Dr. R. Madaha had an opportunity to present a paper at the Virtual Social Policy in Africa Conference development, Democracy, and Social Policy: Remembering Thandika Mkandawire.
The Virtual Event was held at the University of South Africa, City of Tshwane, South Africa from 22 to 24 November, 2021. The title of the conference paper was Community development and Empowerment Coping Strategies of Feminine Peasant Networks and Social Protection (SP) in Tanzania: The case of Village Community Networks (VCONEs). Below is the abstract:
Developed communities are the ones that can attain and sustain a better standard of living for every community member. Although the thinking is advocated by the proponents of community development, some proponents of the market economy advocate for a controversial view of community development. Overall, the market blocks those without capital to participate in the market. Proponents of community development call for a minimized role of the market. Instead, they advocate for the development of the capabilities of communities to take care of their development. Networking is one of the community-centred strategies to deal with the shortfalls of the market. It also provides Social Protection (SP) to vulnerable people. In this regards, the study employed an exploratory research design and, an embedded multiple-case study research method, to explore the coping strategies of Village Community Networks (VCONEs), as self-created women’s networks, in the provision of SP and the promotion of community development in Tanzania. The findings indicate that VCONEs enable members to cope with the contingencies of patriarchy and neoliberalism by blocking some patriarchal men from holding leadership and decision-making positions; supporting politicians who share VCONE members’ visions, and diverging some funds provided by foreign donors and other investors to some other uses. Other coping strategies are presented in the article. The presentation can be accessed at [click here]
Keywords: Coping Strategies, Village, Community, Development, Networks, VCONEs, Gender, Tanzania