MWE Correspondent
Tanzania has benefited from decades of donor-funded development programmes covering water, agriculture, health, education, conservation and community development. Yet the long-term survival of some of these initiatives remains a persistent challenge once external financing comes to an end.
The central weakness is often not the initial implementation of a project, but what happens after the donor’s financial and technical support is withdrawn.
Research from Tanzania provides several examples. A study of a donor-funded water project in Itigi District found that beneficiaries faced limited capacity to operate projects after external partners withdrew. The research also linked weak sustainability to insufficient participation during project design, which contributed to limited community ownership. (repository.out.ac.tz)
Similar concerns have emerged in agriculture. Research examining donor-funded agricultural projects in Chamwino and Namtumbo found that the sustainability of project activities varied considerably, highlighting challenges in maintaining benefits beyond the original funding period. (ssjssh.sua.ac.tz)
Research into World Vision Tanzania’s development programme in Bahi District also identified weaknesses in the transition from donor support to local institutions. The study found that some transferred activities were not sustained as expected, with inadequate managerial, technical, financial and human capacity contributing to the problem. (researchgate.net)
The same pattern can emerge in projects that create infrastructure without sufficiently establishing long-term financing mechanisms. A water facility may be completed, equipment may be distributed and technical training may be provided, but maintenance costs, replacement equipment, staffing and institutional responsibilities can become difficult to sustain after donor resources disappear.
Research on donor-funded fisheries initiatives in Tanzania’s coastal areas identified financial constraints, inadequate technical skills, weak monitoring and evaluation, limited stakeholder participation and short funding cycles among factors affecting long-term sustainability. (samaki.udsm.ac.tz)
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Research on conservation programmes in Tanga found that some ecological and management outcomes continued after an Irish Aid-funded programme ended. The findings demonstrate that local ownership, institutional capacity and integration into existing structures can help projects survive beyond external financing. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
This difference points to an important weakness in conventional project financing. Many development programmes are evaluated heavily on implementation targets during the funding period, while the ability of local institutions to maintain those achievements after the grant expires can receive less attention.
Tanzania’s development cooperation system already provides a framework for managing external assistance. The Ministry of Finance’s External Finance Division is responsible for mobilising external resources, aligning development cooperation with national priorities, monitoring project implementation and assessing development outcomes. (mof.go.tz)
A stronger approach would make sustainability and donor exit planning a formal requirement for major externally funded projects.
Before approval, project developers could be required to demonstrate who will own the programme after donor financing ends, how recurrent costs will be financed, which Tanzanian institutions will assume responsibility and how local technical capacity will be maintained.
Government could also introduce post-project assessments one, three and five years after donor funding ends. These reviews would measure whether infrastructure remains operational, services continue, local institutions remain active and communities are still receiving the intended benefits.
Procurement and implementation arrangements could also place greater emphasis on Tanzanian institutions, businesses and professionals. This would allow donor-funded projects to leave behind not only physical infrastructure, but also stronger domestic skills, management systems and financial capacity.
Such measures would shift development planning away from a funding-cycle mentality.
The success of an externally financed project should not be measured only by the activities completed before the grant expires. Its longer-term value should also be assessed through the institutions, skills, infrastructure and financing mechanisms that remain after external support has ended.
For Tanzania, donor assistance will continue to be an important source of development finance. The policy priority should therefore be to ensure that each major project strengthens the country’s ability to sustain its results rather than creating another programme dependent on the next funding cycle.
A donor-funded project should be designed from the beginning for the day the donor is no longer there.
