accounted for 84.9% of the variation in the dependent variable. The ANOVA results established an F- significance value of p<0.005 indicating that the regression model was statistically significant. The study concluded that there were low levels of knowledge of the processes, low community participation, a good appreciation of the benefits of the interlocking soil blocks, ineffective information dissemination and high costs. The study recommended that more effort should be put in promoting knowledge of the processes and community participation, publicizing the benefits of the technology and addressing the challenges of cost and information dissemination.