Abstract
This article examined community participation in the delivery of water and primary health care services in the Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in Tanzania. This was the descriptive research study which employed both qualitative and quantitative research designs involving a total of 208 respondents. Where 127 respondents filled in the questionnaires, 51 respondents participated in the in-depth interviews and 30 respondents participated in the Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The results indicate that decentralization reforms have facilitated the formation of health and water services governance structures that facilitate community participation in the service delivery. The findings further revealed the means through which community participated in the delivery of services, i.e., from participating in the meetings, project initiation and management, to membership in various statutory services boards and committees.
Highlights
The growing discussions on community participation have attracted the attention of scholars and policy makers all over the world
Where 127 respondents filled in the questionnaires, 51 respondents participated in the in-depth interviews and 30 respondents participated in the Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)
The results indicate that decentralization reforms have facilitated the formation of health and water services governance structures that facilitate community participation in the service delivery
Summary
The growing discussions on community participation have attracted the attention of scholars and policy makers all over the world. The study was guided by the Principal-Agency theory to explain the participation of the community in the delivery of the health and water services. The theory is very useful here as it focuses on both the relationships between actors in decentralized institutions and the duties and responsibilities imposed on the actors by decentralization reforms [10] It helps to view ministries (health and water) as the “principal” intending to improve service delivery rather than profit maximization. Decentralized primary healthcare and water service delivery are organized at central and local government levels in Tanzania. To examine the space for community participation in the decentralized water services and primary health care in Tanzania, this paper invoked typology of participation developed by [7].
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