Capacity Building for Carpentry Groups in Tanzania:Case Study of Carpentry Groups in Mpanda Town Council Area

Mudima, Godasto Muhumuliza (2011) Capacity Building for Carpentry Groups in Tanzania:Case Study of Carpentry Groups in Mpanda Town Council Area. Masters thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

Carpentry activities are known income generating activities employing many youths and other age groups in towns. There are 31 operational carpentry groups in Mpanda town council but their economic and employment creation potential is not well known as there are no proper records. Community needs assessment revealed the problems facing the groups and the community came up with the project to address them. Explorative, descriptive, observational and investigative research designs were employed in assessing the groups. 21 carpentry groups were sampled through stratified sampling to fill questionnaires and purposive sampling for individuals to be interviewed. Literature review, survey, observation, and focus group discussions are other methodologies employed to carry out the assessment. The findings indicate that groups get little support from the district authority, 57.1% lacks premises for their activities hence are scattered all over Mpanda town. Again, 100% of the carpentry groups are not registered, carpenters are males and lack of capital is their main problem. Lack of some important business skills contributed to groups failure to keep financial records and prepare income and expenditure report for their businesses. This confirmed that lack of capital is not the genuine problem but the groups do not meet the conditions set by the financial institutions to qualify for loans. A one day capacity building training was conducted to improve business skills of the carpentry groups. The training jointly planned and facilitated by a researcher who funded it and relevant Mpanda Town Council department to ensure sustainability. Participants requested more training of that nature in future.

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