SACCOS and Sustainable Livelihoods in Rural Areas: A Case Study of Meru District Council

Lupande, Barnabas (2014) SACCOS and Sustainable Livelihoods in Rural Areas: A Case Study of Meru District Council. Masters thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

Saving and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS) are Community Economic Development Projects which are based on three areas: Participation, Empowerment and sustainability of the economic activities carried out by community members. The main objective of this survey is to assess the sustainability of these Peoples' Based Organization (PBOs) through analyzing their activity and financial performance. The survey was carried out at Meru district- Arusha region in 2012 in collaboration with The Matunda Foundation located in Meru district. It involved 100 respondents 95 were SACCOS members and 5 were staff from Meru District Council and Cooperatives Departments in Meru District. The principal methodology used in this survey includes structured interviews, Questionnaires, Focus Group Discussions, Interviews and Observation. The general observation from the findings indicated that most SACCOS have poor performance due to low level of education, lack of adequate capital, poor extension services, inaccessibility to credit facilities and services. Only workers based SACCOS had stable source of their income. Furthermore, SACCOS needs a comprehensive and more effort from the Government, NGOs and Civil Society Organization (CSOs) to raise their status and make them sustainable and be fuelling tool for Community Economic Development.

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