If the 1980s and early 90s have generally been a “lost decade“ in Africa as far as
development has been concerned, they have nevertheless witnessed a series of
important economic and political developments. One of the most dramatic of
these has been the related growth of formally organised community
development activity (CDA) on the one hand and non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) on the other1. By and large, this development has been the
subject of celebration—and occasionally condemnation—by scholars, but rarely
serious empirical and analytical investigation. This essay describes some
preliminary findings of a research project in Tanzania which attempts to come to
grips with the extent and nature of the changes which have occurred in the locallevel
development space as a result of the recent expansion of CDA and NGOs.