Header photo credit: CCODE Malawi

Note: This article presents the views of the authors featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

By Shiela Muganyi

In Harare, climate change is reshaping lives, livelihoods and local environments. But while every community feels these impacts, informal settlements face the harshest realities. Weak infrastructure, limited services, insecure land tenure and high levels of poverty make them exceptionally vulnerable to climate shocks.

Yet, within these same communities, effective solutions are emerging – rooted in collective action, local knowledge and community savings for climate resilience.

Barriers to accessing climate finance

Despite the urgency of climate impacts, communities in Harare’s informal settlements face barriers in accessing formal climate finance. International and national funds often require documentation, credit histories or proof of land tenure that they cannot provide. Large-scale financing mechanisms are designed for governments or institutions, not small, community-driven initiatives.

Even when funds are available, lengthy bureaucratic processes delay access, leaving communities unable to respond quickly to shocks. Women, who often lead adaptation at household and community levels, are excluded from formal finance systems, despite being central to resilience-building. 

Solidarity in action in Dzivarasekwa

In Dzivarasekwa Extension, community members formed a solidarity savings group for climate adaptation. Members pooled their contributions and shared the funds at the end of the year to purchase building materials for retrofitting flood-damaged houses and constructing permanent, resilient homes.

They also used their savings to start a poultry project, designed to cushion households against the impacts of drought by diversifying food and income sources. Some groups saved for food, ensuring families would not go hungry during the festive season, while others prepared for school fees, protecting children’s education from climate-related financial shocks.

Saving for water security in Hopley

In Hopley settlement, savings groups have tackled one of the most pressing climate challenges: water scarcity. Through their collective savings, residents have financed and drilled five boreholes. This achievement underscores the power of local finance to deliver critical infrastructure where formal systems have failed.

Building long-term climate resilience

Going beyond supporting emergency responses and short-term infrastructure projects, community climate savings build commitment, solidarity, confidence and long-term resilience among group members. They strengthen social cohesion, foster collective responsibility and empower residents to plan for the future, rather than react to disasters.

Key lessons learned

These two examples reveal some clear lessons:

> Collective action is not just about participation – it depends on aligned leadership, shared vision and the ability to navigate power.

> If local leaders are not united and there is no smart approach to working with those in power, even the most well designed projects might not succeed.

To scale these efforts, significant barriers must be overcome. Savings groups must be acknowledged as legitimate actors in climate finance systems. Stakeholders should co-invest in community-led initiatives, leveraging local finance as a foundation. Climate finance mechanisms must be simplified and tailored to reach grassroots actors directly. And women-led savings groups should be prioritised, given their proven role in driving resilience.

Photo credits: Know Your City TV Zimbabwe

Note: This article presents the views of the authors featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Generative AI statement: ChatGPT was used to help produce a first draft of this summary blog post. This draft was then extensively edited by the communications team and approved by the author of the article.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

By Shiela Muganyi

Across Harare’s informal settlements, the Informal Settlements Climate Change Action (ISCCA) initiative is showing that responding to climate change is not just about technical solutions, but about how people organise, how decisions are made and how power is navigated.

From drainage issues in Stoneridge to water access in Hopley, communities are taking locally-led adaptation actions. To be effective, such actions require strong leadership and political commitment.

ISCCA’s experience highlights that implementation does not depend solely on resources or plans. In many cases, progress only accelerates when communities, institutions and political leaders align. Conversely, it often stalls when internal power dynamics disrupt unity.

In this blog post, we reflect on two contrasting ISCCA experiences in informal settlements. In Harare South settlement, alignment unlocked action; and in Boko Haram settlement, fragmented leadership slowed progress. These cases highlight the fact that change in informal settlements is not only technical but also deeply political. The speed at which change happens depends on the ability of communities, institutions and political leaders to align.

At the same time, this process highlighted the importance of alignment. When the community, the MP’s leadership and the alliance worked together, it set the stage for things to start happening. When everyone is on the same page and leaders are committed, progress speeds up.

