Most children are taught in overcrowded, often dilapidated buildings, some don't go to school at all. In Uganda , the Belgian development agency Enabel estimates that 8,000 additional schools are needed, and UNICEF believes that as many as 1.6m children of primary school age do not go to school at all. This figure will rise further due to the region’s population growth, putting the existing infrastructure under impossible pressure.
The conventional solution – in-situ construction based on painted and plastered concrete blocks or fired clay bricks – often implemented by poorly qualified builders and without professional supervision, provides poor value for money and takes too long to provide a scalable answer to the problem.
Whether implemented by the public or the private sector, only a modular prefabrication system can produce the required educational infrastructure at an affordable cost, in a adequate period of time, and to acceptable quality.
Brick-making is the region’s primary cause of deforestation.
If East Africa wants to achieve the targets set in the Paris Agreement – reducing carbon emissions by 25% by 2030 – then the construction of public educational infrastructure should be part of the strategy.
Whether concrete blocks – which have a large amount of embodied energy due to the high cement content –, or fired clay bricks – which contribute to deforestation –, conventional construction methods exacerbate rather than mitigate the negative impact of construction.
Using local and regenerative materials is a great way of reducing the negative impact of construction on our planet – and of creating local jobs, too!
What is missing is a processing industry.
Since 2022, Uganda has overtaken China as the largest exporter of timber into the member countries of the East African Community. The seeds for this success story were planted in the 1990's when large chunks of Government land were leased out to the private sector in a move to promote forestry.
Uganda currently has at least three FSC-certified plantations, growing, drying, treating and processing pine and eucalyptus to proven international sustainability standards. Sustainable forestry is only possible if trees are regularly harvested and replanted - a vibrant timber processing industry is therefore vital.
Trees, through photosynthesis, absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it within their structure. Buildings made of timber into which the carbon is locked for the lifespan of the building, effectively act as carbon sinks, mitigating the effects of the climate crisis.
EcoPrefab presents a golden opportunity for East Africa to address the classroom crisis, support the creation of a viable timber processing industry, mitigate the effects of climate change and create thousands of jobs – all at once!