Socio-cultural constraints to poverty reduction strategies in coast region, Tanzania
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Date
2010
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
Coast Region is among the four poorest Regions in Tanzania with a variety of ethnic
groups, habits, customs, and life styles. Though there have been a number of poverty
reduction strategies implemented in the Region, poverty has continued to be stubborn.
There is inadequate information on how culture impedes the poverty reduction strategies.
hence the purpose of this study was to determine socio-cultural constraints towards
poverty reduction strategies in Coast Region. It specifically focused on determining
communities’ awareness and perceptions of their prevailing poverty, to identify major
socio-cultural practices conducted in the study area at different seasons of the year, to
examine the extent to which communities are aware of available resources and their
accessibility and lastly to determine gender relations in decision-making, division of
labour and ownership of resources. A cross-sectional research design was adopted while
purposive sampling technique was used to select two Districts. Simple random sampling
procedure was used to select wards, villages and heads of households. The quantitative
data were analyzed using the SPSS computer software while qualitative data were
analyzed by functional content analysis. Binary regression model was used to find
relations between variables. The research findings revealed that marriage types, working
hours, household size, religion, divorces, early marriages and cultural ceremonies were
significant at P<0.05, hence they impact negatively on poverty reduction strategies. The
study recommends that good cultural practices need to be maintained while old fashioned
cultural practices should be abolished. The study calls for more enforcement of bylaws
and involvement of women in decision making organs.
Description
Master of Arts Dissertation in Rural Development
Keywords
Socio-cultural constraints, Poverty reduction strategies, Coast region