Abstract
The Late President of the United Republic of Tanzania Mwalimu Julius. K. Nyerere in his book titled freedom and development published in 1973 once stressed that ‘if real development is to take place, the people have to be involved’. Similarly, several scholars strongly advocate for the involvement of people in development undertakings that have impact on their day to day lives. On account of such public outcry and views from various scholars with regard to the essence of peoples’ involvement in development initiatives within their communities, this study set out to empirically examine the determinants of effective community participation in development programs. Specifically, the study focused on exploring socio-economic determinants for effective community participation in development programs. The study employed a cross – sectional research design and a case study research strategy. Sampling procedures included purposive sampling for key informants and random sampling for programme beneficiaries. By using a 95% confidence level and Yamane 1967 formula for sample size determination, a sample of 316 program beneficiaries from three study areas of Arusha, Morogoro and Iringa within Tanzania were involved in the study. The findings of the study show that, despite of the existence of several socio-economic determinants for effective community participation in development programs, two determinants i.e., Resource availability and Literacy level of the participants were found to be the major socio – economic determinants for effective participation of community members in development programs. On account of these findings, the study recommends the need to ensure that issues relating to resource availability in any development program and literacy level of the participants need to always be looked into and addressed so that people can effectively participate with the intention of contributing to the sustainability of the program.
Highlights
Community participation is fundamental to achieving sustainable community development in any community [1]
The author further emphasizes that, in order to achieve effective community participation in development programs, there is a need to pay close attention to key factors that serve as determinants and ensure that such factors are supportive to the process of community participation in development projects and programs [3]
As quoted from one of the members in the FGD, ‘The greatest shame to us as youths in this program was in not knowing how to read and write; Otherwise, whether the program was to support us financially or you had money or not were not serious determining factors for our participating in the program’. These results demonstrate that despite of the fact that some authors have pointed to the fact that the extent of community participation in development programs may be affected by socio-economic factors such as resource availability, literacy level and economic status relating to income level and social class, in the context of this study and for the examined pure locally funded development program, the issue of literacy level was found to be the most influential factor
Summary
Community participation is fundamental to achieving sustainable community development in any community [1]. The author further emphasizes that, in order to achieve effective community participation in development programs, there is a need to pay close attention to key factors that serve as determinants and ensure that such factors are supportive to the process of community participation in development projects and programs [3]. In support of this view, among other scholars point out that some of these key factors or determinants to effective community participation could be categorized as socio-economic determinants [4]. Socio-economic determinants are society related economic factors that tend to relate to and influence one another [5]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Sustainable Development Research
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
