Abstract:
Many measures have been taken globally, regional and at national levels to fight against
poverty. An engagement of TASAF III to intervene poverty through Public Works
Programme (PWP) is one among measures to reduce income poverty. Many studies on
PWPs focused more on the assets created for the community than the well-being of poor
household’s participated in the programme. As a result, there is little understanding on
how PWPs have contributed to the reduction of income poverty among participants
through wages paid to them.
Specifically, the study aimed at comparing the monthly
monetary income of PWP beneficiaries before and after PWP intervention, assessing
beneficiaries’ households’ access to basic needs, determining attitudes of the community
towards PWP interventions and identifying challenges facing PWPs. The study was
conducted in Kilosa District in Morogoro Region. A total of 141 households were
surveyed, five Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) were conducted and four Key informants
were interviewed. A structured questionnaire, FGDs and Key Informants Interview guides
were used to gather information regarding to PWPs. Statistical Packages for Social
Science (SPSS) was used to analyse data whereby descriptive statistics in the form of
frequencies, percentages and t-test were used in presentation of the study findings. The
findings revealed that the number of households taking three meals per day rose from 0%
to 63.6%. The findings also revealed that financial constraints in education decreased; as
94.4% of the respondents used wages for educational needs and 93% of the poor
households’ beneficiaries could afford primary education. The study concluded that PWP
had played important roles to contribute to the reduction of income poverty for poor
households. Therefore, it was recommended that TASAF, Government and communities
should continue to enhance PWP’s intervention by up scaling its scope in order to reach
many poor households as possible.
