Worker cooperatives are key to provision of affordable housing

 The government’s preferred approach to spur economic growth through the different priority pillars – agriculture, medium small and micro-enterprises, affordable housing, digital and creative economy and health – is by way of cooperatives, which have been designated as enablers.

Cooperatives have contributed to the growth of Kenya’s GDP and have provided resilience to members during sudden shocks as witnessed most recently with Covid-19. The housing pillar is expected to bridge the gap in demand and supply for affordable housing but there is need to institute an effective model to ensure affordability and sustainability.

The Africa Housing Yearbook 2023 has sobering statistics on housing trends in Kenya. Kenya’s demand of 250,000 housing units is only met with a supply of 50,000, leaving a deficit of 200,000 housing units. Furthermore, the low-income groups are underserved, with only two percent of the available units going to this group. Worker cooperatives could be that model to support bridging this gap.

Here is how they could do that. Worker Cooperatives, like other cooperatives, aggregate resources; in this case the skills the members possess. They provide skilled labour, thus making them collectives centred on people’s skills. The worker cooperatives are owned and managed by members who are also the workers. Secondly, workers have representation in management through the exercise of the one worker, one vote. By this principle, the workers are all raised to a level where no one is superior to the other. The potential for worker cooperatives in Kenya is immense but we must be more innovative.

Kenya already has worker cooperatives – such as Funditech, WISEe and KIGRO – whose skills are aligned with the pillar of affordable housing. One provides building and construction services, the other green energy solutions including installation and maintenance of solar energy while the third provides waste management services. A combination of these three has the potential to create a conglomerate in the housing construction industry – just what is needed to give them a competitive advantage – but with the hallmark of cooperative principles.

In order to actualise these an umbrella body, such as what Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (KUSCCO) does for the financial cooperatives, should bring the different skilled services under one roof. A board of directors and committee for coordinating the cooperative business will be required. Also, there will be a need for a shift of mindset for pre-existing worker cooperatives to allow for the aggregation of the skills (at Union level for instance), which should grant them better traction. In addition to the new governance structures, it will also need visioning, planning, representation, systems of accountability, and strategic partnerships.

Renewed thinking should inject fresh housing solutions targeting those at the bottom of the pyramid where the housing shortage is felt most. Cooperatives have the structures to convincingly offer the enabler function within the affordable housing pillar. By bringing Cooperative Principle #6–Cooperation Among Cooperatives this should be easy to actualize. And, with support from the National Cooperative Housing Union and the financial muscle of the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives who can stand in the way?

Prof Nyamongo, a multiple award-winning anthropologist and Fulbright Scholar, is deputy vice-chancellor at The Cooperative University of Kenya. [email protected]. X:Prof_IKNyamongo