Giddings, Bob and Anyigor, Kelechi and Matthews, Lesley
(2013)
Social Structures, Local Economic Development And Environmental
Quality In Deprived Communities: The Case Of The Kpirikpiri
Community In South-east Nigeria.
Journal of Construction in Developing Countries , 18 (1).
pp. 109-133.
ISSN 1823-6499
Abstract
As recently as late 2010, Africa sought a 20% increase in funding for its poor
countries despite years of international aid. In 2002, Nigeria's Ebonyi State became part of
the Community-Based Urban Development Project and, in 2005, joined the CommunityBased Poverty Reduction Project, both funded by the World Bank. Ebonyi focused all of the
aid it received on three communities in its capital, Abakiliki. The three communities were
chosen because they exhibited the lowest social, political and economic status and the
highest levels of physical decay based on a survey in 2001. One of the three communities,
Kpirikpiri, was surveyed again in 2010 as part of this research and in 2011, a sample of its
residents participated in focus groups to evaluate how their lives had improved as a result of
this funding. It was shocking to discover that the community still suffered from all five housing
deprivations used by UN-Habitat to define slum conditions. Yet, the potential of these
residents is high. The challenge is how to unlock their potential and establish community
organisations that can apply for their own funding; develop a local economy through
activities, such as home-based enterprises; negotiate with landlords, and start to improve
their environmental conditions.
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