REPUBLIC OF TOGO, SHELTER SECTOR ASSESSMENT

Conditions in Togo"s major urban center illustrate four areas of shelter problems: human settlement patterns, the housing stock, infrastructure, and environmental and health conditions. This report describes Togo and its economic situation, its population characteristics, the dimensions of the shelter problem, the shelter delivery system, and the constraints to the delivery system. Recommendations are offered in the areas of shelter policy, new housing and urbanization institutions, finance, densities, and waste disposal. It recommends that the government focus its intervention on the families below the urban median income level as their need is the most acute. It suggests that these shelters be designed to minimum standards and rely on the ability of low-income families to build and upgrade their own units. This effort requires both land and infrastructure, which low income families cannot totally provide for themselves. Target densities for the development of Lome" as an urban center growing at almost 10% per year, should be a minimum of 220 persons per hectare. Higher densities than those now found in Lome" are a prerequisite for the efficient development of an urban center and for the successful operation of a system of urban infrastructure services. Finally it is recommended that the government give serious consideration to developing low cost waste disposal systems to be used in residential areas of the city. Since the area is only several meters above sea level, these systems might be aerobic and anaerobic digestion systems rather than water flushed waste disposal systems.