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Status
Review and Dialogues on Strategies for Sustainable Development
This exercise was
divided into two phases namely, the Status Review and the Dialogues Process.
In carrying out the Status Review which started in May to October, 2000,
the strategy documents were collected and reviewed, and different stakeholders
were interviewed on the respective strategies.
The second phase which
started immediately after the Status Review i.e. October 2000 to February,
2001, was the Dialogue Process where key stakeholders were involved in
the discussion on strategies status and how to improve and strengthen
their impact on sustainable development Mbeya, Arusha and Dar es Salaam
were selected to be the dialogue regions. Each of the phases is briefly
described below.
Phase One: Status
Review
The Focus
of the Review
In conducting the Status
review of different strategies for sustainable development a total of 56
strategies were collected out of which 23 were thoroughly reviewed. During
the course of the review the following areas and issues were examined
- stakeholders’
perception of a strategy and its composition
- the objectives
of the strategies
- the origin of
the ideas to develop strategies
- the process and
methodology of formulating National Strategies for Sustainable Development
- The status of
strategies in Ministries and government institutions/agencies
- Stakeholders’
participation
- Problems and possible
solutions
Discussion
of Findings (What was observed and Learnt)
The findings were
divided into 7 categories as follows:-
(a) Stakeholders’
perception of a strategy and its composition
(i) Most of stakeholders
and particularly those from higher government levels appear to understand
correctly the concept of strategy
(ii) Unlike the
theoretical perception of the concept, very few stakeholders had any
knowledge on the composition and/or content of a strategy. As a result
of poor perception of the concept important elements of a strategy have
not been considered during the formulation stage of most strategies.
Also important to
note is the fact that, there is a discrepancy in the sequencing of initiatives
for sustainable development. Cases exist where there is a policy but no
strategy or vice versa. Many strategies have been adopted more than a
year ago but no implementation plans have been initiated.
(b) The Objectives
of the Strategies
In discussing with
stakeholders and going through various strategies one notices that there
is a divergence in the number of objectives which a strategy contains.
There are strategies with only 2 specific objectives while others have
19 objectives. The objectives of most strategies have centred around the
concept of sustainable development. Emphasis is put on the three pillars
of sustainable development namely, economic, social as well as environmental
consideration. Poverty eradication, improved welfare (living standards)
of the citizens in Tanzania and increased productivity are among important
areas addressed in most strategies. Whether the claim that most strategies
address the three pillars of sustainable development is realistic or not
is subject to further investigation.
(c) The Origin
of the Ideas to Formulate the Strategies
(i) Globalization
and policies of the international financial institutions namely the World
Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are the two important driving
forces. A few examples include
- the 1992 Earth
Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- the 1995 Social
Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark
- The World Bank
led economic reform policies
(ii) Internal Factors
To a lesser extent
a number of internal factors also have tended to play a certain role towards
the initiatives to formulate and adopt strategies for sustainable development.
These factors include:-
(iii) Persistent
abject poverty in the country
(iv) Land conflicts
and disputes
(v) Shortage of
clean and safe water
(vi) Persistent
corruption etc
(d) The process
and Methodology of Formulating National Strategies for Sustainable
Development
It was clearly observed
that, in formulating any Strategy for Sustainable Development the following
steps are inevitable:-
Step 1: Realizing
a need for revising and/or formulating a strategy
Step 2: Formulating
a Task Force
Step 3: Listing
the Activities of the Task Force
Step 4: Holding
(zonal) Workshops and involvement of key stakeholders
Step 5: Taking
measures to ensure political commitment
Step 6: Adoption
of the strategy by the Government
(e) The Status
of Strategies in Ministries and Government Institutions and/or Agencies
Throughout the review
it was evident that very few Ministries have policy documents, strategies,
action plans and/or strategic plans in place. This was noted to be one
of the serious problems because a ministry with a policy but without a
strategy and implementation plan to operationalize the respective strategy
or policy has difficulties to implement the policy and therefore the strategy.
