Project completion report : self-help housing development

The project was extremely successful. Six amendments expanded CHF services to include assistance to SHHA"s in Selebe-Phikwe and Francistown and to the Government of Botswana"s (GOB) Ministry of Local Government and Lands (MLGL). Aided by direct CHF advisors and by training and TA provided by the MLGL, the three SHHA"s have developed into permanent organizations, fully able to implement and manage shelter programs. Further, the CHF advisor to the MLGL drafted a white paper which formed the basis for what later became the GOB"s official housing policy - one of the first such policies in Africa. Both the GOB policy and the work of the SHHA"s are considered models of shelter assistance by African professionals. On the other hand, the project did not succeed in phasing out the need for expatriate TA in Botswana"s housing sector. The GOB and the World Bank have extended CHF assistance to Selebe-Phikwe and Francistown (through 8/83 and 12/84, respectively) in order to support Bank housing projects in those towns, and have also extended the contract of the MLGL advisor (through 12/84) in order to ensure program continuity. The OPG mechanism proved appropriate and flexible to the developing housing sector situation; in particular, beginning and amending the OPG by writing letters approving proposals and budgets prepared by CHF was far simpler than having A.I.D. prepare project documents. On the other hand, A.I.D."s interests in Botswana would have been better served if AID/W had given USAID/B authority to approve OPG amendments and, in particular, to extend the CHF contract.