Participatory planning

Categories: Community Tags: , , ,

Summary

Resolute’s Golden Pride Gold Project in the Tabora region of western Tanzania was the first modern gold mine to commence operation in Tanzania when it began to produce gold in November 1998. The communities close to Golden Pride in Nzega District depended on subsistence farming and suffered from a lack of infrastructure and income-generating opportunities.

Resolute, an Australian company, took measures to alleviate some of the most immediate features of the poverty it saw, rehabilitating and equipping the local schools, supplying uniforms, books, desks and trees for fruit to supplement the children’s diet. Gradually, the company realized that it would be more effective in the long term if communities could be encouraged to empower themselves and take responsibility for their own development plans. The company could then join in with community-motivated and community-initiated projects instead of trying to ascertain from outside what the communities needed.

For this reason, Resolute decided to conduct a participatory planning program at the end of 2000 in the four communities closest to the mine’s perimeter – Isanga, Mwaluzwilo, Bujulu and Undomo – to encourage communities to develop their own community action plans (CAPs). Community members were delighted to be asked what they lacked, what they needed and to be assisted to devise their own plans. Once they overcame their initial shyness with the unfamiliar process, each community embraced the opportunity to develop a CAP and put a great deal of effort into ensuring the project was completed.

Participatory planning methods used in Nzega District

  • Community mapping
  • History
  • Seasonal calendar
  • Gender daily calendar
  • Problem ranking
  • Options assessment
  • CAP