Power dynamics undermining collective action in Boko Haram

The experience of ISCCA in the Boko Haram settlement was very different. The settlement has three cooperatives, each with its own leaders. Two of these groups were ready to work with ISCCA, but one cooperative, led by a very influential chairman, blocked progress.

This chairman used his political position to delay and weaken efforts to reach an agreement, causing division in the community. Because of this, ISCCA found it hard to get everyone on board, and it is now unlikely that the project will move forward in this settlement.

This situation shows that the existence of community groups does not in itself guarantee that people will work together. When leadership is divided or challenged, even good projects can get stuck.

Key lessons learned

These two examples reveal some clear lessons:

> Collective action is not just about participation – it depends on aligned leadership, shared vision and the ability to navigate power.

> If local leaders are not united and there is no smart approach to working with those in power, even the most well designed projects might not succeed.

Building on these lessons, we have identified four key requirements to help us – and others working with communities on climate resilience – to deal with similar situations:

1. Understanding internal power dynamics early;

2. Identifying both enablers and blockers within leadership structures;

3. Investing in social cohesion and trust before implementation;

4. Remaining adaptive where alignment cannot be achieved.

These experiences are a reminder that building climate resilience in informal settlements is about more than infrastructure, funding or technical plans. People, power and alignment are crucial to unlocking progress. Where communities are organised and leadership is committed, change can happen quickly and meaningfully. But where power is fragmented or contested, even the most promising interventions can stall.

Photo credits: Know Your City TV Zimbabwe

Note: This article presents the views of the authors featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Generative AI statement: ChatGPT was used to help produce a first draft of this summary blog post. This draft was then extensively edited by the communications team and approved by the author of the article.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

By Shiela Muganyi

As explored in a previous blog post, the city-wide Informal Settlements Network for Climate Change (ISN), established by ACRC’s Informal Settlements Climate Change Action (ISCCA) project, has become a powerful peer-to-peer platform, where communities collectively analyse climate impacts, share practical solutions and take action.

The network’s main innovation is its structure, which brings informal settlements together as a united force for change. By sharing experiences and learning from each other, ideas spread quickly from one settlement to the next. A solution that works in one place can inspire others elsewhere.

The ISN has redefined climate adaptation in Harare by demonstrating that organised informal settlement communities are not only capable of leading resilience efforts, but also of shaping a shared urban response that is inclusive, scalable and grounded in lived experience.

This blog post explores how communities involved in the network have learned from each other and taken action to advance climate resilience in their own settlements.

Importantly, this knowledge spread beyond Dzivarasekwa Extension. Through documentation and the ISN WhatsApp group, lessons are being shared across settlements, enabling replication without requiring physical movement. Crowbrough settlement quickly adopted the cleanup campaign, mobilising even non-Federation members.

Tafara, Dzivarasekwa Extension and Crowbrough also established community hubs, which are living laboratories of locally-led adaptation. These hubs host community gardens, recycling initiatives and serve as training grounds to institutionalise resilience skills.

The Dzivarasekwa Extension case shows how networking and sharing can strengthen adaptation beyond single settlements – whether through face-to-face collaboration or digital platforms – ensuring disparate communities can learn, replicate and scale resilience together.

Waste as a resource to transform women’s livelihoods

Beyond risk reduction, communities are also turning climate challenges into livelihood opportunities. Across Harare’s informal settlements, waste picking, separating, sorting and recycling have become vital sources of income.

In Dzivarasekwa Extension, a group of women have been using their earnings from recycling to pay school fees, put food on the table and even construct resilient houses. As one waste picker proudly shared:

“We can now drink cold water from the refrigerator in this hot season. Because of our hard work, we now eat good food. Waste is seen as a burden, but to us it is a resource.”

This shift has had profound social impacts. By generating income, women have reduced household tensions that often fuel gender-based violence. Couples are no longer fighting over money for upkeep, as women’s contributions through recycling have eased financial strain.

Complementing these efforts, backyard gardens are flourishing across settlements – strengthening food security and helping families withstand climate shocks. Alongside recycling initiatives, these gardens show how that adaptation is not only about survival but about building sustainable, thriving communities.

