What is a African mud house?

Answer 1

The process of making mud houses has lasted thousands of years though some modern technology may be introduced like an ax or a saw. Only four kinds of materials are needed: short, strong wooden poles for the walls; long thin flexible for the horizontal tie beams; longer lighter poles for the roof rafters and long elephant grass for the thatch. Most men would go out and cut the supplies from the surrounding bush and Savannah forest to erect bush poles and roofing straw though they can be bartered within their villages as well. After the basic structure of has been erected, the next phase is to fill the void around the posts and tied beams of the walls with a mixture of thick mud and straw. Where available, cow dung may also be added to the mud, to keep down insects. Provided there is a large overhang of thatch and the rainwater can drain freely from the walls' foundations, the structure is solid. These structures will usually last for more than ten years. However, termites will eventually eat away the main supports. This outcome is more of a convenience as the people of rural central Africa are only semi-permanent residents. They use a "slash and burn" system of agriculture requires that every seven years or so the entire village moves to a fresh part of the bush three to five kilometers (two or three miles) away. After the walls have been completed, the roof's thatch goes on. Inside the house the builder's wife with a women friend or two will thoroughly soak the dirt floors buckets of water to make a soft muddy surface that can be easily worked with the hands. This mud surface is then packed and beaten down to form a hard even floor. Finally, the floor is made smooth and allowed to dry out. The house is now more or less complete.

Answer 2

It is an "african mud house". :)