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Development Support Section

 

Project Coordination & Support: AACES

 

Introduction

 

  • The Australia Africa Community Engagement Scheme (AACES) is a five-year programme (July 2011 – June 2016) implemented jointly by Caritas Tanzania, Caritas Australia and the Dioceses of Ifakara, Mahenge and Mbulu in the villages of Mkula, Mgolo and Endashangw’et, respectively. The programme is currently in its third year of implementation and has 3 objectives:

 

  • To support the marginalized communities to enhance their quality of life through improved food security and access to water, sanitation and hygiene services.

  • To better capture and communicate the process of community-led change in Africa, in order to influence policies of AusAid and other development stakeholders, and contribute to improved services for marginalized people.

  • To inform the Australian public about development issues in Africa.

 

Apart from water, sanitation & hygiene (WASH) and food security, the programme also takes on board environmental protection, gender, HIV and AIDS and inclusion of people with disability.

 

 

Annual presentation of AACES at national level

 

Achievements/Successes

 

  • The communities of Mkula, Mgolo and Endashangw’et villages in Ifakara, Mahenge and Mbulu, respectively, are aware of their strengths and assets, which are now being utilized to improve their quality of life with support from partners.

  • Awareness of the programme has been increased at various levels, following consultative and public meetings with key stakeholders particularly at community level. At community levels, community members – particularly the marginalised people – have been empowered by the programme to demand for social services from duty bearers.

  • Increased number of latrines and other sanitary facilities and the adoption of hygienic practices in Endashangwe’t village (Diocese of Mbulu) has significantly reduced the incidence of water-borne diseases. Note: The Diocese of Mbulu uses Mtumba pre-triggering animation techniques and skills to promote hygiene and sanitation among 150 Households (68 females and 82 males), plus 25 modal households representing 38 members (13 males and 25 females). The sensitization was conducted in all five sub-villages, making a total of 188 (93F/95M) direct beneficiaries of this training.

  • There is increased awareness on gender and its importance in sustainable development; as such, peoples’ participation in the programme has been enhanced. Communities in the three villages uphold the dignity of marginalised community members – including people living with disabilities, the elderly, people infected with HIV/AIDS and women, who now assume leadership positions in development committees as well as in the village governments.

  • The community of Endashangwe’t and Mgolo are increasingly constructing contours in their farms and in reserved areas for environmental protection as well for soil improvement for higher productivity.

  • In order to find a reliable power supply for the Endashangwe’t water supply scheme, Caritas Tanzania – in collaboration with the Diocese of Mbulu, approached the Ministry of Energy, in particular the Rural Energy Agency (REA) to advocate for extension of the national electricity grid to the village. Eventually, REA has agreed to fund electrification of the project with the Tanzania Electricity Supply Company (TANESCO); this will ensure sustainability of the project.

  • Farmers of Endashangwe’t and Mgolo were linked to Selian and Katrin Agricultural Research Institutes respectively; this has resulted in the establishment of demo plots for learning purposes, and selection of appropriate crops suitable to prevailing agro-climatic conditions.

  • The people of Australia have increased knowledge of Africa through progress reports and visits to the project sites.

 

 

 

Promotion of improved dairy goat farming & cooking stoves in Endashangwe’t Village

 

Challenges

 

  • The split of the Diocese of Mahenge by the Catholic Church and the change of one Diocese that was earmarked for the programme, considerably reduced the pace of implementing the first year of implementation (2011/2012).

 

  • Poor road infrastructures make Mgolo and Endashang’wet villages inaccessible in the rainy seasons and pose a challenge in implementing projects timely and for farmers to ‘export’ their produce.

 

  • Erratic rains caused by climate change makes agriculture, which is the major economic activity to the majority rural communities, very uncertain

 

  • Persistent drought at Endashangwe’t leaves the community without enough food, and activities which need their labour contribution e.g. excavation of trenches for water pipelines, are considerably affected.

 

Future plans

 

  • Completion of the water supply system for domestic use in the 3 villages of Mkula, Mgolo and Endashangwe’t

  • Improvement of Mkula Irrigation Scheme in the Diocese of Ifakara

  • Training and application of knowledge acquired on agriculture, WASH, HIV and AIDS, environmental protection and disability inclusion

  • Continue to hold consultative meetings with key stakeholders for strengthening our cooperation, networking and collaboration.

  • Document and share information with various stakeholders (at national and international levels) on the progress, achievements and challenges of AACES.

 

Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation: PME Unit

 

Introduction

The development arm of the Catholic Church in Tanzania – the Diocesan Caritas / Development offices – has been supporting community development initiatives for over 30 years, to address poverty & inequality and to promote good governance, peace and security. However, during the last 5 years, these offices have witnessed a decrease in the number and scope of development projects/s. This decrease is attributed to the dwindling levels of external funding; back donors are increasingly dissatisfied with the capability of Caritas offices to manage their projects in an evidence-based and outcome-oriented manner. It is for this reason that Caritas Tanzania decided to establish a Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation (PME) Unit, to capacitate Diocesan Caritas/Development offices in outcome-oriented project management (OOPM). The unit is coordinated by Mr. Paul Chilewa, with advisory support from Mr. Willem Koster.

 

In partnership with Misereor, a 3-year project was initiated to provide longer-term support to 9 Diocesan Caritas/Development offices; and incidental support to other Dioceses upon request. The selection of the 9 Caritas/Development offices was basically demand-driven, albeit with sufficient organizational capacity. The PME project took off in March 2012 with a facilitated self-appraisal exercise at each of the 9 selected Dioceses, to identify gaps in OOPM and to develop capacity building action plans to address them. The exercise also provided the baseline for the project, against which future achievements can be measured.

 

Major activities to date

 

  • Three 5-day training workshops were facilitated for all 9 Diocesan Caritas/Development offices, organized in 2 venues. The first 2 workshops focused on the priority capacity needs of the Dioceses and covered all stages of outcome-oriented M&E: purpose and scope of M&E; developing an informed objective hierarchy; setting assumptions and risks; developing an M&E plan; selecting needs to be monitored; determining baseline and milestones; planning for data collection, collation & analysis; data storage and quality assurance; critical reflection, communication and reporting; and necessary conditions and capacities for operationalization an outcome oriented M&E. The 3rd workshop was dedicated to steps in project design, proposal development progress reporting, activity-based budgeting and analysis of survey data using GrafStat.

 

 

 

 

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