Developing an Original Theory of Participatory Building Technology Transfer for Post-Conflict Reconstruction in North East Nigeria

Post-conflict reconstruction in North East Nigeria, particularly in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe States following the Boko Haram insurgency, requires building technology transfer approaches that are community-led, culturally grounded, and sustainable beyond external programme funding, yet no theoretical framework exists for participatory building technology transfer in conflict-affected Nigerian contexts. This study develops an original Theory of Participatory Building Technology Transfer (TPBTT) for post-conflict reconstruction in North East Nigeria, drawing on participatory development theory, appropriate technology theory, peace-building scholarship, and building technology practice. The theory is inductively developed through a 24-month action research programme embedded within three post-conflict community reconstruction projects in Gwoza (Borno State), Michika (Adamawa State), and Geidam (Yobe State), involving direct participation in construction activities, 180 semi-structured interviews with community members, traditional leaders, returnees, IDPs, and reconstruction agency staff, and systematic documentation of technology transfer processes and outcomes. The TPBTT identifies five original constructs: Community Construction Agency (the collective capacity to plan, execute, and maintain reconstruction without external dependency), Technical-Cultural Fit (the degree to which transferred technologies accord with local social and spatial norms), Trauma-Informed Construction Practice (building process adaptations addressing the psychological needs of conflict-affected communities), Incremental Technical Literacy (the staged progression of community building knowledge from recipient to practitioner), and Reconstruction-as-Peacebuilding (the social cohesion outcomes of inclusive collective construction processes). The theory predicts that participatory programmes maximising all five constructs achieve significantly better housing quality, community satisfaction, and long-term maintenance outcomes than top-down technology transfer approaches, confirmed through comparison of the three action research cases with 15 conventional reconstruction projects in the region. The TPBTT is proposed as a theoretical and practical foundation for all future post-conflict reconstruction programming in North East Nigeria under NEMA and international humanitarian agencies.

Keywords: participatory technology transfer, post-conflict reconstruction, North East Nigeria, community building, peace-building