Community Participation In Public Policy Implementation In Tanzania A Case Of Agricultural Policy In Morogoro Rural District

ABSTRACT

Community participation plays a vital role in the development of a society. This study attempts to assess the extent to which community participation has contributed to the implementation of agricultural policy in Morogoro Rural District. It focuses on the forms and extent of community participation in policy-making concerning agriculture in Morogoro, to further assess the effects of participation towards implementation of these agricultural policies. The main objective of this study was to assess community participation in the public policy implementation in Tanzania using the case study of Morogoro Rural District. The sample for the study consisted of 61 respondents and these were randomly selected. The methods used in data collection were interviews, questionnaires, and documentary review. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used for the management of data and analysis. Unveiled were findings with regard to the study notably depicted that implementation of community participation in the Morogoro Rural Region still had a lot of shortcomings. Among others, the major ones included; lack of commitment among individuals, a lack of education among farmers, the unwillingness of the people in the community to participate in decision-making. Indeed, these challenges have seemingly and apparently become persistently detrimental to the effective implementation of agricultural policies in the district. The study recommends that, the government should encourage more citizen participation, make sure policies are duly implemented, educate the masses on the need for participation as well as provide resource centers for information on participation when needed to bring about more involved citizenship.