Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1700 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2855 (Online) Vol.4, No.3, 2013 190 Earthen Construction, as a Solution to Building Industries in Ghana Zakari Mustapha 1 and Akani Michae 2 1. Department of Building Technology, School of Engineering, Cape Coast Polytechnic Cape Coast. Ghna 2. ,P.O.Box AD 588, Cape Coast-Ghana * Email : zakariyamustapha@yahoo.co.uk Abstract Adequate shelter is a basic human need. The use of sandcrete blocks as walling units have greatly influenced the construction industry in Ghana as compared to other building materials.Laterite but the latter forms about 70% of the land surface of the country and can be used for moulding blocks when combined with cement.(Adam, 2004, Gooding and Thomas, 1995). The purpose of the study was to determine the factor that has impact on the use of sustainable innovative building technologies for low-income residential buildings in the urban areas. The study also sought to compare the durability properties of walling units produced from the mixture of laterite and cement to that of sand and cement. A structured interview approach was adopted for the data collection. Architects, property developers – Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and the State Housing Company Ltd (SHC) were among the institutions that were interviewed. Text were carried out on twelve blocks each moulded from different mix ratios of 1:6, 1:8, 1:10 for landcrete blocks, and 1:10 for landcrete blocks to determine the compressive strength, density, water absorption and total volume porosity after seven days and twenty eight days respectively.It was found out that residential building industries have stopped using earth material for construction but have high expectation on the success of the new building technology if introduced into the market. The test results showed that sandcrete blocks were more durable than landcrete blocks but the latter can equally be used as a walling unit to assist in the solving of the housing problems in the country. Keywords: durability, landcrete blocks, low-income housing, Ghana, sandcrete blocks, 1. Introduction Ghanaians have been facing serious housing problems, particularly for the poor who make up the majority of the total population of twenty- three million eight hundred and thirty seven thousand (23,837,000). Affordability is one of the problems faced by housing finance institutions in Africa. It was estimated that an accumulated housing deficit of Ghana was 1,000,000 and about 130,000 housing units should be built annually in addition to the 25,000 to 40,000 units the citizens are providing currently (Statesman (2007). The National Housing Policy by the Ministry of Works and Housing, Ghana, in 1986 emphasized the development and use of local building materials to contribute to the solution of the housing crisis and to reduce the importation of foreign building materials to a minimum as indicated by the National Housing Policy (Gidigasu, 2005). This research considered the construction industry and building technologies in use for residential buildings in Ghana, and on the potential to put this industry into contact with innovative building technologies and changes which have taken place in the construction industry elsewhere in the country. The significant proportions of population increases in the developing countries have been absorbed by urban areas i.e. 83% in 2000-10. Urban settlements in developing countries are at present growing five times as fast as those in the developed countries and Ghana also becomes more and more urbanized (Karl, 2000). Shelter conditions in many developing countries have deteriorated steadily over the last 50 years while the privileged few have access to better housing. The construction industry has succeeded in improving its performance and in the alleviation of at least a part of the housing problems in urban areas by developing and applying innovative building technologies based on locally available resources, that can be sustained economically and ecologically. Laterite has been used in construction of shelter from time immemorial and approximately 30% of world's present population still lives in laterite structures. Due to its wide application, the cost of sandcrete block has been gradually increased which has affected the overall cost of the housing delivery in the country.Their wide spread use can be attributed to their relative cost advantage, easiness to obtain and satisfactory durability characteristics (Andam, 2004: Gooding and Thomas, 1995).Walling materials constitute an essential element in housing delivery and its choice depends on material, cost, and availability of material, durability, aesthetics and climatic condition. According to Barry (1996) a wall is a continuous, vertical structure of brick, stone, concrete, timber or metal, thin in proportion to its length and height, which encloses and protects a building or serves to divide buildings into compartments or rooms. In a recent research conducted by Raheem et al (2012) on comparative analysis of sandcrete hollow and laterite interlocking blocks as walling, material concluded that laterite interlocking blocks are denser and stronger than sandcrete hollow blocks However, laterite interlocking block is