With AMATECO Coopération, ART.TERRE Mayotte, CRAterre, and their Comorian partners, they have made stabilized compressed earth bricks (SEBBCs) a concrete example of regional cooperation. At the heart of the project, supported by CORÉOM, are technical training programs designed based on realities observed across the three islands, to strengthen the skills of professionals and provide long-term support for the Comorian sector.. Photo essay and story by Melvyn Gorra, coordinator of ART.TERRE Mayotte.
Between Mayotte and the Comoros, earth construction has a long history. In Mayotte, the compressed earth brick industry developed significantly from the 1980s onwards, with the construction of housing and public facilities and the training of numerous professionals. In the Comoros, several programs also sought to promote earth as a building material from the late 1970s, initially focusing on fired clay and then compressed earth bricks (CEBs), but these failed to generate lasting momentum.
Today, this story is gaining new momentum. The School Environment Improvement Program (PAES), funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) over five years, plans to rehabilitate and expand dozens of schools in Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Mohéli, using stabilized compressed earth bricks. More than 1.8 million blocks are to be produced: a significant order, investments in manual presses, and above all, an opportunity to sustainably strengthen the skills needed for an entire sector.
It is in this context that the project was born AMATECO Cooperation, supported by ART.TERRE Mayotte and CRAterre, with the National Housing Agency (ANH) of the Comoros and the National Laboratory for Public Works and Building (LNTPB).
The ambition is clear: to circulate experiences and know-how between territories to support the skills development of Comorian actors in the sector and its sustainable structuring.
From diagnosis to training: starting from the field
Diagnostic mission to the Comoros, April 2025. For several days, the project teams travelled across Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli to observe the sector in all its dimensions, from the supply of raw materials to distribution: visits to quarries, brickyards and construction sites, inventory of local architectural typologies, training centers and production equipment and meetings with institutional and professional actors in the sector.
Melvyn Gorra, a materials engineer specializing in earthen construction and project coordinator for ART.TERRE, explains that before training, one must first begin by observing.
In April 2025, an initial mission will spend nearly two weeks exploring the three islands (Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Mohéli). The primary objective is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the brickmaking sector, from sourcing and supplying raw materials (clay, pozzolana) to brick design and construction costs, including installation. The mission will also identify existing best practices and areas for improvement, particularly regarding production quality.
The results of this diagnostic mission then become the basis for the upcoming training program: rather than arriving with entirely predefined content, the modules are developed collaboratively by all partners based on observations made in the field. This approach adapts the expertise mobilized to the realities of the sector and the needs of the stakeholders encountered.
Three training programs at the heart of the project
At the heart of AMATECO Cooperation: the transmission of know-how. Based on the needs identified during the diagnostic mission, three complementary technical training courses were organized around the BTCS (Concrete Block and Concrete System) sector: brick production, testing and quality control, and design and construction. These sessions, combining theory and practice, brought together professionals, technicians, trainers, and future building professionals to strengthen skills at each stage of the process.
In September 2025, a second mission is entirely dedicated to strengthening technical skills. For about ten days, in Grande Comore, three complementary training courses are offered to professionals from ANH, LNTPB, the University of the Comoros, training centers and private companies.
The first door is on the production of stabilized compressed earth bricks. From raw material selection to the finished block, participants work through the entire manufacturing cycle, with particular attention paid to production consistency and quality. The training also aims to strengthen the skills of technical supervisors who can, in turn, pass on these practices to their teams.
The second module is devoted to laboratory testing, standards and control. Participants delve deeper into the protocols used to evaluate material characteristics and the conformity of produced blocks. This dimension is essential: developing BTCS also requires the ability to objectify and guarantee its quality.
Finally, a third group is working on BTCS design and construction rules : principles of dimensioning, implementation in structures and execution control. It notably involves students, trainers and representatives of companies, thus broadening the transmission beyond the institutions directly involved in the project.
These three modules are complementary. They allow us to approach the sector as a chain of skills: to produce the material well, to know how to control its quality and to be able to design and build with it.
C’est là que se situe l’un des apports les plus structurants d’AMATECO : ne pas concentrer les actions seulement sur quelques spécialistes, mais favoriser l’intégration des différents profils appelés à intervenir à chaque étape de la filière.
Train today, pass on tomorrow
This transmission process continues beyond the initial training cycle. In Anjouan, initiatives with construction professionals and technical institutions help to further raise awareness of earthen construction and quality control. Local businesses, engineers, and teachers from the National Technical and Vocational School are involved in these exchanges. For young trainees, earthen construction thus becomes a concrete professional skill. A second-year vocational training student in Wani (see opposite) recounts discovering different types of bricks and earth, as well as new technical practices that can enrich his training. Beyond the structuring of this sector, this transmission to a new generation of professionals is also at play.
Cooperation then takes on its full meaning: it is no longer just about exchanging between experts, but about creating the conditions so that skills can continue to circulate locally.
Expertise that is built with partners
For Melvyn, this experience serves as a reminder that technical mastery of a subject is only one part of cooperation.
«"We may have had the technical expertise, but we didn't know the context. Local partners had a crucial role to play."»
The ANH and the LNTPB are not simply recipients of training. Their knowledge of practices, institutions and stakeholders is essential to adapt actions, mobilize professionals and integrate the project into its environment.
Over the months, the relationships strengthened and a formal partnership framework was established to define the roles and working arrangements between the different stakeholders. «"This helped to establish a framework and ensure a calm and trusting relationship."»
This trust is established in practices: preparing missions together, sharing results, adjusting actions and collectively reflecting on what comes next.
The support offered within the framework of CORÉOM plays a supporting role here, from the design of the project to the necessary adjustments during its implementation.
After the training, keep the sector going.
Training is a crucial step, but the partners quickly raise another question: How can these skills be sustained over time?
It's time to take stock and, above all, to work on the "post-project" phase. Vocational and university training, materials certification, private sector involvement, and new opportunities are being discussed with local stakeholders.
The first effects are already observable. The ANH reports an improvement in the quality of the blocks produced and a strengthening of control practices and the skills of local teams.
The issue now goes beyond just school construction sites: it is about consolidating an environment in which BTCS can continue to be produced, controlled, prescribed and implemented in other constructions, with in particular an expected demand from individuals.
This dynamic also benefits from increasing visibility among the public and building stakeholders, particularly through awareness campaigns and, occasionally, their dissemination in the Comorian media.
A first collaboration that calls for a sequel
For ART.TERRE, AMATECO represents an important step in its own trajectory.
The project required considerable effort, but it also reinforced the desire to further integrate ART.TERRE's activities into its regional environment. New avenues are thus being explored in the Indian Ocean. AMATECO Cooperation has therefore disseminated much more than just a technique. By starting with field observations, investing heavily in training, and involving the stakeholders who will be responsible for production, quality control, construction, and knowledge transfer in the future, the project is helping to strengthen a sector based on the skills already present in the Comoros.
Between Mayotte and the Comoros, the land thus becomes a very concrete support for cooperation: know-how that meets, is transmitted and strengthened so that it can, in turn, continue to circulate.
«"CORÉOM has inspired us to go further."»
Watch the report from the ORTC television news program, the Comorian national public television.