Views of the poor

This report is based on a study commissioned by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to assist in strengthening the poverty focus of their country programme for Tanzania. The participative research study is based on household surveys and focus group discussions undertaken in the Morongoro and the Kilomberi regions. The report represents a synthesis of the perspectives gleaned during the study from the poor, and is intended to provide guidance to planners in developing pro-poor options for the country programme. An overview of the scope of the study and a background briefing on the region are provided. The results from the household surveys, with perceptions of the poor on wellbeing and illbeing in an economic, social and political sense, are illustrated through the authorsÆ analyses, by pictures and through quotes from the interviewees. A special study of non-household groups is presented separately. The report is concluded with the outcomes of a workshop where some of the experiences shared by the study team on political, social and political ill- and wellbeing in the region were discussed. The report also contains annexes on: study methodology; critique of the study; study village data; household physical and social data; and self evaluation.