Adult education and environmental conservation in Tanzania: the case of Kiroka Ward in Morogoro Rural District

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role played by adult education, in the form of the Integrated Community Based Adult Education (ICBAE) in sensitizing the adult population in Kiroka Ward on environmental conservation. Specifically, the study intended to make a descriptive analysis of the ICBAE programme as an environmental education programme to examine the extent to which ICBAE was used to make adults aware of environmental degradation and activities that caused it, to find out the manner in which ICBAE was shaping adults’ views and opinions towards environmental conservation and to assess the appropriateness of the methods used by ICBAE to educate the adult learners on environmental conservation. The study was mainly qualitative although some aspects of the quantitative approach were included. Data were collected through interviews, observation documentary review and focus group discussion. The findings revealed that the adult learners lacked a holistic understanding of the concept of the environment. Majority of them were aware of environmental degradation and activities that cause it, but did not see or agree that they were destroying the environment as they were trying to meet their basic needs. It was also discovered that most adult learners perceived REFLECT positively. It was learnt that the ICBAE programme had great economic and environmental impact. The study concluded that ICBAE had played a greater role in sensitizing adult learners on causes of environmental degradation and methods of conserving the environment. Furthermore, the study concluded that teaching and learning methodology such as REFLECT used by ICBAE facilitators was most appropriate to inculcate change in behaviour among adult learners. The study recommended that programmes like ICBAE on environmental education should be used in other similar educative campaigns to adults such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and other community issues. Also the government should launch a strong advocacy and mobilisation campaign to communities, leaders and individuals on the importance of ICBAE as a crucial tool in imparting practical knowledge on environmental protection in rural areas. The study also suggested that further studies were needed on the role of adult education in environmental conservation in other areas, districts and regions in Tanzania.