Adult education and women's participation in environmental conservation: the case of natural resource conservation and land use project in Njombe district.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which adult education in the form of the Natural Resource Conservation and Land use Project (HIMA) was promoting women's participation in environmental conservation. Two villages in Njombe District, Iringa Region, Tanzania Mainland, were selected. The sample consisted of eighty one respondents namely fifty women selected through simple random sampling who were the principal respondents, four project officials, three adult education coordinators, four district officials and twenty village government leaders. All of them were selected through the purposive sampling technique. Four data collecting methods were employed namely documentary review, interview, questionnaire and observation. The major findings of the study were that the majority of the women were aware of environmental degradation and measures that could be taken to conserve the environment. They however, thought that they were not destroying the environment as they tried to meet their families' needs. There were a few women on the other hand, who were not aware of environmental degradation or conservation and who did not see any relationship between problems they were facing and environmental destruction. Furthermore, methods and approaches used by the HIMA project to create awareness of environmental issues were partially appropriate. While much had been learnt theoretically, practically not much had been done. It was also found out that although some women had a negative attitude towards the project, the majority of them had a positive attitude and liked the project to continue its activities. However, they recommended that it should put more emphasis on imparting the requisite knowledge and skills. In line with the research findings, it was recommended that the Ministry of Education and Culture should make sure that environmental education is included in adult education curriculum as well as other educational curricula as a vital area of study and practice. On the part of the project, it was recommended that it should integrate theory and practice and involve more government workers like adult education coordinators as well as other educational institutions and agencies located in the villages.