1.- General identification
Location: Municipality of Esquipulas, Matagalpa, Nicaragua.
Author of the abstract: Cesia Gaitán Morales and Nayron Coronado.
2.- History, background and context
In 1988, Hurricane Mitch affected 850,000 residents of Nicaragua, destroying 45,000 homes and an untold number of rural communities in the northern, central, and western regions of the country, with large losses of human life, cattle, and economic, agricultural, and environmental patrimony. The rural population was the most severely affected, especially that located in risk-prone areas such as river banks, hillsides, and along volcano slopes, where their homes and livelihoods were partially or completely washed away.
The majority of affected families were already vulnerable prior to the Hurricane due to their precarious economic situations and subsequent low quality of life. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the hemisphere, with an estimated GNP of US$ 480 per capita for the year 2000, with poverty defined as a per capital annual consumption of US$ 402. In 1998, 48% of Nicaraguans had incomes below the poverty line, and an estimated 17% lived in extreme poverty. Almost 70% of rural inhabitants were poor, and 20% extremely poor. More than 30% of urban inhabitants were poor and approximately 8% extremely poor.
Matagalpa was one of the sectors most affected by Hurricane Mitch, occupying third position in number of affected families and second position in homes damaged and destroyed (3,405 homes). The municipality of Esquipulas, according to the 1995 census, registered a population of 13,691 inhabitants, with 61% in the rural areas. It is crossed by the Matagalpa river, with two lakes and ravines, sites flooded during the Hurricane. It is a cattle-raising municipality and its primary crops are coffee and basic grains. The rural homes obtain their water through home-made wells, which were contaminated and flooded during the disaster. There is no sanitary sewage and only 10% of the rural homes have latrines. Only the urban center and one of the 14 communities had access to electricity. After Mitch, the housing demand was very high in the rural sections; the affected families were left living in unhealthy conditions in plastic shelters or with relatives in overcrowded conditions, and a housing project was urgently needed.
This was the situation encountered by HABITAR which visited the municipality of Esquipulas, and together with functionaries from the Mayor’s office identified affected population groups. With the encouraging support of the Spanish nongovernmental organization Entrepueblos, a project was formulated to offer a new development opportunity for the most affected sector of the municipality. The “Sustainable Rural Settlements” project began operations in August 2000 and ended in July 2001.
The project was developed in the following phases:
– Phase I: Identification of need to be addressed and land management.
– Phase II: Territorial and housing planning.
– Phase III: Construction of the social infrastructure.
– Phase IV: Development of economic initiatives.
The inhabitants of the new settlements are currently organized, with a committee with community self-management capacity. Follow-up support continues to be provided by HABITAR.
3.- Objectives, strategy and scope
Improve the quality of life of the population most vulnerable to natural phenomena.
Create and strengthen the organizations to create self-management capacities.
Capacitate those involved in the self-construction project in a new form of occupation so they may improve their incomes.
Strategic criteria
General Criteria
- Develop an initiative with the involvement of municipal authorities and the organized rural population living in extreme poverty which was gravely affected by Hurricane Mitch, to respond to the habitat-related urgent basic needs, providing a source of support to stimulate a process to overcome poverty and promote transition toward sustainable rural development.
- Consolidate the community organizations and participation of the distinct local social sectors, uniting them around objective community goals toward improving socio-economic conditions.
- Influence territorial planning and consolidate the spatial structures which contribute toward local and community development processes.
- Link the participation of the institutions, local governments, and community directly related to the planning and execution of works and actions within the various components.
- Eliminate risk-prone situations, concentrate dispersed population, and especially favor collaborative work for life and production.
- Integral attention to the impoverished rural sectors.
Specific Criteria
The following criteria were established for the selection of families to be assisted:
- Directly affected by Hurricane Mitch;
- Housing located in risk areas;
- Constituted nuclear family;
- Willingness to be relocated to another site;
- Willingness to join in the self-construction and management of their homes, and
- Low-income families (at or below the poverty line).
Size of participating and beneficiary population: The beneficiary population is made up of 50 families with a total of 334 persons. One representative per family directly participated in the self-production process.
Scope of the experience: The project addressed dignified habitat solutions including suitable residential land, infrastructure, basic services, community facilities, housing, and initial support for the development of economic initiatives with foreseeable sustainability. The housing units conform two new settlements which reinforce existing population nuclei in the municipality.
Innovative aspects:
- Socio-organizational: broad social and community participation among diverse local actors based on reaching agreements and building consensuses for the production process.
- Technological: Technical organization of mass-production with the participation of the organized population and technical assistance provided by members of HABITAR.
- Management: Local partnership for social and housing development, specifically for the production of two settlements. Decisions made through consensus building among users, the municipal Mayor’s office, HABITAR, and the international cooperation. Support for the housing program was also obtained from other organizations such as the United Nations World Food Program which provided meals for labor, and the International Red Cross which provided provisional housing.
4.- Actors involved and their roles
- The community, as owner of the project and co-executor of the productive process together with the other partners.
- The Research and Promotion Center of HABITAR, responsible for project management vis- -vis the international community and the local actors, and for technical assistance and resource administration.
- The Municipal Mayor’s office of Esquipulas donated the lands and issued the property titles of the plots to the users.
- International cooperation: Asociación Entrepueblos; La Junta de Castilla y León; and CAR Murcia y Generalitat Valenciana of Spain, provided financial support.
- The state company responsible for drinking water services (AYAMAT) provided skilled labor for installation of the water system component.
- The Nicaraguan Red Cross donated temporary housing, and the United Nations World Food Program provided meals to the beneficiary families.
