Can well constructed mud and thatch buildings be a solution to housing problems in rural africa?Innovative designs and decency,bearing in mind that african weather,apart from chronic sunshine sometimes, is very hospitable.

Typical NO! We are looking for development you are going backward. Would you like to live in a mud house? Imagine how foreign countries will laugh at us.
What we need to solve our housing problems is sincerity, only if our government and contractors can be sincere. Imagine them quoting 26Million naira for the construction of a block of class room and a pit toilet, doesn't such things sound outrageous?

I think the answer from naira4doll is typical of the warped minds of Africans.

I actually find redsun's suggestion very refreshing.

In fact I recommend that if such a technology is found then it should not only be relegated to rural areas alone.

Men I find the whole architecture of Naija very vulgar. What you see are houses with all sorts of angles masquerading as modern architecture.

The houses do not suggest any relation to their environment at all.

Compare that with the Carribean where they have a particular colonial style which has a specific relation woith their history.

In Britain also they also integrate a modern style while incoporating the traditional British style in their buildings.

But for Naija everything just upside down.

naira4doll:
What does government have to do with housing, for goodness sake. Can't we build houses without government? Were we not building houses before colonization? Let's stop being so lazy. Let's stop it.

If thatch houses are cost-effective, and can be made attractive, why not? As long as they don't collapse.

Improving on thatch roof and mud is a great idea in promoting our own style of architecture. Infact some builders have started using the improvised ones to construct houses.
What we need is to do more research on these materials and fashion it to reflect our own style of architecture which is eroding away.
Japanese I've done this ,we can also do same.

Affordability and durability of the thatch material is more important than any cultural concerns you might have.

@Seun

I beg to differ

There is no price to be placed on a sense of identity.

Architecture is a rich source for enriching a society's sense of self worth.

That's just what politicians say when trying to justify unnecessary expenses. Don't take it too seriously.

I guess untill when a white man comes with his own ideas and develop/modernise it before we can appreciate what we have.
  Building materials that are durable came out of extensive research, is not that they were naturally made to be so, but some people took it upon themselves to work on them.
   Off course nothing can be more affordable; we still have our swamps.

Why can't locally produced tatch be more affordable than imported tin roofing sheets?

I bet if thatch houses originated from the western world, the likes of naira4doll would gladly want them to be implemented in Nigeria. And the same mindset has led to the surge of homelessness in Nigeria, because of the petty mindset of some of the ruling powers in Nigeria to demoish thatch houses.

REDSUN
this is an intelligent post
its possible to do that if the government is ready to support the private developers with the use of these local materials and in the provision of land
though i heard there is research going on using available local biulding materials to cut down the cost of constrcting mass housing drastically.
but the issue is nigerian are just too fake and u will harly see them want to patronize such and our govt is not helping matter cos they will also not want to adopt these materials in constructing public buildings

i intend to do further studies on this in my masters research work and see how it can be packaged to make it work