(f) Stakeholders’
Participation
The implementation
plan or the steps (stages) of Participatory Planning have not adequately
been disseminated to the implementers at the grassroot, despite the fact
that the concept has been heard for a longtime.
Although the government
has been encouraging and/or promoting participatory planning, there has
not been a notable impact. Financial constraint, among others has made
participatory planning a difficult exercise to practice. Consequently,
a good many stakeholders are not participating effectively in the planning
process.
(g) Problems
and Possible Solutions
(i) Problems
- Inadequate capacity
at all levels
- Inadequate participation
of stakeholders
- The tendency
to send representatives to attend important events (related to the
strategy) during formulation process
- Financial constraints
and foreign dependence
- Lack of intersectoral
and institutional coordination and information flow
- Lack of linkage
between programmes
- Inadequate legal
framework and law enforcement
- Unpleasant or
unattractive environment for investors
- Lack of reliable
and adequate data and the inability to analyse and use them
- Reforms related
problems
- Poorly developed
approaches for sensitization and publicity of the strategies
- Existence of
strategies without policies or implementation plans
- Too many goals
- Poor knowledge
of democracy and multipartism
- The presence
of the planning structure which does not conform with the multipary
system.
(ii) Solutions
- Solutions to
the problems listed above will first and foremost depend on good government
policies, good governance and a change in the public mindset
- Capacity building
(human, finance and infrastructure
- Participation,
transparency and accountability
- The public awareness
and knowledge on how democracy of multipart works
- Improve the database
and transform the mindset of development partners on coordination
Dialogue Process
The Focus
of Dialogues
The stakeholder dialogues
on strategies for sustainable development focused on the following five
major areas:-
(i) strategies
and sustainable development
The stakeholder dialogues
were geared towards the stakeholders’ perception of `strategies’ and `sustainable
development’.
(ii) Conditions
necessary for sustainable development
The stakeholders were
asked to give their opinions about the prerequisites of sustainable development.
(iii) The Current
Planning Process and Structure
Officially the planning
process in Tanzania is bottom-up and participatory. For a long time the
impacts and/or outcome of planning in the country has been unsatisfactory.
The stakeholders dialogues were also trying to inquire from the stakeholders
on the prerequisities (or necessary conditions) for the planning process
to achieve sustainable development.
(iv) Constraints
towards Planning for Sustainable Development
Another area which
was the focus of the stakeholders’ dialogue was to obtain their views
on major constraints towards planning for sustainable development
Stakeholders were
further requested to give their views on weaknesses and strength of the
current planning process and structure.
(v) The relationship
between sustainable development initiatives and donors
Under this area, the
purpose was to get the stakeholders’ reaction as to why poverty has been
persistently increasing in the country when for many years Tanzania has
been receiving massive resources through foreign aid. Put it differently
and using stakeholders’ words "Why is there Sustainable Poverty
in Tanzania"?
Major Findings
of the Stakeholder Dialogues
A. The Concept
of Sustainable Development
(i) Most Tanzanians
appear to have adequate knowledge over sustainable development, judging
from their day to day activities which have gradually been changing in
favour of sustainable development. However, theoretically they do not
seem to understand and correctly interprete the concept
(ii) As already
noted, this was one of the concepts, stakeholders found it difficult to
define. A few of them define sustainable development as:-
- Any type of development
which takes into account the interests of men and women and which emphasizes
the link between environment and poverty.
- Any type of development
which can transform the society from a poor situation to a less poor
one.
B. The Concept
of Strategies for Sustainable Development
This was another concept,
stakeholders found it tricky to define. Nevertheless the following were
identified as strategies for sustainable development:-
(i) strategies
which are initiated by the people in order to address major and important
issues necessary for development of the community
(ii) initiatives
and/or principles designed based on existing conditions and the capacity;
a plan which cuts across generations; a strategy which does not allow
excessive extraction of resources; a strategy which ensures our survival.
