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Compressed earth bricks, employment and sustainable construction: building differently between Mayotte and the Comoros

Art.Terre Mayotte & CRAterre

Founded in 2007 by project owners, craftspeople, and architects, the ART.Terre Mayotte association aims to promote and revitalize the Compressed Earth Brick (CEB) construction sector in Mayotte, which has been declining since the 2000s. Through communication, awareness-raising, and training initiatives, it also supports stakeholders in the sector (decision-makers, architects, brickmakers, masons) to restore CEB's role as a driver of development. As earth construction gains increasing interest, ART.Terre also aspires to promote Mayotte's expertise beyond the island and enrich it through exchanges of experience with other operators in the Indian Ocean. — Since 1979, CRAterre, the International Center for Earth Construction, has been working to gain recognition for earth as a building material in order to address the challenges related to the environment, cultural diversity, and the fight against poverty. It pursues three objectives: to make better use of local resources, human and natural; to improve housing and living conditions; and to promote cultural diversity.

Context

AMATECO Cooperation

Since 2007, ART.TERRE Mayotte has championed alternative construction methods, notably promoting earthen construction. Thanks to its low environmental impact (low energy consumption during manufacturing, short supply chain, readily available and recyclable raw materials, and reduced water consumption), the Compressed Earth Brick (CEB) offers a sustainable solution to the challenges of the ecological transition and the growing shortage of quarry materials currently used in concrete production. It also allows for the preservation of traditional skills while employing local labor.

Led by a consortium headed by ART.TERRE Mayotte, the "AMATECO COOPERATION" project (Mahoran Workshop for Earth Construction) aims to structure the stabilized compressed earth brick sector in the Comoros. It combines knowledge transfer, strengthening local skills, and raising awareness of raw earth construction, with the objective of revitalizing a sector with strong potential for ecological transition and the valorization of local resources.

Country: Union of the Comoros
Location: Anjouan, Grande Comore, Mohéli
Sector of intervention:
Urban development
Guild Endowment: €67,431
Project cost: €84,373
Project leader: ART.Terre Mayotte

Funder(s):
• Coreom
• La Guilde
• The Fondation de France

Project objectives

Revitalizing BTCS production and design in Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli
Reducing dependence on fossil fuels in buildings
Improving the resilience of buildings to climate change
Structuring a sector that promotes employment, youth integration, and the preservation of local know-how

Activities

Overview of the BTCS sector in the Comoros
Technical support for local stakeholders on training, engineering and design in BTCS
Raising awareness about the history and use of earthen constructions

Direct beneficiaries

Craftsmen, companies, material suppliers, BTCS producers, project managers, clients, research laboratories, funders, training centers, young people in job training programs in the Comoros

Expected results

Improving production and construction practices in BTCS
Training of target audiences and information for local stakeholders on the technique
Raising public awareness of architecture adapted to the local context
Roadmap for institutional partners in the Comoros, to ensure the sustainability of the sector

A dual support and funding mechanism for overseas civil society organizations, the CORÉOM program – Overseas Regional Cooperation – encourages regional and international cooperation dynamics among associations based in Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, and Réunion. Financially supported by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Fondation de France, CORÉOM is implemented by La Guilde, with a set of territorial networks and relay partners in the five territories.