Stakeholders’ involvement in Corporate Social Responsibility: The Mining Sector in Tanzania

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects that do not involve communities where they are based stand a greater chance of either failing from reaching their objectives or being rejected by their intended beneficiaries. Community involvement is not just about being nice; it is a central pillar in the business of CSR. Some external secondary stakeholders in Tanzania are rejecting or ignoring local CSR projects affecting them, which raises a question of whether they have been consulted at all in the relevant decision making. Using the experience of communities in the area of the Geita Gold Mine (GGM) in Tanzania and stakeholder theory, this qualitative study analyses the relationship between CSR and involvement of non-consumer stakeholders in decision making processes and their outcomes. The study used a combination of questionnaires, interviews with key informants, and focus groups to obtain information, opinions and perceptions of company administrators, business people, government actors and local community members so as to fill analytical gap between claims on CSR success stories made by companies and the experience of people on the ground. The study found out that key leaders in the local communities who were neglected in the CSR decision making process were led to view the projects as redundant or irrelevant. The study recommends that for an autonomous, robust and sustainable CSR project, a company needs to be inclusive, by integrating local key representatives at every stage of the CSR project’s life. In addition, the study recommends that for CSR projects to be genuinely appreciated, and to meet the goals it sets with communities as the beneficiaries of transformation, the CSR projects need to be monitored carefully and audited regularly.