(iii) Strategies
which can lead to the growth of economic activities and projects and
which benefit both the current and future generations.
C. Basic and
Necessary Conditions for Sustainable Development
During stakeholders
dialogues the following were mentioned to be the necessary preconditions
for attaining sustainable development.
(i) The community
must be capable of understanding the concept of sustainable development,
i.e. its meaning and composition. The understanding or knowledge of the
community on the necessary conditions for planning for sustainable development
can be achieved through social mobilization and sensitization which has
to be carried out by the leadership at all levels. When the key players
(stakeholders) or implementers have no adequate knowledge over such concepts
(issues), ownership, accountability and transparency cannot be guaranteed.
(ii) Full stakeholders’
participation ensures ownership, accountability and transparency. Thus,
stakeholders must participate fully in planning and decision making for
sustainable development.
(iii) There is
a need to make by laws which can be used to ensure smooth implementation
of the strategies and projects in the community.
(iv) There is a need
to ensure that there is good leadership (governance) and adequate expertise,
which can guarantee good policy, productivity, income, employment and
effective strategies for sustainable development. Overall development
and sustainable projects require a visionary leadership which is highly
knowledgeable for mobilization and efficient monitoring of the implementation
of different projects in the society.
It is also important
that we expand and improve the knowledge of the community and the labourforce
in order to improve public confidence. Note that, confidence of the community
can be enhanced (improved) through education.
(vi) There is a
need to ensure that there is effective intersectoral linkages
(vii) Dominance of
"the rule of law" in all the Tanzanian communities.
(viii) There must
be peace and security. There is no way economic activities and/or transactions
can be conducted when there is war in the country because such a volatile
situation displaces the population
(ix) There has
to be a stable and reliable market for our products
(x) We also need
a mass mobilization which must be done in such a way that it improves
or builds capacity of the members of the society in identification, planning
and implementation of projects. The following are important for effective
participatory approach:
(a) The community
must realize that development is a must
(b) The community
must be in a position to know where they are (their position) in development
path
(c) The community
must be able to know where they want to go (the direction and destination
of their development path)
(d) The community
must be in a position to tell what they are supposed to have or accomplish
to be able to reach the intended destination
D. Sustainable
Development Plans
In discussing sustainable
planning, two areas were focused:-
(i) constraints
towards planning
(ii) the structure
of the planning process
The findings from
the discussion are highlighted below:
The outcome of the
discussions on the above issues is as follows:-
D.1 Problems
in the Planning Process
At Village
level
(i) Inadequate
participation of the people in preparation of plans
(ii) Reluctance
on the side of villagers in attending village meetings due to
the weakness in
the planning system
(iii) Weak
leadership
(iv) Low
capacity in preparation (formulation) of plans
(v) Inactive
participation of youth in the planning process
(vi) Low
level of understanding
At District
Level
(i) The presence
of employees who are not competent enough in performing their responsibilities.
(ii) Theoretically
the planning process is supposed to be "bottom up" but the
reality is that it is a "top down" process. In most cases
plans are prepared on the basis of external assistance/investments and
not from within the country.
(iii) Lack of
funds or investment at every stage of plan preparation and implementation.
As for the present system, although the village level is very important,
there is no budget for that level.
D.2 The Current
Planning System
The following are
results of discussion on the present planning system:-
(a) Steps in Planning.
The planning process
at the district starts at the sub-village and then moves upwards to the
village government, Ward Development Committee and ultimately the District
Council where final decisions take place. In some places the process is
not transparent enough.
(b) Information
for Planning
(i) Data used
in the planning process are mainly from references in the village. Where
such data are not available, ad hoc researches are carried out to generate
the information.
(ii) In practice
available information is utilized by the planning sub-committees. At
higher levels available information as also used in the planning process.
(iii) However,
some data used in planning is not accurate.
(c) Decision Making
in the Planning Process
(i) At village
level, decision making in the planning process takes is based on two
major factors. These are per capita income and the village capacity
in implementing the plans.
