55 villages in rural Mtwara Region, Tanzania
About this story
The Star Home is a prefabricated, two-story light-gauge-steel house developed for hot, humid rural communities. In a cluster-randomized trial, children in 110 Star Homes were compared with children in 513 traditional mud-and-thatch homes. Over three years, malaria incidence was 44 percent lower, diarrhea incidence 30 percent lower and acute respiratory infections 18 percent lower among children living in Star Homes. The completed package cost approximately US$8,818 per house including VAT, sanitation, rainwater harvesting, an improved stove and solar lighting; prefabricated components could be assembled in three to four days after foundation work.
Status and timeline
One hundred ten homes were constructed between June 2019 and June 2021, with residents fully relocated by December 2021. The health trial ran from January 2022 through December 2024. Results were published in Nature Medicine on April 21, 2026.
Design highlights
Upper-floor sleeping spaces above the mosquito-dense ground level; screened polyethylene-shadenet envelope; optimized cross-ventilation and solar shading; lightweight low-thermal-mass construction; self-closing doors; washable raised concrete ground floor; screened cooking area with smoke removal; lockable rodent-resistant storage; 2,000-liter filtered rainwater tank; separate fly-proof latrine; rooftop solar power; covered Swahili bench shaped by resident feedback.