Similarly, in Tafara, women’s efforts to manage waste are creating livelihood opportunities, alongside playing a critical role in their environmental stewardship. Waste recycling has started to generate income, supporting families to pay for school fees and buy food.

At the same time, savings groups are making a big difference in the community. Eight savings groups have saved USD 44,000 for water security in Stoneridge Informal Settlement and more than USD 32,000 for resilient housing construction. In Tafara, resilience is something people build every day with their own hands.

One woman participant from Tafara reflected:

“Savings are no longer about money only. They help us survive the challenges of climate change and beyond.”

Strengthening food security in Hopley

Hopley is a settlement located in the south of Harare without electricity. Building resilience in this settlement began with something simple: saving for food. More than 50 savings groups came together to help families get through tough times.

Over time, as savings increased, so did the community’s ambitions. Four groups, with just 40 members, managed to pool around USD 60,000. Instead of using it just to get by, they invested in solar systems and refrigerators. Now, those refrigerators are helping small businesses in the community to fight climate change challenges. Families store and sell perishable food, earn income and create their own energy solutions where there were none before.

A Hopley woman savings group member pointed out:

“We have passed through the phase of buying each other pots and pans. Now we have started saving for refrigerators to reduce the impact of high temperatures in Hopley.”

The road ahead

By coming together, communities are demonstrating that climate change resilience is built through collective action, strategic partnerships and innovative financial models. While challenges remain – such as securing adequate protective equipment and stronger support from city authorities – the way ahead is well defined.

To further scale resilience in Harare’s informal settlements, communities must be recognised and welcomed as legitimate actors in city-wide climate planning. The ISCCA experience shows that peer-to-peer learning platforms, community-driven finance and strategic partnerships can transform everyday actions into systemic adaptation.

By investing in community hubs, supporting savings groups and embedding local innovations into the city’s frameworks, organisations and city officials can ensure that resilience is not only replicated but institutionalised. Through empowering communities and enabling grassroots leadership, a sustainable urban future can be built by and for the residents of Harare’s informal settlements.

Photo credits: Know Your City TV Zimbabwe

Note: This article presents the views of the authors featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Generative AI statement: ChatGPT was used to help produce a first draft of this summary blog post. This draft was then extensively edited by the communications team and approved by the author of the article.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

By Shiela Muganyi

In the global South, many urban residents live in informal settlements. These communities face higher risks from flooding, heat, water shortages, poor sanitation and environmental damage. Still, they are often left out of formal climate funding, infrastructure investment and planning.

Communities are the first to respond to climate threats, using their local knowledge and early warning systems. They also maintain drainage systems, manage waste where official services are unavailable, and keep informal water sources operational. Their work helps cities become more resilient. So when these communities are left out of official decision making, cities miss the chance to create more inclusive and lasting climate solutions.

From global exclusion to local organisation

In Harare, ACRC is working with informal settlement communities to build reform groups and back local climate action. The Informal Settlements Climate Change Action (ISCCA) initiative is helping communities identify climate risks, organise, work together and shape how resilience solutions are designed and put in place. This approach has laid the groundwork for organised, collective action that goes beyond individual settlements.

As part of this effort, the newly established Informal Settlements Network for Climate Change (ISN) serves as a key platform for community-led climate governance. It brings together informal settlement residents to coordinate climate action, share learning and collectively influence decisions affecting their settlements. This enables communities to engage more effectively with the state and other stakeholders, in line with ACRC’s emphasis on reform coalitions and locally-led change.

The network started as a partnership between 11 settlements supported by the ISCCA project to assess their own climate risks, review data and develop local climate action plans. It has now expanded to include communities beyond the original group and is becoming a grassroots platform for climate governance in the city.

