Improvement of living standard through enhanced economic and social development, and decentralised provision of services in the Ngorongoro District of Tanzania
- Sectors: Integrated rural development, Decentralisation and local development
- Duration: 07/2002 – 06/2004
- Volume: 1.1 Mill. Euro
- Persons/ Months: 27
- Client: Austrian Development Cooperation, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Vienna
- Partners: Orgut Consulting AB, Austroproject Association Tanzania (APA), Ngorongoro District Council
The Ngorongoro District Development Programme was tendered in 2002 and awarded to the Austroprojekt and Orgut Consortium (AOC). The programme represents a commitment on behalf of the Austrian Government to support the decentralisation process that has been going on in Tanzania since 1998. The local partner is the Ngorongoro District Council (NDC), which is responsible for overall planning, coordination and partially also for the implementation of programme activities. The NDDP is designed to complement the implementation of government policy.
The main objective of the programme is to assist Ngorongoro District and the rural communities to improve living standard, particularly of lower-income groups facing poverty, through enhanced economic and social development as well as efficient and affordable provision of services by the local government and the private sector.
A plan of operation was the result of a participatory workshop in which representatives of all stakeholders of the programme participated. The plan of operation is based on results and findings of previous programme activities – community needs assessment, capacity needs assessment, workshops about poverty alleviation, good governance, participatory planning and budgeting, strategic planning workshop – and serves as a guideline for NDDP planners and implementers. It has a perspective of 4 to 5 years and includes outputs and strategies for all district sectors, not only for those receiving financial support from the Austrian government.
During the current phase I, the Austrian support focuses on three sectors:
- Capacity building (in particular at the District Council but also on ward and village level)
- Social service delivery (health sector)
- Promotion of the district-s economic basis (productive sector: agriculture and livestock)
The joint venture of the two companies ensures that the Ngorongoro District Council will benefit from experience from several successful long-term projects, such as the Lake Natron Development Initiatives, Integrated Health Projects Wasso and Endulen, and Land Management Programme (LAMP) that is carried out in four different districts of Tanzania. The consortium provides the programme with technical support through a planning and a financial advisor, and national and international experts at its disposal.