Problems and Purpose

The residents in the informal settlements in Namibia have been facing a housing crisis all over the country, as it is difficult to secure adequate and decent housing. There are several statistical assessments in Namibia recording data regarding the type of dwelling and tenure. About 16% of Namibian households live in shacks, according to the country's 2008 Labour Force Survey and 2011 Namibian Population Housing Consensus but, the most recent data on the types of homes Namibians live in comes from the recently released Namibia Inter-censal Demographic Survey (NIDS) from 2016, which shows 26.6% of households live in shacks (Remmert & Ndhlovu, 2018, pg. 23). The statistical evidence indicates that more Namibian people reside in low-quality housing known as shacks which is one aspect of the housing problem in Namibia. However, what is considered formal adequate housing in Namibia and what is the statistical evidence does the Namibian population resident in the formal adequate housing? In formal urban housing, a housing unit is classified as a detached house, semi-detached house, apartment/flat, or guest flat. These units are mostly built on service land, and their owners have the legal right to occupy the property with access to piped water, electricity, and legal tenure security, which provides residents with a high standard of living (Remmert & Ndhlovu, 2018, pg. 25). According to national statistics, from 37% in 2008 to 43% in 2011, the percentage of households in the nation residing in detached, semi-detached, apartment/flat, and guest flats rose before falling back to 37% in 2016 (Remmert & Ndhlovu, 2018, pg. 25). This means that formal houses mentioned above constructed on service land where the owners hold legal tenure right to occupy the property has lately decreased which also means the number of urban shacks has risen. Furthermore, by 2030, there will be more than half a million urban shacks in Namibia, housing almost two million people (Remmert & Ndhlovu, 2018, pg. 25). These figures mentioned above indicate that access to adequate formal housing is a challenging issue that continues to persist.

Background History and Context

This case study illustrates the experiences of low-income urban communities in Namibia, addressing the housing issue through community activism and agency. The Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) demonstrates community agency and activism as its organization empowers low-income communities to actively participate in improving their housing conditions through self-organized savings groups, community-led data collection to access land and improve informal settlements. Before independence, the urban poor in Namibia lived in overcrowded houses built during the apartheid era in formal townships. Due to stringent restrictions on people's ability to relocate to urban areas until 1980 and the strict enforcement of a zero-tolerance policy by most authorities in officially designated urban areas for both informal backyard structures and informal settlements, these features were not prominent in the urban landscape (Mbanga et al., 2014, p.19). The original rural settlement patterns of Namibia, a sparsely populated nation of 2.1 million people, were altered by the country's rapid urbanization after independence, which saw the urban population rise from 27 to 42 percent of the total population (Mbanga et al., 2014, p. 19). As a result, the number of urban settlement areas increased rapidly, and the percentage of people living in shacks and informal settlements rose significantly due to the public and private sectors' inability to meet the demands that resulted from this (Mbanga et al., 2014, p. 19). The residents of these unsafe neighbourhoods have few prospects for development and inadequate access to sanitary facilities (Mbanga et al., 2014, p.20).

Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities

The formation of the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia revolves around the housing crisis. Three years prior to Namibia's independence, during the 1987 UN International Year of the Homeless, the Namibian homeless began organizing in Windhoek, mostly under the leadership of single mothers (Mbanga et al., 2014, p. 20). Namibia's first credit union was started by Saamstaan (Standing Together), the first group to deal with housing concerns collectively, which brought the concept of saving collectively to address the needs of the urban poor in Namibia for the first time (Mbanga et al., 2014, p. 20). Following Saamstaan's lead, organizations formed in Keetmanshoop and Mariental, and by 1992, eight villages were banding together to meet their shelter requirements (Mbanga et al., 2014, p. 20). In 1992, they established the Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG), a voluntary housing association, with a Support Service unit to help them (Mbanga et al., 2014, p.20). These communities' efforts led to the creation of various savings models, such as funds for basic daily necessities, land access, home construction loans (later converted to advance payments on home loans), and access to essential services (Mbanga et al., 2014, p.20). A locally owned, community-based saving model that served as the organizing mechanism for a people's movement was created because of housing groups and low-income communities learning from and sharing these ideas (Mbanga et al., 2014, p. 20). After assessing their operations and procedures, the NHAG members chose to form the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia as a people's movement (Mbanga et al., 2014, p. 20). The Twahangana Fund's first governing body was created by the SDFN and had one representative from each of the five federation regions (Mbanga et al., 2014, p.20). Thus, the organization started from single mothers in Namibia to a group, to more groups in different regions of Namibia, to the formation of NHAG and SDFN.

The Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia is a community-led movement that utilizes community savings to enable the groups to access funds for constructing houses and securing land. A community-managed revolving fund called the Twahangana Fund offers micro-loans to SDFN savings group members for the purchase of property, land maintenance, and the development of additional dwellings (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyni, 2021, pg. 14). Contributions from members are encouraged for a one-time payment, which may also be made in installments (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyni, 2021, pg. 14). Members of the Federation were able to transfer N$ 3,600,000 to a new, distinct Twahanaga Fund account in June 2020 (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyni, 2021, pg. 14). The movement is being funded by several actors, including the community of informal settlements, the government through the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (MURD), donations & external funders, private sector, and Build Together that are sending money straight to the Twahangana Fund (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyni, 2021, pg. 14).

Participant Recruitment and Selection

The SDFN recruitment process can be seen through community savings groups and their motivation to improve their living conditions. SDFN is a self-help organization driven by the informal settlements facing housing challenges and are motivated to improve their living conditions, typically the primary target of participants. The formation of the community savings groups was done through the people’s response to poverty. People can address poverty in Namibia by banding together, recognizing their needs, voicing their disapproval of unfair treatment, and cooperating with official authorities (Barnes & Cowser, 2017, p. 156). In response, membership-based organizations for the impoverished have arisen, offering ways to reduce poverty by promoting communal safety nets through savings groups (Barnes & Cowser, 2017, p. 156). Working to secure affordable land, housing, and infrastructure services in all thirteen regions of Namibia, SDFN is a network of 434 neighbourhood-based saving groups situated in informal settlements, including shack dwellings, shantytowns, or squatter settlements (Barnes & Cowser, 2017, p. 156). The federation changed its structure to a self-help network of local savings organizations when they realized they needed to be self-sufficient, which made it possible for more people to join (Mbanga et al., 2014, p. 21).

For instance, Ms. Edith Mbanga lived in a highly precarious and cramped position with her seven children in 1990 while working as a domestic helper in Windhoek, the capital city, and she paid rent for a small room in a house that was already overcrowded (UNHabitat, 2010, p. 1). Motivated by a great desire to better her and her children's lives, she joined the recently established People Square Saving Scheme of the Saamstaan Housing Association, which she has chaired for two years since 1994 (UNHabitat, 2010, p. 1). Ms. Edith Mbanga was recruited into the SDFN movement due to her motivation and desire to improve her living conditions and her need to respond to poverty by joining the movement. It is difficult to determine how the SDFN would recruit and select participants, as scholarly sources do not clearly or specifically mention how the self-help organization would recruit and select its members.

Methods and Tools Used

SDFN has used several participatory techniques and resources to organize informal settlements, advance housing rights, and improve living conditions for informal settlers. To pool money for home development, property acquisition, and infrastructure improvements, SDFN has formed savings groups from members of the community. To document their settlement and increase their negotiating power with local authorities, inhabitants of informal settlements participate in data collection. When more financing becomes available, dwellings are built progressively as part of the federation's encouragement of incremental housing. Household surveys are used to better record settlement needs and conditions. To help members finance housing construction, the community savings plan and community-led microfinance initiatives were also used.

What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation

The Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia has various projects and programmes to encourage public participation and engagement to improve living conditions and build sustainable houses for the informal communities in Namibia

A community-managed development fund, the Twahangana Fund offers financial assistance to members of the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia. Since 1996, the Fund has given loans to Federation members for small business, home construction, and land maintenance (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 14). The Twahangana Fund is managed by more than 1000 SDFN saving groups across all 14 regions of Namibia in 2022 and 2023 which means the saving groups' members are responsible for approving loans and overseeing repayments (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 14). More than 7,200 low-income people with monthly incomes around N$ 8,000 were able to purchase 34 m2 homes thanks to the Twahangana Fund; these homes can be gradually expanded to 80 m2 (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 14). The Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (MURD)/Built Together Program, external funders, the revolving funds from participating SDFN members, and the substantial and sustained support of the private sector, including Standard Bank of Namibia through the Buy-a-Brick Initiative, FirstRand Namibia Trust, Ohorongo Cement, Pupkewitz Foundation, Twin Hills Trust/Osino Resources, Gem Diamonds Namibia, and Namfisa, contributed a total of N$29 million to the Twahanga Fund in the fiscal year 2022–2023 (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 14).

