Use of Bamboo and Earth Materials in Construction for the Provision of Affordable Building Structures for Sustainable Development at Kuje Area Council, Abuja

Abstract

The study was carried out on the use of bamboo and earth materials in building construction in provision of affordable housing at Kuje area council Abuja. The purpose of the study was to determine the status of the use of bamboo and earth materials in construction at Kuje area council Abuja, identifying the factors limiting the use of bamboo and earth materials in construction at Kuje area council Abuja, examine the strategies that will improve the use of bamboo and earth materials in construction at Kuje area council Abuja. Three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A population of 80 respondents, comprising of 20 engineers and 60 craftsmen was used for the study. A structured questionnaire was developed by the researcher and was used as an instrument for data collection. The instrument was validated by three lecturers in the department of industrial and technology education, federal university of technology Minna. The data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation, while t-test statistic was used to test three hypotheses at 0.051evel of significance. The findings of the study revealed that there are limitations in the use of bamboo for building construction in the Kuje Area Council. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that the use of bamboo and earth materials in building construction should be introduced as part of the curriculum for construction education at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in order to sensitize the students to their potential uses and benefits. The government should employ a policy of adapting bamboo and earth materials that require minimal amounts of capital and foreign exchange and makes use of available raw materials and skills in small-scale operations and suggestion were also made for further research works.