Published on 16th October 2020
Community development is a planned effort to produce physical, human, social, financial, and environmental assets that increase the capacity of residents to improve their quality of life. The role of a community development expert or agent is to enable the community to own the development process and the associated outcome. In this regard, the Bachelor of Community Development (BCD) degree is an interdisciplinary degree program emphasizing applied action research and programming aimed at developing rural and urban communities. The program is designed to equip students with skills to empower communities in Tanzania and abroad. The degree addresses a growing need for community development experts and planners in public and private sectors from across the developing world. The graduates become community development experts and planners in the public and private sectors who ensure the attainment of effective community development.
The graduates can serve as community development officers in private organizations and NGOs whose mission focuses on community development and empowerment. As far as the public sector is concerned, the Community Development Policy of Tanzania requires that each administrative ward have at least one Community Development Officer. In this regard, Tanzania has a demand for 3,339 community development officers for all wards. As of 2014, Tanzania has only 2,045 community development officers at the ward level, which is an equivalent of 61%. Similarly, there is a scarcity of 16% of community development officers at the regional level. The program will also enable graduates to employ themselves as researchers, community facilitators, and entrepreneurs.
An important feature of the Bachelor of Community Development (BCD) of SUA is that it allows students to opt for elective courses geared at equipping them with additional functional skills in either of the following disciplines: socio-economic development; agricultural extension; and human nutrition. The electives are designed to provide students with additional skills that they can apply in real-life situation as they address various community development challenges.
If you would like to apply to the degree in the academic year 2020/2021, click here