The Twahanga Fund received almost N$29 million in revenue during this fiscal year, which included cash and in-kind donations, payments from the Shack Dwellers Federation's saving clubs, bank interest, special projects by local authorities, and other sources (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 15).

In Namibia's urban areas, the Community Land Information Program (CLIP) offers information for tenure security and settlement upgrading where the program gathers verified settlement data into a national database for financial, strategic, and policy support because the data is crucial for budgeting, policy creation, informed decision-making, and strategic support for settlement upgrading projects (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 17). In collaboration with NHAG, local and regional authorities, the national government, and Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), SDFN members spearhead CLIP as a community-led effort (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 17). By 2023, CLIP profiles had identified 231,831 households in Namibian informal settlements across all urban areas, with differing levels of shelter, tenure, and services. CLIP teams, led by Federation members and the communities in the respective informal settlements, update these profiles regularly (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 17). According to statistics from the year 2023, over 40% of Namibians live in shacks and about 80% of those living in cities (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 17). There are several reasons why many Namibians live in shacks, but some of them include high rates of poverty, restricted access to formal and affordable housing, and a lack of funding for affordable housing projects (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 17). Rapid urbanization and population increase in Namibia have put pressure on available housing, which has resulted in the expansion of informal settlements (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 17).

The Informal Settlement Upgrading process, which comes after the CLIP program, is a process of empowerment because low-income groups are included in the decision-making process for the development of their informal settlement, which was effectively created because of the Community Land Information Program (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 18). Informal Settlement Upgrading, the largest informal settlement upgrading project in Namibia, has expanded to 10 of the country's 14 regions by June 2023, encompassing 36 informal communities across 22 urban areas and 27,600 households (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 18). Upgrading informal settlements under community leadership enables the community to gather socioeconomic information, such as development priorities and affordability (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 18). The community is also given the ability to participate in the land delivery process, which lowers the cost of the serviced plots (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 18). The knowledge gained regarding the process of the socioeconomic information gathered by communities is intended to facilitate the development of forums for communication between local government, communities, and other interested parties (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 18).

Finally, the SDFN activity is Securing Land for the Informal Settlement Communities in Namibia. Low-cost housing for the urban poor was constructed by SDFN, but for this to be a reality, affordable land must be made available (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 21). One of the biggest obstacles preventing the Shack Dwellers from building their own homes is the availability or distribution of land to vulnerable populations (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 21). Given that 40% of Namibians still reside in backyard shacks or informal settlements, the country is unable to expand the provision of desperately needed housing (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 21). In the fiscal year 2022–2023, local governments gave SDFN 852 plots, all of which were greenfields that SDFN had to install with NHAG services' technical assistance (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 21). Some plots were donated, but the majority were made available to the SDFN at a reasonable cost to support Namibia's informal settlement, and the members saved money to receive the land and then reimburse the relevant authority for the remaining sum in installments (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 21). The CLIP program and MURD discovered the startling fact that most of the urban population in need of land and housing are already living in informal settlements or backyard shacks: approximately 80% of Namibia's current urban population currently resides in informal settlements or backyard shacks due to the lack of security of tenure in urban areas (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 21). There are two land tenure types in Namibia: landhold, which offers a group or association and makes the land considerably more inexpensive; and freehold, which is a single residential title (Fernandes & Shuunyuni & Scharrenbroich, 2024, pg. 21).

