WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN PROJECT PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION: A CASE OF TASAF PROJECT IN RUFIJI DISTRICT - TANZANIA

This study is based on an examination of factors affecting women’s participation in project planning and implementation; the case of the TASAF program in the Rufiji district Tanzania. The TASAF program adopted participatory methods for project planning and implementation processes in order to give chances to women and men to share their knowledge and experiences. The TASAF program attempted to promote community development through community involvement in project work and decision-making. The findings have revealed that women’s participation in development projects and TASAF in particular, was affected by social, political and economic factors embedded at community, national and global levels. The central argument of this paper is that women’s participation in development activities could help make women’s voices heard and be considered in development processes. Moreover participation could help to expand women’s knowledge, skills and experiences hence promoting their livelihood, wellbeing and national development in general. For this reason the government and other development partners have to ensure that gender equity in the planning and policy making process is considered and thus women’s participation is prioritised. In this paper qualitative research methods have been employed to get required information about the factors affecting women’s participation and community perceptions on the issue of women and community participation in planning and implementation of development programs. Participatory theory, forms of participation and various social concepts like gender and empowerment have been used to make analysis of the study.