In Yaounde, Cameroon, builders are turning ordinary soil into stabilised earth bricks, offering a cheaper, more climate-friendly alternative to conventional concrete blocks.
Footage filmed on Thursday shows workers mixing soil, operating brick-making machines and pressing earth into solid blocks, alongside completed homes built with the material.
“Earth is available almost everywhere. Why build with earth? Because earth provides better thermal comfort, and in Africa, given the heat, it is a material that can improve thermal comfort in homes,” said Andrien Tsague, a developer at Village de la Terre.
The initiative also plans to train local construction workers and brick producers to improve brick quality and help make housing more affordable for low-income families.
“Given the housing shortage in Cameroon, we felt that returning to earth as a building material was one of the solutions to reducing construction costs and making housing more accessible to low-income households,” said Achille Noupeou, a developer at ASSOAL.
The bricks are compressed and stabilised with cement to improve moisture resistance. Some feature hollow, interlocking designs that make them easier to handle and install.
“We found that a house with three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom, covering 80 square metres, would cost around 12 million CFA francs. We tested the use of stabilised earth bricks, and the cost ranged between 6.5 million and 7 million CFA francs,” Noupeou explained.
Cameroon faces an estimated housing shortage of 2.5 million homes, according to government figures published in September 2026. The country’s National Development Strategy also indicates that only around 40% of households live in adequate housing.
Source: Viory