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

The movement approach has been influenced on a national basis and has had successful cooperation with the National Public sector, which led to many legislations and policies being formed. With the participation of over 434 savings groups and 22,000 households, the SDFN approach has been adopted nationally, transforming the initial housing projects into a national housing process that covers most of Namibia's urban districts (World Habitat, 2018). As a result of SDFN’s aim to address the housing crisis through self-help and community mobilization, there is strong cooperation with the government that resulted from the efforts of the movement. The national government has a growing recognition and expression of the importance of bottom-up approaches in resolving the urban land and housing crisis, local authorities are eager to expand the process of upgrading informal settlements, and they have begun to recognize the advantages and cost-effectiveness of participatory planning over top-down planning (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyuni, 2019, pg. 30). Through support from the MURD, NHAG and SDFN have participated in international conferences like the UN-Habitat and others, and they have long served on several high-level committees, including the National Habitat Committee, National Housing Advisory Committee, and Mass Housing Committee on Blueprint (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyuni, 2019, pg. 30). Although the recognition of the informal settlement upgrading process has resulted in a significant political shift, authorities continue to be reluctant to support this community-led approach, frequently remaining complacent and treating SDFN/NHAG as an outsider or consultant rather than an active partner (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyuni, 2019, pg. 30). Nonetheless, the informal settlement upgrading committee's receipt of a certificate of gratitude from the Karibib town council is only one of the several noteworthy, good instances of the national public sector and SDFN/NHAG working together successfully (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyuni, 2019, pg. 30). The growing focus on housing solutions for Namibians has led to a greater interest among local authorities in working with communities organized by SDFN and supported by NHAG which has helped to increase recognition of local initiatives and innovations led by organizations such as SDFN/NHAG (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyuni, 2019, pg. 30). The Namibia National Development Plan, the upcoming draft Housing Policy, and the Flexible Land Tenure Bill—which encourages community-based land management and expedites the land delivery process with government backing—are just a few examples of the laws and policies that result from community-driven processes and the government is also becoming more receptive to community involvement and incremental development approaches (World Habitat, 2018).

Analysis and Lessons Learned

The Shack Dwellers Federation of Nambia (SDFN) employs various strategies to empower its members and advocate for systemic change. Here are three strategies that SDFN focused on that have been utilized in their activities and programmes.

Community-driven housing solutions: The SDFN organizes community members into saving groups, enabling them to pool resources for land acquisition and housing construction. This approach fosters financial independence and collective decision-making in how loans are being repaid in an incremental step-by-step process for the household to afford it. Community savings is the cornerstone of SDFN in organizing communities and the development of households participating in the SDFN savings group (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyuni, 2019, pg. 12). Each group manages its own savings account and when there are sufficient funds, the group may put down a deposit on a piece of land (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyuni, 2019, pg. 12). The local authorities should provide the land, and this remains the main obstacle (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyuni, 2019, pg. 12). Payments for the provided land are made to the respective local authorities over ten years (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyuni, 2019, pg. 12). The saved money can also be used to meet basic and daily needs as well as to secure further funding (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyuni, 2019, pg. 12). Community participation has increased social capital and ownership in communities (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyuni, 2019, pg. 12). Communities can rely on each other for social and economic needs, even in times of heavy economic slowdown (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyuni, 2019, pg. 12). This ownership and prospects for better future living conditions also reduce crime in these communities (Scharrenbroich & Shuunyuni, 2019, pg. 12). SDFN utilizes the community’s efforts to participate in collectively pulling money together (Twahangana Fund) to solve the housing crisis where they use the funds to secure land from the government and build sustainable houses using cement and bricks. This indicates self-help and community mobilization, as it places the ability to rely on the community rather than an external actor to solve the housing crisis. However, I recognize that the community cannot address the housing issue alone.

Participatory Governance: The federation emphasizes participatory decision-making, ensuring that members have an equal say in projects and negotiations with stakeholders. This participatory approach enhances community engagement and ownership. For instance, in 2002, the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing also created a joint working group on habitat issues, in which the SDFN was asked to participate (Chitekwe-Biti, 2018, pg. 392). The SDFN began to work with cities on developing a new approach to informal settlement upgrading that underpinned the city’s Development and Upgrading Strategy (Chitekwe-Biti, 2018, pg. 392). Furthermore, the SDFN developed the capacity to undertake enumerations and mapping of informal settlements and with support from the national government and a local NGO, developed the Community Land Information Programme (Muller & Mbanga, 2012, pg. 67). Through this initiative, the federation has profiled and mapped all the informal settlements in Namibia, covering more than 500,000 people without secure land tenure and setting a significant precedent in terms of the ability of the federation to work at scale (Muller & Mbanga, 2012, pg. 67). For each settlement, a profile was developed by the residents that stimulated discussions of their priorities and discussions with the government (Muller & Mbanga, 2012, pg. 67). In the second phase, the residents of informal settlements were supported to undertake more detailed enumerations and mapping to identify development priorities and provide the information needed for development initiatives (Muller & Mbanga, 2012, pg. 67). This allows communities to gather accurate data about their living conditions and the information is crucial for informed decision-making and effective negotiation with authorities for resources and services. It is also a great way to amend or produce new legislation or policies related to housing, nationally, where government actors can use the data gathered through the CLIP programme to get a better scope of what are the specific issues occurring in these communities of informal settlements.

