A community-led research project has been exploring what prosperity means to people living in three unplanned settlements in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Mji Mpya, Bonde La Mpunga, and Keko Machungwa.
The Maisha Bora (‘Good Life’) Study led by Dr Saffron Woodcraft has been co-designed and co-produced by community members and leaders from the three settlements working with the Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI) in Dar es Salaam, and aims to develop new ways of understanding and measuring prosperity that truly reflect peoples’ lived experiences and what supports and what prevents people from living good lives.
The research has been conducted on the ground by local residents who have been trained to become ‘citizen scientists’ by the UCL Citizen Science Academy and employed by the CCI. The citizen scientists carried over 160 interviews with people living in Mji Mpya, Bonde La Mpunga, and Keko Machungwa, and with community leaders and local officials. The research was designed to collect detailed information about the lived experiences of community members from all ages and backgrounds, including groups whose voices are often less heard, including people with disabilities and older residents.
Residents, community leaders, and NGOs are using the findings to identify priorities for action, develop community-led interventions, and to work with municipal and city officials and public agencies to change policymaking.
The whole project consisted of five stages, including co-produced workshops to analyse the findings; co-designing the ‘Maisha Bora model’ with the factors identified as the most important to support a good life; surveying over 1,000 households, and the creation of the Maisha Bora Index, which reports on levels of prosperity in each settlement, and for people from different socio-economic backgrounds.
The Maisha Bora Index, created by IGP researchers, is a radical innovation: citizen scientists, community members, community leaders, and local officials are involved in every stage of its development and work together to interpret and act on the findings.
As the final stage, CCI and citizen scientists are now running a pilot project in Mji Mpya to co-design community-led interventions responding to the Maisha Bora Index data.
Three priority areas have been identified by the community for action:
- Infrastructure focused on drainage and solid waste management.
- Social services focused on safe water and affordable health insurance.
- Clean cooking energy.
CCI and IGP are supporting working groups involving citizen scientists, community leaders, municipal officials, utilities organisations, and entrepreneurs from Fast Forward 2030 Africa to develop interventions in these areas.
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Image credit
Dominic Makoba
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