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6.
Sustainable Development and Donor Assistance
During
consultations, stakeholders appeared rather disturbed by the whole issue
of donor support. They pointed out that most rural people are small-holder
farmers and livestock keepers who are very poor. It was estimated that
in Usa River and Tengeru villages in Arusha Region approximately 60% of
the villagers are absolute poor. So when a discussion was held as to “whether
aid has brought any significant improvement to their living standards”;
most of them thought the gains received from aid is very small. This was
said in comparison to “what they hear”, that is Tanzania
has a huge debt to pay and that it receives enormous donor support. When
further asked “why they thought aid has not brought any benefit
to them”, the answer was “look at the people: their economic
and living conditions tell for themselves, they are very poor”.
Some
reasons were given as to why aid has not had any impact in eradicating
poverty and that even in future it will not, if the current system of
receiving and utilizing it would continue as it is now. The reasons given
were divided into two groups:-
(a)
Problems which are caused by Tanzanians themselves. These included the
following:-
(i) not putting
into consideration the issue of “sustainability of projects”
(ii) the target
group not owning and not having the decision for their “project
finances”
(iii) the target
group being foreigners during project preparation and sometimes even
during implementation of their own projects.
(iv) Aid not reaching
the target group; in other words the “target group”
is “not targeted”.
(v) Project managers
(b)
Problems which are caused by donors themselves. They include:
(i) not putting
into consideration the issue of “sustainability of projects”.
(ii) to consider
“aid” as a project or activity” which must be
“sustainable”. If that is the case, logic would tell
that aid should always lead into “sustainable poverty”
(iii) the recruitment
of expatriates for the donor projects does not take into account of
the availability of local expertise e.g. recruiting “a water
technician” when local technicians are available within the
country.
In general,
most stakeholders were of the opinion that ”aid” is full
of problems. It was remarked that “aid” which is brought
in the country is one of the major causes of poverty and inability for
Tanzania to pursue sustainable development. The country has continuously
received considerable aid money for the past 40 years of independence,
nevertheless poverty has worsened over the years and donor projects have
failed to benefit the target group. At best, aid has managed successfully
to cause “sustainable poverty” in the country.
Related
to the above issues is the concept of “a Project”. The
concept is associated with lots of money, huge salary, big cars, super
spending, super life, non-accountability etc. To many project managers
“a project” is considered a short-term rare opportunity
or “golden opportunity”, which ends with the winding
up of the project. It also means that the post of a manager “ceases”
when the project “ceases”. This perception has led many
leaders and managers of projects to misuse project’s resources by accumulating
wealth before the end of the project’s period. This has contributed to
the failure of many projects, and thus making aid not beneficial to the
target population.
Stakeholders
also pointed out that there were some basic problems with the donors themselves.
It is no secret that “donors” who are “our partners
in development” benefit immensely from the projects’ just like
the “Tanzanian manager” by accumulating wealth out of
the projects’ resources. In this circumstance it is presumed that “donors”
favour that aid continues and that it forms part of their life. This is
evidenced by the fact that despite knowing the weaknesses of aid and the
implementation of donor supported projects, donors do not vigorously wage
war against such vices.
Another
issue relates to the management of the projects. Most projects when brought
in the country, donors prefer managing them themselves without involving
Tanzanians right from the beginning. Consequent to this, projects collapse
when local managers take over, for the simple reason that they are not
properly prepared to manage them.
As a
contribution to the initiatives of reducing poverty and dependence on
aid, stakeholders made the following proposals:-
(i)
Put more emphasis on education and industrialization
These
two factors, namely education and industrialization must always go together
because they operate in synergy/tandem as indicated in the circle below:-
The
circle shows that when you produce expertise/skilled labour, you must
have industries to employ them. And as the industrial sector grows, diversifies
and uses more new technologies more demands are made for more labour of
different skills and capabilities.These required capabilities must be
produced by the education sector. The the circle then continues.
(i)
Exhibit self-confidence
This
situation was reported to exist within the community if the following
conditions are in place:-
(a) a large proportion
of the population is educated (not only reading and writing). However,
confidence building has to start right from primary schools where pupils
are given challenges and are conditioned to think on how to solve those
challenges.
(b) The availability
of employment. The stakeholders argued that the degree of confidence
increases with employment status. It is higher in those people who are
employed than the unemployed.
(ii)
Create attractive environment for Private Sector Investment
Tanzania must create
enabling environment which has a big attraction for investors from both
within and outside the country. It was remarked that currently the transaction
costs are still too high to attract serious investors.
(iv)
Assure Commodity Markets
It is important
that producers of all types of commodities are assured of internal as
well as export market.