The local climate action plans highlight practical priorities that are shaped by the community, such as:

> Climate and disaster savings schemes – Community-led savings for emergencies, food security and rapid response to climate shocks;

> Housing construction and retrofitting – Constructing new and strengthening existing structures to withstand flooding, heat and extreme weather;

> Water access and management – Establishing water committees, drilling and maintaining boreholes and improving water governance;

> Waste management and recycling – Organising community waste systems, reducing pollution and promoting recycling initiatives;

> Drainage management – Clearing and maintaining drainage systems to reduce flooding and improve sanitation;

> Climate-resilient livelihoods – Supporting income-generating activities, such as backyard gardening, soil-in-sack farming and small-scale enterprises;

> Nature-based solutions – Tree planting, greening initiatives and soil conservation to reduce heat and manage flooding;

> River riparian restoration – Protecting and rehabilitating riverbanks to reduce erosion, manage flooding and restore ecological buffers;

> Road opening and access improvement – Clearing and establishing roads to improve mobility, drainage flow and emergency access within settlements.

Grounded in local realities, these plans combine everyday survival strategies with longer-term resilience building, forming the foundation for collective action through the ISN.

Connecting communities across shared challenges

Community-led vulnerability assessments revealed recurring and systemic risks across settlements, including: blocked drainage, leading to recurrent flooding; low-yield or unregistered boreholes and chronic water shortages; heat stress due to overcrowded housing and lack of green infrastructure; illegal dumping, unmanaged waste and pollution; and tenure insecurity, limiting long-term investment.

The network comprises:

> Community leadership committees – Coordinating and governing at the settlement level, these committees work with local authorities, hold community meetings, help resolve conflicts and ensure that climate priorities align with wider development efforts, such as regularisation and service delivery.

> Savings schemes and solidarity groups – Providing financial support for community-led climate action, these groups gather local resources for projects like housing improvements, drainage, food security and emergency response. They also help build trust, accountability and shared decision making in the community.

> Water and borehole committees – These committees handle water access, including drilling boreholes, maintenance and fair distribution. They are important in dealing with drought and water shortages and support sustainability through community management and cost-sharing.

> Climate champions – These are local leaders who raise awareness, mobilise others and take action on climate issues. They lead community-wide adaptation actions, such as clearing drains, managing waste, planting trees, helping communities to understand risks and use practical ways to adapt.

> The Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation members and youth groups – Federation members have experience with savings, mobilisation and working with authorities, and help keep the network organised and active. Youth groups add new ideas, energy and leadership around documenting climate impacts and actions.

Strengths of the network

Learning

The network enables rapid peer-to-peer sharing and learning. When Dzivarasekwa Extension cleared drains and dumpsites and partnered with Geo Pomona Waste Management for weekly waste collection, they shared updates and photos via the ISN WhatsApp group, allowing others to learn and respond immediately. Stoneridge replicated the dumpsite cleanup and is currently arranging waste collection services, while Crowborough Paddocks also struck up a strong partnership with Geo Pomona. As a result, waste reduction is accelerating across settlements, as practical examples spread more quickly than formal training.

Savings

Community savings are not only safety nets, but key to funding climate infrastructure. In Hopley, residents formed water committees and used their savings to drill five boreholes, strengthening their position in negotiations with local authorities. Crowborough adopted a similar approach, drilling one borehole and raising funds for another. Savings groups, such as those using the CashFlow model in Dzivarasekwa Extension, collected USD 1,159 in four months – funding building materials and enabling the group to start a poultry business.

Evidence

The ISN leverages evidence to engage stakeholders. Community-approved vulnerability maps and climate action plans have improved dialogue with city officials, resulting in continued conversations on the approval of technical drawings, registered boreholes and officially recognised drainage work.

The broader reform agenda

Beyond improving services, the ISN also pushes for wider urban reform. By positioning informal settlement communities as co-producers of climate resilience, it is creating a group that can take part in climate finance talks and helping to build stronger partnerships between organised citizens and government agencies. The network’s strength comes from its collective legitimacy, showing that when settlements present evidence together, they can negotiate more effectively.

But there are still major structural barriers. Tenure insecurity continues to discourage long-term investment. A lack of technical support makes it hard to move from short-term fixes to lasting infrastructure. Blended climate finance tools are needed to match communities’ savings. And there need to be ways for ISN plans to become part of city planning cycles.

The next step is to move from demonstration projects to effecting lasting changes in the city system. With the right support, this grassroots platform could attract investment, direct decentralised climate finance to the communities that need it, and turn climate plans into action.