5.- Project components
Habitat elements included in the process
a. Negotiation, selection and acquisition of lands: Support was provided to the municipal Mayor’s office to identify adequate settlement sites to avoid that this vulnerable population again suffer from natural disasters, guaranteeing their safe location. A study was carried out of the local human settlements subsystem to adequately integrate the two new settlements to existing population nuclei. Hydrological, geological, and topographical studies were carried out, and the settlement was designed appropriately.
b. Identification of the need to be addressed: This included the socio-housing study and selection of beneficiary families.
c. Legalization of land ownership. This consisted of issuing property titles to the plots in the names of the project beneficiaries.
d. Housing: 50 progressive-type housing units were self-built in an organized and assisted manner, for an equal number of families, taking into account the housing typology and local customs. Housing design was validated by the community through a workshop. The users-builders and the skilled labor used for certain components received technical training through HABITAR. All of the user families participated in project execution.
e. Infrastructure and services: The settlement was outfitted with infrastructure and basic services such as water and sanitation (latrines), with training in construction and maintenance of the networks and infrastructures created.
f. Facilities: Two community modules are currently being built in each of the settlements for community activities. Each module includes a multipurpose hall, community office, and medical clinic.
g. Productive initiatives: Community banks are being implemented in each settlement to facilitate loans for small-scale agricultural production and other services. The population has received training for administration of the banks.
Social and cultural aspects
A tight relationship has been created and maintained with the area’s community organizations and the inhabitants linked to the project. Community participation was promoted and user interest and motivation in relation to the project have been maintained. An atmosphere of credibility and trust was achieved in the communities, and the bases were established to consolidate the actions and create the conditions for execution of the construction works. The practice of collaborative work in the project is intended to guarantee satisfactory results to the degree that the community appropriates the project.
The community has been motivated to pursue other actions and negotiations with other entities (such as FENOSA, the private company responsible for electricity distribution). The project incorporates women in all its components, and in particular in the economic self-management aspect through the availability of loans for income-generation initiatives.
Economic strengthening of participants and/or ecological sustainability
Two community banks are being formed to foment the production and marketing of small farm animals and agricultural products as income-generation alternatives. The main objective is that loans be repaid within one year of conclusion of the project and the recipients then have their own funds with which to continue to finance themselves.
Contribution to urban development
Since the two settlements are located in rural areas, the primary contribution is at the municipal level. Impact studies were carried out in the Esquipulas municipality and the site proposed for the new settlement, looking at traffic circulation, production and commercial aspects, and social services, in order to guarantee that the new site have access to infrastructure services such as water and electricity. The physical-environmental and safety conditions were also studied in order to implement natural disaster prevention measures. The new settlements now serve as integration centers for the disperse rural population, providing services for the surrounding population. The settlements in turn receive services from preexisting population centers with which there are close social and territorial linkages.
Process and level of integration of the diverse components
The community participation is fundamental for the production of housing, infrastructure and urban spaces, as well as the creation and consolidation of neighborhoods and rural communities, through the assisted self-construction methodology with mutual aid and strong technical and social support. The roles of the different entities involved in the decision making to support the diverse components have been excellent, investing all possible efforts toward the project’s success.
6.- Main instruments used
Socio-organizational: organized and assisted self-construction, involving the users in the production process and its control, as well as the distribution of its results.
Financial: Communal bank for community economic initiatives.
Administrative and management: Collaborative territorial management among the public, social, and private sectors, with follow-up and control.
Promotion and discussion: Participative territorial planning and settlement and housing design.
7.- Achievements and main lessons learned
Project impacts
- Citizen participation spaces have been consolidated in local and community management.
- Women’s participation space was created in the organization and implementation of the project.
- New physical and social references recreate community identity through the affirmation of community public spaces.
- Previous precarious housing conditions have been overcome.
- Hygienic conditions have been improved with the creation of adequate sanitary installations which improve community health.
- Environmental impact is improved and managed by the abandonment of biologically fragile areas inadequate for residential use such as riverbanks and ravines.
- Economic alternatives have been created to improve family incomes and alleviate rural poverty conditions.
- Legal security is achieved through the issuance of housing and land property titles.
- Environmental security is improved with the relocation of families to areas less prone to natural disaster risks.
Lessons learned
- The target population, which includes rural sectors living in extreme poverty, demonstrated high organizational and creative capacity.
- The project served to build close relations among organizational levels and strengthen self-management capacities.
- It is important to reinforce preexisting population centers and concentrate the disperse rural population without detracting from the settlement’s rural character.
- Collaborative territorial management was validated and citizen participation processes were strengthened by the improved relations between the local government and the organized population generated through their joint work in the project.
- The self-esteem of the population as self-managing social group was improved.
8.- Key words
Participative design, participative planning, social production of housing, territorial and housing management partnership, organized and assisted self-construction, community self-management, and gender equity.
9.- Information Sources
Informative document for participants in the Nicaragua – United States Housing Forum held on 15-18 July 2001.
Results of the social and technical survey taken of affected communities.
Interviews with the affected communities.R
Mayor’s Office of Esquipulas.
Map of environmental threats and risks elaborated by the Civil Defense.
Regional poverty map.
Observador Económico. July 1999
CYTED, reflections on self-construction of popular habitat in Latin America.
10.- Contacts
Ninette Morales Ortega, Nyron Coronado, Cesia Gaitán
Centro de Investigación y Promoción del Habitar
Montoya 3 ½ al norte. Apartado 2829
Managua, Nicaragua.
Telefax: 505-266 61 26
E-mail: habitar@alfanumeric.com.ni