Effectiveness of participatory monitoring and evaluation on achievement of community-based water projects in Chamwino District, Tanzania

Abstract

Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) is increasingly becoming critical worldwide. In Tanzania like other countries in Sub Saharan Africa, community participation in monitoring and evaluation in development projects including water projects has been top on the development agenda. Nevertheless, the extent of effectiveness of PM&E in influencing achievement of community-based water projects remains unclear. To that effect, the general objective of this study was to determine effectiveness of PM&E on achievement of community-based water projects. The study employed sequential exploratory cross-sectional research design with two phases. In this design, qualitative data, using key informant interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), were first collected and analyzed and the results were used to refine questionnaire used in the second phase of data collection that adopted a household survey. A random sample of 120 water users including 53.3% females were involved in the survey. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis while quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS. A Summated Index Scale was used to measure the extent of water users’ participation in monitoring and evaluation, level of achievement of water project objectives and effectiveness of participatory monitoring and evaluation in influencing achievement of community-based water projects. In addition, Chi-square test was used to measure association between level of participation and level of achievements of water project objectives. The results show that PM&E was effective in ensuring achievement of long community-based water projects by allowing more space for primary beneficiaries through decision-making power in the management of water projects. Furthermore, the results showed that among of the strategies available in PM&E was establishment of responsible structures for project supervision such as Village Water Committees, Community Water Supply Organizations iii (COWSOs) and capacity building. The results demonstrated that 53.3% of the respondents showed high level of participation in monitoring and evaluation (M&E). In addition, the results showed that PM&E was constrained by various challenges such as lack of knowledge among community members in implementation of M&E and poor leadership in the village in facilitating community participation. Furthermore, the results revealed that there was statistically significant difference in association between extent of overall participation in monitoring and evaluation and extent of objectives achievement (P<0.05). The study concludes that PM&E is a tool for ensuring long term achievement of community-based water projects through promoting community empowerment hence creates sense of ownership of development projects among stakeholders. The study recommends sensitization of awareness of importance of PM&E in implementation of water projects at a local level is needed. The study also recommends further empirical research to determine factors affecting enhancement of human capacities in managing water projects at a local level. This will be worth for water policy planning and implementation.