Abstract: Community participation has become a critical concept, and it has greatly grown its importance in development policy and programmes. It is noted that it is important not only in assessing the needs, planning and implementation but also in the monitoring and evaluation (M&E). This article examines the monitoring and evaluation of the government projects in Tanzania. It discusses the challenges and opportunities emanated from community participation drawing example from the 15 sub-projects selected in TASAF II national project in Bagamoyo District, Tanzania. In the collection of primary data, 55 beneficiaries and 17 key informants were selected purposively and were asked questions through questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Direct field observation was also employed in order to get a real picture in the sub-projects sites. The study revealed that despite TASAF policy of empowering communities to demand, implement and monitor services; community participation in M&E still faced with many challenges such as; cost in terms of time and money, complexity of analysis and lack of analysis. It was also noted that despite having those challenges community participation in M&E of TASAF II sub-projects the opportunities cannot be ignored. The study, therefore, recommends that the government, through TASAF, should have comprehensive monitoring and evaluation to ensure local communities are more active in making decision. In addition, more funds should be injected in empowering and building capacity to communities through training and technical support pertaining to monitoring and evaluation.Abstract: Community participation has become a critical concept, and it has greatly grown its importance in development policy and programmes. It is noted that it is important not only in assessing the needs, planning and implementation but also in the monitoring and evaluation (M&E). This article examines the monitoring and evaluation of the government proj...Show More