Photo credits: Know Your City TV Zimbabwe

Note: This article presents the views of the authors featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Generative AI statement: ChatGPT was used to help produce a first draft of this summary blog post. This draft was then extensively edited by the communications team and approved by the author of the article.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

By Evans Banana and Shiela Muganyi

Harare is already facing significant challenges due to climate change, especially in informal settlements, where vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected. The prevalence of hazards such as floods, droughts, heatwaves and heavy rains exacerbates existing vulnerabilities, leading to severe impacts on marginalised groups including women and young people.

Informal settlements often lack adequate infrastructure, making residents more susceptible to property loss and displacement during extreme weather events. The increasing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters, coupled with growing inequalities, have exposed the inadequacies of current adaptation efforts and highlighted the urgent need for innovative infrastructure and financing mechanisms.

Despite policy commitments at the city and national level, informal settlements continue to bear the brunt of climate-induced disasters in the city. As a response, communities in Harare have been devising innovative solutions to reduce the effects of climate change. However, without sufficient policy support and recognition to anchor these efforts, sustainable initiatives remain trapped in a limited pilot mode, hindering their potential for broader city-wide replication.

Co-producing climate action with informal settlement communities

The Informal Settlements Climate Change Action (ISCCA) project in Harare seeks to co-produce climate-resilient interventions and strengthen local capacity to protect informal settlements from climate change.

Based on identified gaps and opportunities, the first phase of the ISCCA project focused on a set of four broad climate change resilience-building actions:

1. Conducting assessments to enhance understanding of climate change vulnerability in Harare’s informal settlements;

2. Climate change capacity strengthening for city stakeholders;

3. Establishing and strengthening urban reform coalitions on climate change issues;

4. Implementing co-produced climate resilient actions.

Transforming learning into climate action

Now into its second phase, the project is building on the gains from the first phase to demonstrate how cities can undertake informal settlement upgrading that prioritises community needs and integrates issues of climate change.

Five major lessons have emerged from the ISCCA action research process so far:

> Land tenure security and resolution of building approval procedures are a key pillar for building climate change resilience – Considering the uncertainty that comes with precarious land tenure, informal settlement residents reported that they struggle to invest in infrastructure and housing improvements. This was particularly the case for residents who were wary of the state’s tendency to deploy evictions and demolitions as the go-to policy for addressing land and housing informality.

> Climate change impacts vary across the city’s informal settlements – Climate change impacts are not uniform across the city. While some areas reported significant knocks from droughts, others recalled disconcerting stories of flooding events. These varied impacts highlight the importance of building settlement-specific resilient infrastructure, such as drainage systems for flood control in areas including Tafara and Budiriro.

> Building climate change resilience requires cross-settlement assessments – Vulnerability assessments are often settlement-specific, but this limits imagining how climate change impacts often transcend administrative boundaries. In Dzivarasekwa Extension, for instance, localised flood measures that were designed excluding adjacent neighbourhoods have illustrated shortcomings associated with such an approach.

> Leveraging and scaling locally-led climate actions is critical for fostering city-wide climate resilience – A wide array of locally-led actions is being implemented in different parts of the city. For example, in Dzivarasekwa Extension, a greening initiative supported by the City of Harare has seen the provision of fruit trees providing shade during high temperatures. Despite many locally-led climate actions, there was little – if any – invested towards institutionalising and scaling these responses.

> The Climate and Environment Policy is an important arena advancing informal settlement climate change reform agendas – Phase one of the ISCCA action research project coincided with the development of the City of Harare’s Climate and Environment Policy, presenting immense scope for realigning this crucial policy with climate change vulnerability issues in the city’s informal settlements. In the project’s second phase, the proposed policy constitutes a useful launchpad for reform conversations with city decision makers.

Scaling up reform efforts

Building on the foundation laid by these findings, vulnerability assessments are being used to explore co-production of upgrading interventions in two further areas. The project is also focused on mobilising citizens and strengthening urban reform coalitions to form a more united front against climate-related challenges. This involves extending the overall capacity of communities and local authorities to access climate finance, implementing sustainable solutions and securing elite commitment – an essential component for ensuring the project’s long-term success.

