Barrier to the use of Sandbag Material Technologies as a Sustainable Affordable Housing Solution: Perspectives from South Africa

Abstract

Over 12.5 million families in South Africa live in slums without access to adequate housing. Previous studies projected that meeting housing demand in South Africa will take hundreds of years with the available resources and technologies. Therefore, achieving sustainable and affordable housing solutions remain a pressing goal. This study assessed the perception of experts and end-users on the barriers to the use of sandbag material technology as a Sustainable Affordable Housing Solution in South Africa. The study draws on focus group discussions held with 12 leading experts on alternative technologies and local South African end-users to obtain data to address the research objective. It emerged that lack of social acceptance, lack of support from the government, limited Professional Expertise, and Access to finance are barriers to the use of sandbag material technology in South Africa. The study concludes with some recommendations and adds significantly to the limited knowledge on alternative building material technologies such as Sandbag technology.