(v)
Existence of Pressure of the Market (Competition)
It is important
that there is “pressure of the market (competition)”
in the entire chain of activities which includes production, marketing
and services. Lack of pressure of the market, causes business transactions
and services to be expensive, and people are neither afraid nor do they
condemn negligence, wastefulness, laziness etc.
In taking into account
of the above facts, stakeholders were of the opinion that the major
purpose of aid should be to act as a catalyst where it is necessary.
Also important in this regard is the involvement of stakeholders right
from the early stages of project/programme preparation. This will enhance
sustainability of the projects. Based on the above discussion on the
relationship between donor support and sustainable development, proposals
were presented in the following sections on what Tanzania and donors
need to do in order to enhance the process of planning for sustainable
development. These issues are briefly presented below:-
6.1
What Tanzania needs to do
(i)
Leadership Duration
There should be
a maximum time limit for all leadership post levels at village, ward
and district level (maximum period of 10 years)
(ii)
Empowering women and youth
(a) In communities
where traditions and customs marginalize women, advocacy programmes
which show the importance of involving women in planning for sustainable
development should be conducted
(b) The system of
planning for sustainable development by age groups should be abandoned.
Conducting information, education and communication (IEC) would be important
in this regard.
(iii)
Government obligations and initiatives
(a) Government should
fulfil timely its promises made in respect of contributing towards development
projects
(b) Government should
make efforts of assisting local authorities and regional secretariats
by strengthening their infrastructure for the purpose of providing enabling
environment of preparing plans for sustainable development
(c) Government should
honour stakeholders’ priorities when submitted to the respective ministries
or Task Forces
(d) The government
should have a system of registering all donor supported projects. This
exercise could be done possibly by the Planning Commission
(e) Government should
accept projects whose sustainability at the departure of donors is guaranteed
(f) Government should
prepare strategies of how to make the few experts available in government
reach the villagers
(g) When the government
sets policy guidelines on how to prepare development projects it should
take into account the needs/demands of the target groups/stakeholders
(h) Government should
prepare specific strategies on how to involve stakeholders in preparing
plans for sustainable development from the sub-village level
(iv)
Building capacity at the local level
(a) Projects should
be prepared based on “technical grounds” and not out
of political pressure.
(b) Government should
advise villages the importance of training their own people
(c) Districts should
conduct training to Village Executive Officers on how to prepare financial
and physical reports
(d) There should
be capabilities for preparing and coordinating plans for sustainable
development at the village level
(e) There should
be Projects’ Development Funds which are formed by the people themselves
(f) Revenues from
some sectors should be paid back/retained by the sector e.g. Ngorongoro
conservation
(v)
Project’s Development and Management
(a) The implementation
of projects should be supervised by respective sector Ministries.
(b) There should
be a system of maintenance/maintenance of projects or other activities/facilities,
which have been started at
the sub-village
level
(c) There should
be communication/proper coordination between stakeholders who are involved
in the process for planning for sustainable development. This will minimize
overlaps and costs
(d) Local expertise
should be valued and recognized just like their counterpart expatriates
(e) Project experts
should be advisors to politicians on issues related to planning for
sustainable development and not otherwise
(vi)
Preparing Strategies
There should be
clear instructions on how to prepare strategies for sustainable development.
This means having all the steps to be followed in preparing policies,
strategies and implementation plans.
(vii)
Commodity Markets
Efforts be made
to find markets for different products as well as opportunities for
agro-processing.
6.2
What donors need to do
(i)
Project Identification and Formulation
(a) When donors/investors
want to invest or start a project, they should first get in contact
with the leaders of the respective area so that they are briefed the
needs of the target population
(b) Projects should
be started taking into account the wishes of stakeholders. They should
not be based on friendship
(ii)
Donor Support
(a) In providing
support, national priority areas should be observed
(b) Support should
be extended in accordance with the actual needs of the people
(c) The implementation
time table of development plans should be observed
when extending aid
(iii)
Project’s Implementation and Management
(a) Avoid putting
stringent conditions to target groups when taking projects to districts
or regions. They do more harm than good.
(b) The conditions
laid down in the agreement should be strictly followed until the project
is completed. This refers to delay in release of funds or stopping release
of funds
(c) The use of project
funds should be effected after reaching an agreement with the target
group for which the project is designed.
(iv)
Building Local Capacity
(a) Training should
be provided to Tanzanians on how to manage projects. This will ensure
sustainability at the time of departure of the expatriate staff.
(b) Projects which
are supported by donors should not include the cost of expatriate staff
(c) Donor supported
projects should employ Tanzanians and be given priority in the implementation
of projects instead of recruiting expatriates. Further, local experts
should receive equal pay to the expatriate staff.
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