Consequences of Female Migration for Families in Tanzania

This is a descriptive study of consequences of migration for families in areas of origin in Iringa region, Tanzania. The study involved interviews with ten families in Iringa and ten female migrants from Iringa working as domestic workers in Dar es Salaam. Families reported no improvements in financial status following their daughters’ migration. This observation challenges the popular view that the decision by a family member to migrate contributes to their household’s increased income and improved living standards. Whereas migration has not improved household income, it has negatively impacted on migrants’ families in rural areas. These impacts range from health, social to economic shortfalls evidenced in, for example, having to care for the HIV positive returning migrants and their fatherless children. Migrants’ failure to improve their families’ livelihoods is attributed to among other factors lack of terms of service attached to the recruitment and small salary paid to them. The study recommends formulation and effective implementation of policies to protect domestic workers rights.Keywords: Female migration, Iringa, migration-development, Tanzani

Challenges and Opportunities to Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Development Among Tanzanian Rural Communities

In more recent years climate change impacts have been obvious around the globe. This non-contentious reality has resulted in various global initiatives to reduce climate change impacts. However, differences exist in opportunities and capacity to adaptation. This paper, descriptive in nature, draws heavily from literature and also uses 2002 Tanzanian population and housing census to identify and discuss major challenges and opportunities to climate change adaptation and sustainable development in rural areas of Tanzania. Two groups are of focus; pastoralist herders and smallholder farmers. Analysis indicates that opportunities to climate change adaptation among rural community include their knowledge and experience. Challenges are centered on the pervasive poverty, rapid population increase and high illiteracy rates. Forces beyond their control including funds and governance also present definite limits to climate change adaptation. The paper suggests among others, the effective implementation of two top policies: education and social security funding

Women, weather, and woes: The triangular dynamics of female-headed households, economic vulnerability, and climate variability in South Africa

Existing gender inequality is believed to be heightened as a result of weather events and climate-related disasters that are likely to become more common in the future. We show that an already marginalized group—female-headed households in South Africa—is differentially affected by relatively modest levels of variation in rainfall, which households experience on a year-to-year basis. Data from three waves of the National Income Dynamics Survey in South Africa allow us to follow incomes of 4,162 households from 2006 to 2012. By observing how household income is affected by variation in rainfall relative to what is normally experienced during the rainy season in each district, our study employs a series of naturally occurring experiments that allow us to identify causal effects. We find that households where a single head can be identified based on residency or work status are more vulnerable to climate variability than households headed by two adults. Single male-headed households are more vulnerable because of lower initial earnings and, to a lesser extent, other household characteristics that contribute to economic disadvantages. However, this can only explain some of the differential vulnerability of female-headed households. This suggests that there are traits specific to female-headed households, such as limited access to protective social networks or other coping strategies, which makes this an important dimension of marginalization to consider for further research and policy in South Africa and other national contexts. Households headed by widows, never-married women, and women with a non-resident spouse (e.g., “left-behind” migrant households) are particularly vulnerable. We find vulnerable households only in districts where rainfall has a large effect on agricultural yields, and female-headed households remain vulnerable when accounting for dynamic impacts of rainfall on income

‘Milking the Cow Without Feeding It’: Perceptions of Communities on Water-user Fees for Smallholder Irrigation in Ruaha Sub-Basin, Tanzania

Water-user fees in Tanzania, like in other low-income countries, have been introduced mainly as a response to neo-liberal thinking which, among other things, believes that water has an economic value and should be recognized as an economic good. The objective of this study was to understand perceptions on water-user fees among smallholder farmers in the Ruaha Sub-basin, Tanzania. It employed qualitative and quantitative tools, including in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and questionnaires. Qualitative data were analysed using a thematic approach, while quantitative data were analysed using SPSS Version 20. The findings revealed that mostsmallholder irrigators were dissatisfied with the payment, amount, and the use of water fees. There were three major reasons for the high level of dissatisfaction. First, owners of private water-use permits did not see why they should pay for water that had no (physical) investment on it. Second, some owners of group water-use permits were unwilling to pay for water because they felt  that they did not get adequate support from the government since all irrigation water-related operational costs, including the constructions and maintenance of irrigation canals, were undertaken by themselves. The lack of community participation in determining the amount of water-user fees and ad-hoc changes of the amount of the fees was another reason for the dissatisfaction. This paper proposes some recommendations for effective management of water resources at a community level. Keywords: water-user fees, water resources, smallholder irrigators, Ruaha sub-basin, Tanzani

Paradox of gender mainstreaming strategies: why are they not fully realized in sexual reproductive health projects in Malawi?

Gender mainstreaming in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services like family planning in Malawi remains a significant approach in development. Yet, the expected gender related changes in gender mainstreaming focused SRH projects have been inadequate. The central aim of this paper is to expose the salient reasons behind the inadequate gender relations changes in the family planning (FP) SRH projects implemented by the local organisations. The study employed an exploratory design with more qualitative focus and a bit of quantitative approach. The empirical data for this article was collected in gender focused SRH projects implemented in selected communities in the last five years by three organisations in Malawi.4 The findings show that, the way project staffs understood the gender mainstreaming strategy affected how they designed and introduced the strategy. Subsequently, this affected the realization of the gender related changes from the projects. Furthermore, it was found that gender related changes were compromised where gender analysis had not been done. Further, the involvement and inclusion of men and women during the family planning projects implementation was mere tokenism. Therefore, the paper recommends that, a systematic process need to be in place when introducing gender mainstreaming in SRH projects for the organisations to achieve gender related outcomes. This entails ensuring that gender analysis is done prior to the SRH projects implementation to understand gender needs and before the staff involves men and women jointly during the projects cycle stages. This paper will contribute to the discussion on the determinants of gender mainstreaming strategy in SRH programmes.Keywords: Gender mainstreaming, sexual and reproductive health, family planning, gender relation

Contracting-out primary health care services in Tanzania towards UHC: how policy processes and context influence policy design and implementation

Abstract Background Governments increasingly recognize the need to engage non-state providers (NSPs) in health systems in order to move successfully towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC). One common approach to engaging NSPs is to contract-out the delivery of primary health care services. Research on contracting arrangements has typically focused on their impact on health service delivery; less is known about the actual processes underlying the development and implementation of interventions and the contextual factors that influence these. This paper reports on the design and implementation of service agreements (SAs) between local governments and NSPs for the provision of primary health care services in Tanzania. It examines the actors, policy process, context and policy content that influenced how the SAs were designed and implemented. Methods We used qualitative analytical methods to study the Tanzanian experience with contracting- out. Data were drawn from document reviews and in-depth interviews with 39 key informants, including six interviews at the national and regional levels and 33 interviews at the district level. All interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and translated into English. Data were managed in NVivo (version 10.0) and analyzed thematically. Results The institutional frameworks shaping the engagement of the government with NSPs are rooted in Tanzania’s long history of public-private partnerships in the health sector. Demand for contractual arrangements emerged from both the government and the faith-based organizations that manage NSP facilities. Development partners provided significant technical and financial support, signaling their approval of the approach. Although districts gained the mandate and power to make contractual agreements with NSPs, financing the contracts remained largely dependent on donor funds via central government budget support. Delays in reimbursements, limited financial and technical capacity of local government authorities and lack of trust between the government and private partners affected the implementation of the contractual arrangements. Conclusions Tanzania’s central government needs to further develop the technical and financial capacity necessary to better support districts in establishing and financing contractual agreements with NSPs for primary health care services. Furthermore, forums for continuous dialogue between the government and contracted NSPs should be fostered in order to clarify the expectations of all parties and resolve any misunderstandings