Participation of rural community members in rural development in Tanzania

Abstract

Tanzania is ranked among the world’s poorest nations despite her enormous natural resource base, enviable tropical climate and geographic location as the gateway into several landlocked African countries. This abject poverty is particularly pronounced in the rural areas where almost ninety per cent of the population live. In this study, the researcher sought to unravel the complexity of participation with regard to Tanzania’s rural community development and thereby provide insight into possible policy guidelines that will result in more effective and sustainable community development. Since independence, grandiose government policies, political manifestos, different socio-political ideologies, astronomical budgets of national and donor funding as well as bona fide efforts have made little difference in the eradication of poverty in Tanzania’s rural communities. The researcher opines that Tanzania’s failure to meet its development goals and its dismal economic performance are a result of the rural communities’ lack of participation in development projects. Social inclusion as a concept and the game theory of participation were explored as dynamic and innovative analytical tools to understand the participatory process in community development. The framework was tested against the analysis of participation in multiple health, education and water projects in rural Tanzania. The key findings of this study indicate that the community members’ lack of participation has hindered development efforts but there are mitigating circumstances. The community members are, for the most part, willing to participate in development projects. However, they find themselves socially excluded by variables which include government policies, bureaucratic obstacles, conflicts arising from political alliances and deeply-entrenched corruption. Based on the findings and conclusion of this study, this study makes recommendations for the implementation of more meaningful community participation in rural Tanzania includes having more women and youth representatives at every leadership level especially at the grassroots level and giving local government autonomy. The researcher concluded that, for participation to be effective, it has to be accompanied by well-structured empowerment programmes. Wherever possible, participation by beneficiaries should be solicited from the initial stages of a project. Participation is therefore synonymous with the inclusion of all groups. The researcher’s conclusive thesis is that, should the government adopt this participatory approach, the stalled growth will gain traction and pull the nation from its position among the world’s poorest countries and place it on the path towards sustainable progress.