Crucially, the second phase is also building on institutional processes kick-started by the City of Harare, including the formulation of the Climate and Environment Policy. Phase one incorporated experiences and insights from informal settlements, the policy still needs to be finalised and integrated across city departments. The proposed policy presents huge reform opportunities for reimagining and fostering progressive connections between the informal settlements and climate change impacts.

Photo credits: Know Your City TV Zimbabwe

Note: This article presents the views of the authors featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

This global and local collaborative effort boosted disease surveillance, expanded treatment centres and decentralised case management. It also established a 24-hour emergency ambulance service with a functional distress hotline and launched massive community awareness campaigns, which included worship centres. Religious organisations also helped by supporting strategic communications activity to share information about preventing cholera.

Cholera recurrence remains a concern

The 2026 epidemic must not be seen as an isolated incident. Previously, the city has been plagued in 2010, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021 and 2024, which underscores the urgency to address future outbreaks. Records indicate that most of these were concentrated in camps for internally displaced people (IDP), where sanitary conditions are substandard.

A study carried out on flood susceptibility indicated that 73% of the city’s 48,577 IDP population lived in high to very high-risk areas vulnerable to flooding. The present epidemic badly devastated communities with high populations, often those that hosted IDPs after the closure of formal IDP camps in the city in 2021. 

Persistent water challenges in Maiduguri

Water shortage is the common denominator

It is unlikely that cholera outbreaks will cease in Maiduguri. Only about half of the city’s population of almost 2 million has access to treated public water supply. This access is through a combination of treated surface water from Alau Dam, located near the city, and underground water sources. Damaged water pipes and ineffective development control by local planning authorities have combined to undermine public water supplies to buildings.

The city is also yet to fully recover from the September 2024 climate change-induced flooding that damaged water infrastructure. Compounding these problems is the limited power supply from the national grid, on which more than 2,000 boreholes in the city depend.

Adapting to water shortage increases risk of contamination

To ensure uninterrupted water supply from both public and private sources, most residents depend on water collected from concrete underground reservoirs, often called “dams”, for their longer-term water storage. The construction of dams across communities and homes is a coping strategy, but contamination is an issue.

Many reservoirs are uncovered or partly covered, built near open gutters or toilets. They often overflow during the rainy season (June to September), with stormwater runoff contaminating the water, as a result of the city’s low-lying topography. Further exacerbating this risk, the government occasionally faces chemical supply chain shortages, which means interventions by international partners are sometimes needed to keep public water treatment running.

Groundwater is complementary but unsafe

Other underground water sources offer no safer alternative either. In most high- and middle-class homes, families depend on private boreholes to meet domestic water needs. These boreholes are shallow wells of 30-80 metres deep, tapped from the city’s upper aquifer. Many wells have been sunk in unhygienic areas – such as close to municipal dump sites and pit latrines – and are prone to bacteriological and heavy metal contamination.

Groundwater exploitation is regulated in principle, but the guidelines are clearly difficult to enforce due to government failure to provide clean water, systemic failure and weak regulatory oversight.

Food–water contamination poses further risks

Vibrio cholerae, the bacteria that causes cholera, also spreads through food contamination. Large quantities of Maiduguri’s wastewater effluent from domestic sources are discharged daily into the Ngadda, a seasonal river that flows through the city used to irrigate crops. Significant quantities of E. coli (13–24 n/100 mg) have also been found in water samples collected from this stream.

When this contamination combines with high amounts of faecal matter – caused by open defecation along the riverbanks, especially in hotspots like Monday Market, Maiduguri Abattoir and Gamboru Market – chances for the spread of Vibrio cholerae become accelerated.

Anticipatory action against cholera

Proactive measures are essential to stop cholera outbreaks occurring in Maiduguri.

> Water chlorination will substantially mitigate the risks of contamination. Stockpiling to ensure availability and regular use for water treatment is required.

> In parts of the city not covered by public water supply, identification of cholera hotspots and free distribution of chlorine tablets are required.

