Enhancing community participation to improve sustainability of irrigation projects in Geita District, Tanzania
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Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Academic Journals
Abstract
The research on which this paper is based was conducted in Geita District, Tanzania, to assess the
nature of community participation in irrigation projects in three villages (Nzera, Lwenge and Nyamalulu)
to find out whether community participation used in the projects was likely to lead to their long term
sustainability. A cross-sectional research design was adopted in which a combination of purposive and
simple random sampling techniques was employed to select a sample of 120 respondents. Quantitative
and qualitative data were collected through questionnaire survey, key informant interviews and Focus
Group Discussions. Quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences
(SPSS) to compute descriptive statistics and do inferential analysis while qualitative data were analysed
using content analysis. The results showed that community participation in the projects was
inadequate to lead to their long term sustainability due to low (< 50% except in terms of contribution of
resources) participation in all implementation stages. The understanding of community participation
among the beneficiaries was limited (<50%) in all aspects. Women participation was limited (37.5%).
Hence community participation was used more as a means than an end. Therefore, it is argued that
community participation needs to be enhanced in order to improve sustainability of irrigation projects.
Hence, it is recommended that that there should be concerted efforts to sensitise and mobilise the
community members to participate effectively in all aspects of the projects from problem identification
to implementation.
Description
Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development,Vol.11(10), pp. 169-175
Keywords
Community participation, Participatory approaches, Community empowerment, Project sustainability