Implementation of agricultural sector development programme’s priority interventions: Are the interactions among agricultural sector lead ministries optimal?

Abstract

Tanzania’s efforts to reduce poverty involve among others the implementation of Agricultural Sector Development Programme (ASDP) aimed at improving agricultural sector’s performance. However, literature shows dismal performance of the sector despite implementation of ASDP since 2010. It was hypothesised that the interaction among the ASDP actors is not synergetic and hence has not optimally contributed to the execution of ASDP. Guided by Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework and the Social Network Theory (SNT), the study examined the interaction patterns among the ASDP actors and their influence on the implementation of ASDP’s priority interventions. The QUAL-quan design was adopted whereby data collection methods employed included key informant interview, focus group discussion, and questionnaire survey. Through content analysis and descriptive statistics, it was observed that the implementation of ASDP involved a high level of multifaceted interactions among the key actors. Study participants acknowledged predominance of strong actors’ interactions but did not consider this to be enhancing the ASDP implementation. This is because there were actor-specific issues which constrained execution of their roles to the network. For example, farmer groups were too weak to deliver the expected project results. Consistent with the SNT, actors could interact strongly but combined effect is subject to successful execution of roles that are based on their relationship with other actors in the network. For interactions to be synergetic―enhancing agricultural sector transformation through ASDP―the involved actors should have the necessary capacity and should play well their strategic role towards achieving the common good.