> Intensification of disease surveillance by local government health teams and training of community-based organisations in basic disease surveillance would help in early detection and quick response.

> Public–private partnerships in the provision of toilet facilities can improve access to safer sanitation at affordable rates.

> Early procurement of oral cholera vaccine to prepare for timely distribution when an outbreak occurs is important at the beginning of each rainy season.

Photo credits: Fatima Adamu; Rehabilitation, Empowerment and Better Health Initiative (REBHI)

Note: This article presents the views of the authors featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

Deliberations and voices from the markets

The indaba unfolded through four sessions:

1. Government perspectives: The acting town clerk opened the Indaba, announcing that “urban markets are the heartbeat of Harare’s economy”. The permanent secretary emphasised formalisation and governance reforms to tackle the pervasive challenge of space barons. Plans for a City SMEs Bank were unveiled by the SMEs committee chair for Harare, to help perform two functions: first, to finance informal enterprises; and second, to build and upgrade existing urban markets.

2. Traders’ experiences: Representatives from GV8FC, Lusaka, Hatcliffe Dust, Kuwadzana 4, Gazaland and Jambanja markets narrated experiences regarding infrastructure gaps, sanitation challenges and land tenure precarity in Harare’s urban markets. They stressed the need for engagement spaces with the council, citing ACRC convenings as vital spaces that had contributed towards improved relations and dialogue.

3. Financial institutions: Small to Medium Enterprise Development Corporation and Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe outlined financing instruments but cautioned that governance weaknesses made many projects unready and often risky for investment.

4. Group discussions: Participants, working through groups, then tackled four themes – infrastructure, financing, governance, and productivity and growth – consolidating and focusing on the key challenges and priority strategic policy and programming responses for Harare’s urban markets.

Lessons from the ACRC Kampala team

The ACRC Kampala team’s reflections on Ggaba Market underscored common realities in Africa’s urban markets: infrastructure deficits, contested governance and localised data gaps. The Kampala team reported how the ACRC action research had turned out to be an important neutral convener against the backdrop of the contested nature of urban markets.

For instance, the action research findings were leveraged to help articulate issues that ordinarily would be sensitive to tackle. Furthermore, their cautionary tale about potential relocation risks resonated strongly with relocation plans earmarked for Harare’s GV8FC traders, presenting timely lessons on the not-so-obvious complexities of undertaking market upgrades through relocations.

Unintended openings from the indaba

Beyond the formal programme, the indaba also unlocked new opportunities:

> Impromptu technical engagements: Sideline meetings with the SMEs division and the city architect’s division revealed draft designs for Chemhanza market shaped by traders’ inputs, such as stall dimensions tailored to carpenters’ needs.

> Council urban markets engagement: Follow-up meeting with SMEs, town planning, treasury, GIS, and monitoring and evaluation divisions clarified city and government plans for GV8FC, Chemhanza and Hatcliffe Dust markets. The engagement provided the ACRC team with an opportunity to also outline the action research to a wider cross-section of council officials and to stress the need for both the planned relocations and upgrades to be inclusive.

> Provincial government collaboration: Engagement with the permanent secretary’s office led to GV8FC and Chemhanza site visits, showcasing ACRC’s WASH investments and relocation and upgrading plans by the city and government.

Key takeaways

Along with being a space for policy dialogue, the urban markets indaba provided a strong platform for establishing strategic connections, resolving blockages under the ACRC’s urban markets workstream and bridging the gap between traders and authorities. It acted as a launchpad for follow-up engagements with city and government officials to catalyse planned interventions set out under the ACRC urban markets action research project in Harare.

By blending policy-facing deliberations with lived urban markets experiences and a regional exchange, it demonstrated how policy convenings with key public officials can generate both intended outcomes and crucial chance openings.

Key takeaways from the indaba included:

> Convenings should be used strategically – not only for dialogue but also for building relationships, aligning interventions, unblocking blockages and opening new doors for collaborations.

> Co-creation around multistakeholder engagements – involving traders, city officials and regional peers – builds a very rich programme that has potential for multiple spin-offs.

