TASAF executive director, Ladislaus Mwamanga

The Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) plans to enroll ten more districts in its Community-Based Conditional Cash Transfer (CB-CCT) programme in the 2012/13 fiscal year.

This was said by TASAF executive director Ladislaus Mwamanga said in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday when officiating at a workshop on preparation for the CB-CCT enrollment of 40 additional villages.

Mwamanga said the CB-CCT programme, which started in 2008, will in the 2013/14 financial year be extended to cover 30 more districts before it spreads to the rest of the regions.

“We started with forty villages in three districts, we are now expanding to cover more villages in at least ten districts,” he said.

According to him, the programme had proved successes where it was being implemented because some beneficiaries had used the funds to establish income-generating activities.

He said what was important in the programme's success were concerted efforts and collaboration among key players, including TASAF, district and village executives.

He said TASAF had been doing well in supporting deprived communities in rural areas, adding that some African countries were now coming to learn from the institution.

“We are doing well and we can do better if we properly plan implementation of the second phase. Some other people are in fact coming to learn from us,” he noted.

Earlier, presenting an overview of implementation of the BC-CCT first phase, TASAF acting systems manager Amadeus Kamagenge said since 2008 to date they had dished out USD 1,025,300.41 to poor families in the three districts of Kibaha, Bagamoyo and Chamwino.

He said the first phase had resulted in 21,670 beneficiaries, adding that the number was expected to double to 56,340 beneficiaries in the second phase. He said when initiating the project TASAF was financially supporting 2,000 households but currently they had enrolled approximately 5,000 households. “We started with 40 villages and we are going to cover 40 other villages in different districts…this programme has resulted in a lot socio-economic successes,” he said.

He said even the level of the pass mark for Standard Seven leavers had increased because parents in families that were enrolled in the programme were able to provide pupils with basic needs such as food, uniforms and equipment.