Abstract
Access to adequate housing is a fundamental human right, essential to human security, nutrition and health, and a core objective of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals1,2. Globally, the housing need is most acute in Africa, where the population will more than double by 2050. However, existing data on housing quality across Africa are limited primarily to urban areas and are mostly recorded at the national level. Here we quantify changes in housing in sub-Saharan Africa from 2000 to 2015 by combining national survey data within a geostatistical framework. We show a marked transformation of housing in urban and rural sub-Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2015, with the prevalence of improved housing (with improved water and sanitation, sufficient living area and durable construction) doubling from 11% (95% confidence interval, 10–12%) to 23% (21–25%). However, 53 (50–57) million urban Africans (47% (44–50%) of the urban population analysed) were living in unimproved housing in 2015. We provide high-resolution, standardized estimates of housing conditions across sub-Saharan Africa. Our maps provide a baseline for measuring change and a mechanism to guide interventions during the era of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Highlights
Access to adequate housing is a fundamental human right, essential to human security, nutrition and health, and a core objective of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals[1,2]
Access to adequate housing and shelter is a fundamental human right, considered central to human wellbeing through the provision of facilities that are essential to security, comfort, health and nutrition
This goal builds on Millennium Development Goal 7, which aimed for a substantial improvement in the lives of 100 million people who lived in slums by 20203
Summary
Prevalence (%) of people living in houses built with finished materials (95% CI). Predictions represent all countries in sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa, Comoros and desert areas. Houses were considered to be built with finished materials if at least two out of three parts of the structure (walls, roof and floor) were made of finished materials rather than natural or unfinished materials (Supplementary Text). Houses were considered to be ‘improved’ if they had all of the following characteristics: improved water supply, improved sanitation, three or fewer people per bedroom and house made of finished materials (Supplementary Information).
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