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
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(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.
