JINJA, Uganda — Simon Tigawalana dreamed for years of doing something about the dirt floors in his small house, blaming them for making his family sick. But in a rural area in one of the world’s poorest countries, making them over with concrete was simply out of reach.

Then a company called EarthEnable approached him to offer an alternative: a clay-based earthen floor that could give him a durable, sealed floor for less than half the cost of concrete.

Tigawalana now has the new floor in two rooms and hopes to add it soon in the last room.

“Ever since we got a clay floor, my kids no longer get cough and flu that used to come from the dust raised while sweeping the dirt floors,” said Tigawalana, 56, a father of 16.

EarthEnable, which seeks to upgrade housing across Africa, has been promoting and installing the clay-based floors in Uganda since 2017. Besides eliminating dust that can irritate breathing, they’re credited with reducing infestations of jiggers — a parasitic flea that can burrow into the skin and lead to pain, itching and infection. Uganda’s Health Ministry says poor hygiene due to dirt floors contributes to such infestations.

“Our floors help to prevent pathogens and other illnesses linked to dust floors, since most of these families can’t afford hospital care,” said Noeline Mutesi, a sales and marketing manager for EarthEnable.

The first step in building the floor is digging and leveling the surface. Then murram — local red soil rich in iron and aluminum oxides — is mixed with sand and water and then compacted. After two weeks of drying time, masons use wooden floats to smooth and further compact the surface. Next is pasting: applying a fine clay to further smooth the surface and prepare it for a final sealant, a flaxseed-based varnish that hardens into a durable plastic-like resin.

A typical floor costs about $65, which EarthEnable says is about 70% cheaper than concrete. Buyers can pay in installments. EarthEnable, a U.S.-based nonprofit, operates for-profit subsidiaries in Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya, and says any profits are invested into startup costs in new markets as well as research and development.

EarthEnable said it has installed about 5,000 floors in Uganda, more than 39,000 in Rwanda and more than 100 in Kenya. The company also does wall plastering to help reduce dust, moisture and insect infestations common in mud homes.

In Jinja, the company’s program employs more than 100 masons from within the community. Many are boys who have dropped out of school because they can’t afford fees, said Alex Wanda, a construction officer at the company.

“We focus on employing these young village boys that we train in skills to build these earthen floors, thus creating for them employment opportunities,” Wanda said.

About 42% of Ugandans live in extreme poverty. Its Bureau of Statistics says the country has a housing deficit of 2.6 million units, and it’s growing. The country needs to add 300,000 housing units per year to make up the deficit, mainly in rural areas, where many Ugandans live and where housing quality and availability remain pressing concerns.

The company also touts the clay floors as a more sustainable alternative to concrete, which besides being more expensive generates major carbon emissions in production.