(ii) The responsibility
of important decisions lies with the village council.
(d) Participation
in the Planning
Relationship between
sub-village, the village and the higher planning levels is through:-
(i) equipment
and expertise assistance
(ii) ideas from
the grassroot to higher levels
(iii) explanations
and advice
(iv) participation
of some of the members in different seatings.
(e) Participation
in Planning and Decision making:-
(i) It is claimed
that the planning process starts at sub-village level and it involves
all villagers aged 18 years and above.
(ii) Some of
the stakeholders indicated that village plans start at the Economic
and Planning Committee of the village. After this stage, the plan is
discussed at the village government meeting where decisions and endorsement
is done.
(iii) Revelations
by some stakeholders were that, it was difficult to go against what
the village government has already decided upon.
(iv) The present
planning system has a very small room for community participation. However,
the system is strong, has existed for a long time and it is easy to
understand, involving participation of the community although to a small
extent.
(v) In order
to make the planning preparation system more participatory, it needs
complete transformation.
(f) Existing Capacity
in Planning
(i) The capacity
at village level is very weak.
(ii) Most of
the leaders, even the so called "experts" have low expertise
on project, budget preparation and evaluation. Many leaders bank on
their experiences and guesswork
(iii) Many leaders
have low qualifications than the responsibilities they are expected
to perform
(iv) There low
is also a financial problem which is a result of weak utilization of
basic resources which are in place
(v) There is
capacity of some of the institutions that are not efficient in coordinating
the plans
(vi) The infrastructure
is also poorly developed due to inadequate resources
E: Sustainable
Development and Donor Assistance
During discussion
with stakeholders as to whether donor-assistance has resulted in improving
their lives or not, the following answers were given:-
(i) stakeholders
are of the opinion that benefits acquired, do not match the extent of
assistance given.
(ii) Standard
of living of most people is still very low.
(iii) Assistance
has not, and will not contribute towards sustainable development especially
in poverty reduction unless the present system of assistance is reformed.
(iv) There are
problems in the utilization of external assistance on the part of donors
and the recipients
(v) The concept
of "project" for most project managers is interpreted as a special
opportunity of accumulating wealth.
(vi) Donors have
been accumulating a lot of wealth from the projects as the case is for
local managers.
(vii) Donors in
most cases like to implement projects without involving local people.
(viii) Local people
are left to manage projects which they were not involved from the beginning
(ix) Assistance
to be looked at as being " a sustainable project" for donors
thus leading to sustainable poverty.
(x) Out of the
three pillars of sustainable development (environment, economic and social),
only the environment appear to be important to donors for two major reasons.
(xi) To the contrary,
the environment can not be a priority to the developing world when there
are more pathetic problems in the economic as well as social pillars (of
sustainable development) such as food/security maneno mawili diseases
(e.g. malaria and HIV AIDS), peace and security (wars) and debt problems.
(xii) There must be
coherence between what donors are saying and what they do. For many years
there has been a lot of issues delivered by donors verbally which are
to a greater extent diverging from what is done.
Future Development
Plans on Sustainable Development
Future Plans
on Discussions concerning Strategies for Sustainable
Development
Discussions on National
Strategies for Sustainable Development is a one-year project that will
come to an end by February, 2001.
The project objectives
are long term. Results of the activities to be under-taken will take a
long time to be realized. It is on the basis of the above, that many stakeholders
are recommending that the project be extended for another two or three
years so that its implementation is made more systematic and the results
sustainable.
Some of the activities
of the NSSD project that are sought to continue include:-
- increasing capacity
for Tanzania in both preparation and implementation of strategies for
sustainable development.
- improvement of
the national baseline data
- setting of indicators
for measuring the level of participation.
- reviewing some
of the laws
- stocktaking and
reviewing of all strategies available in Tanzania
- establishing a
network of National Strategies for Sustainable Development for Tanzania
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