Emerging trends in foreign-aided rural development programmes in Tanzania: the case of Tanga integrated rural development programme (TIRDEP) and Rukwa integrated rural development programme (RUDEP).

The main objective of this study was to compare the planning procedures, design, and administration of integrated rural development programmes in Tanga and Rukwa regions where the Federal Republic of Germany and Norway are supporting rural development programmes. Various methods of data collection were employed, including library research, documentary research, interviews and on the spot observation. Visits were paid to the offices of the donor agencies (GTZ and NORAD), Regional Headquarters in both Tanga and Rukwa and a number of places where projects were being implemented. Following the conceptual analysis, literature review, research work and data ana1ysis, this study came up with the following conclusions: (i) Project Design and Implementation: in both programmes consultants from the donor countries played the determining role in deciding which projects were to be implemented and how. In cases the donors employed local experts or consultants from other countries, but these were given terms of reference which imposed the donors' biases and priorities. (ii) Administration: Although in both programmes there was a lot of talk about integration with local institutions in fact the IRDP Coordinating Units headed by expatriate implementers found it convinient to by-pass local institutions in order to achieve ambitious physical targets as soon as possible. IRDP Coordinators who are supposed to act as advisors to the RDDs, actually function as de facto managers, controlling the accounts and procurement of equipment. (iii) Lack of government control of the IRDPs: The existing practice whereby foreign donors and consultants are given a free hand to design and implement JRDPs without any central control or coordination increases spatial differentiation both within the regions where the IRDPs are undertaken as well as among the regions in the country, thus creating "aid islands" in a sea of rural poverty. (iv) Future Trends: It was found that the lRDPs were undergoing 'changes with regard to planning procedures and integration with local institutions. whereas earlier programmes were characterised by comprehensive, pre implementation planning, nowadays the trend is towards process planning, and this flexibility will enable the donors to adapt to the ever-changing socio-economic situation in the rural areas,' without being bound by a detailed blueprint plan. Also, whereas earlier programmes tended to concentrate on capital investment in infrastructure and service provision while neglecting the local institutional capacity, concern with sustainability of the projects has necessitated the cooption of local institutions as implementing agencies. Lastly, it is noted that, in tune with the current IMF/World Bank rural development strategies, there has been a shift from the earlier basic needs and poverty-orientation, and this means that the peasants might find themselves being further marginalised.