Roofing in Zambia

Zambia is a landlocked plateau country. Its household surveys record roofs ranging from grass thatch and palm to metal sheet, cement fibre, asbestos, tiles and mud tiles, and the questionnaires reveal some distinctive local vocabulary, including "harvey tiles" and "calamine".

Climate and hazards

Rain falls in a single summer wet season. In the west, the Zambezi floods the Barotse (Bulozi) floodplain each year, displacing hundreds of people; the Lozi king (Litunga) moves each year at the start of the wet season, usually in February or March, from Lealui on the floodplain to Limulunga on higher ground in the Kuomboka ceremony.

Roofing history

The Lozi kingdom was founded in the 17th century on the Bulozi floodplain, where settlement has always had to adapt to the annual flood.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Thatched houses: thatch and palm leaf remain a survey category in every Zambia DHS.
• Floodplain settlement: Lozi seasonal movement between floodplain and higher ground (Kuomboka).

Roofing today

The Zambia Demographic and Health Surveys (2013-14, 2018 and 2024) record roofs under the following categories: thatch/palm leaf; rustic mat; palm/bamboo; wood planks; cardboard; metal/iron sheets; wood; calamine/cement fibre; ceramic tiles/harvey tiles; cement; roofing shingles; mud tiles; and, from 2018, asbestos as a separate code.

Local roofing terms

• harvey tiles: Zambian survey term grouped with ceramic tiles.
• calamine: survey term grouped with cement-fibre sheet.

Sources and gaps

Detailed archaeological evidence for early roofs: published information is limited. Shares for these categories were not found in published sources. No national roofing standard was identified. No roof-specific heritage listings were identified.

No published national share of roof materials was found; the DHS microdata documentation lists categories only. Lozi and Bemba house forms, and information on Zambian sheet and tile manufacturing: published information is limited.