> Understanding council priorities is critical, and the indaba provided a very useful window for gathering insights on council and government plans, enabling the ACRC Harare team to strategically position the action research projects and related outputs.

> Urban markets are central to Harare’s economy and must be treated as core city systems, not peripheral and temporary urban spaces.

> Making traders’ voices central at every stage of market upgrading ensures solutions reflect lived markets realities.

> By meaningfully engaging diverse stakeholders, including traders, the indaba emphasised the importance of acknowledging both formal and informal governance structures as a crucial starting point for making Harare’s urban markets systems work.

> Investing in infrastructure, especially vending stalls and WASH facilities, are foundational elements of resilient markets.

> Relocations constitute a very tricky upgrading pathway for urban markets, with a high likelihood that – if not handled cautiously, with attention placed on inclusion – they can end up leading to displacement and exclusion.

Photo credits: Dialogue on Shelter. Header photo shows the market traders’ panel in session at the urban markets indaba.

Note: This article presents the views of the authors featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

Generative AI was used to help draft this blog post: The author used Copilot to refine and improve the original draft. This version was then reviewed and edited by the ACRC communications team, before being approved by the author.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

Header photo credit: Abdulai Sayni / Unsplash. A busy street in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Note: This article presents the views of the authors featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.

The Guardian | “Demolished future: How Otumara, Baba Ijora demolition contradicts Lagos Project Zero”
Gbenga Salau’s story exposes how the demolition of homes and schools in Otumara and Baba Ijora has disrupted the education of hundreds of children, forcing many out of school and into street trading, child labour and precarious living conditions. The report argues that the evictions undermine Lagos State’s Project Zero initiative to eliminate out-of-school children.

New Telegraph | “Okun Alfa: Caught between raging ocean and Lagos’ urban ambition”
Juliana Francis’s report explores how coastal erosion, ocean surges and displacement continue to threaten residents of Okun Alfa. It highlights how the Eko Atlantic project and other activities worsened environmental vulnerabilities, destroying homes, livelihoods and public infrastructure, while exposing tensions between elite urban development and the rights of coastal communities to housing and sustainable livelihoods.

Daily Trust | “Contaminated water in Lagos community inflicts deadly illnesses on children”
Eric Dumo’s report reveals how residents of Ago Egun, a Lagos waterfront settlement, face a deadly public health crisis from contaminated water and absent sanitation infrastructure. Children suffer frequent diarrhoea, typhoid and dysentery, with several dying in disease outbreaks. Despite over ₦66.9 billion spent on water infrastructure since 2019, Lagos State Water Corporation meets only 35% of daily demand.

Punch | “Inside Lagos’ waterfront housing crisis where development displaces communities”
This documentary, produced by Melony Ishola, examines the lingering human cost of Lagos’s waterfront demolitions. It follows displaced Makoko residents still living in boats and makeshift shelters months after their displacement, while exploring the city’s broader housing crisis and the uncertain fate of relocation promises made to affected communities.

These commissioned reports have gained some promising attention to date, including responses from the Ministry of Housing’s head of information, the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board’s management and the Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, along with increased collaboration across media titles and wider public commentary.

Five key lessons emerged from the workshop and subsequent mentoring scheme:

1. Training enhances clarity and alignment.

2. Capacity strengthening remains necessary, even for experienced journalists.

3. Collaboration facilitates access and improves story development.

4. Community reporters require additional support to maximise impact.

5. Multimedia and documentary content amplifies story engagement.

Following the publication of the commissioned stories, we will continue to monitor and track government responses to the published reports. The success of the initiative has also generated strong interest from Nigeria’s media industry, with leading news organisations, including The Guardian, Premium Times and News Central Television, expressing interest in a collaborative platform to enable journalists to jointly report on urban development challenges. This growing momentum presents an opportunity to build a network of newsrooms committed to reporting on urban issues.

Header image credit: Composite of news reports

Note: This article presents the views of the authors featured and does not necessarily represent the views of the African Cities Research Consortium as a whole.

The African Cities blog is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means you are welcome to repost this content as long as you provide full credit and a link to this original post.