Advocacy for Land and Housing Rights: The SDFN advocates for policies that facilitate affordable land acquisition and inclusive urban planning, partnering with the Namibian government to access subsidies and institutional support. Their efforts have been instrumental in influencing national housing policies. For instance, by 1995, a third of Windhoek’s population lived in informal settlements, prompting the City’s planning department to develop the interim "Squatter Policy" to manage the influx (Chitekwe-Biti, 2018, pg. 393). This policy designated reception areas where residents could build temporary homes, but the City struggled to keep pace with rapid migration, leading to the growth of informal settlements (Chitekwe-Biti, 2018, pg. 393). In response, the city shifted to a more progressive approach, formalizing settlements through self-help strategies pioneered by the SDFN (Chitekwe-Biti, 2018, pg. 393). The 1999 Development and Upgrading Strategy introduced incremental land development levels and supported greenfield projects with minimal services, enabling low-income residents to organize, purchase land, and co-produce urban development (Chitekwe-Biti, 2018, pg. 395). Flexible payment terms and collaborations with organizations like SDFN ensured affordability, despite ongoing challenges with settlement formalization and service provision (Chitekwe-Biti, 2018, pg.395). SDFN employs advocacy strategies where their initiatives such as the Upgrading Strategy Process help community members have a voice in policy-making and shift the focus of policy-making to communities in the informal settlements making an impact, through advocacy, to ensure that policies are addressing the concerns of the residents in the informal settlement which hopefully leads to reducing the housing crisis in Namibia.

See Also

References

Chitekwe-Biti, B. (2018). Co-producing Windhoek: the contribution of the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia. Environment and Urbanization, 30(2), 387–406. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247818785784

Fernandes, K., Shuunyuni, H., & Scharrenbroich, A. (2024). Annual Report 2022-2023: Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) supported by National Housing Action Group (NHAG). Civic264.org; National Housing Action Group (NHAG) Trust. https://www.civic264.org.na/images/pdf/2024/7/2022-2023_Annual_Report_SDFNNHAG.pdf

Mbanga, E., Namwandi, S., Shenyange, A., Niingungo, N., Amakali, E., Kandundu, V., Shuunyuni, H., Muller, A., Price, S., D'cruz, C., Chege, P., Chakamba, M., Chitekwe-Biti, B., Dobson, S., Sonia, M., Fadrigo, V., Hunga, W., Kalenjeka, S., Mudimu, P., & Muhammed, L. (2014). International Institute for Environment and Development Report Part Title: The Role of Savings in Namibia Title: Community Savings Report Subtitle: A basic building block in the work of urban poor federations. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/resrep01298.6.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3Ac72bc760a22998184726b51a057c7846&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&initiator=&acceptTC=1

Mitlin, D., Satterthwaite, D., & Bartlett, S. (2011, October). Capital, capacities and collaboration: the multiple roles of community savings in addressing urban poverty. Iied. Org; International Institute for Environment and Development. https://www.iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/10611IIED.pdf

Muller, A., & Mbanga, E. (2012). Participatory enumerations at the national level in Namibia: the Community Land Information Programme (CLIP). Environment and Urbanization, 24(1), 67–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247811435891

Remmert, D., & Ndhlovu, P. (2018). Housing in Namibia: Rights, Challenges and Opportunities. https://ippr.org.na/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/IPPR_HousingBook_PRINT.pdf

Sandra L. Barnes, & Angela Cowser. (2017). Building Homes and Building Lives: Benefits of Involvement in the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia. Women, Gender, and Families of Color, 5(2), 153. https://doi.org/10.5406/womgenfamcol.5.2.0153

Scharrenbroich, A., & Shuunyuni, H. (2019). Annual Report 2019-2020: Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG) Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) ANNUAL REPORT. In sdinet.org. National Housing Action Group (NHAG) Trust. https://sdinet.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/SDFN-NHAG-Annual-Report-2019-2020.pdf

UN-Habitat. (2010). Submission for Habitat Scroll of Honour: Submission 2010 Edith Mbanga of Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia 1. Background. https://mirror.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/Namibia_Submission2011_EdithMbanga.pdf

World Habitat. (2018, April 25). Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia - World Habitat. World Habitat. https://world-habitat.org/world-habitat-awards/winners-and-finalists/shack-dwellers-federation-of-namibia/

External Links

Notes