Rural housing conditions in Kisumu District, Kenya

Abstract

Housing conditions in Third World countries are usually investigated in the urban environment. Very few studies focus on the housing situation in the rural areas~ This applies especially to the rural areas in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. This lack of attention finds its origin in the seemingly better housing situation in the rural areas as compared to the urban slums and squatter settlements, in the narrow orientation on economic growth in most development policies with dominant attention for so-called modern production activities and consequent priority for urban areas, and in the disproportionate political influence of urbanbased segments of the population. In comparison with other countries in Africa south of the Sahara, Kenya gave quite some attention to housing research. This is closely associated with the Housing Research and Development Unit of the University of Nairobi. Due to inadequate resources, attention goes primarily to the urban areas. For Kenya too, little is known about housing conditions in the rural areas.