A Thesis for the degree of Master in Development Studies

Name of Student
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Information and Communications University
2022

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 Advisor: Name of Academic Advisor

by

Type Name of student

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Information and Communications University

A thesis submitted to the faculty of Information and Communications University in partial

fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Development Studies.

Lusaka, Zambia
June 30, 2020.
Approved by

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Major Advisor

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 Name of student

We certify that this work has passed the scholastic standards requested by the
Information and Communications University as a thesis for the degree of Master

June 30, 2021.

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Chairman of the Committee
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School of Humanities and Social Sciences

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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DEDICATION

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ABSTRACT

The lack of appropriate local information about the poor hind

planning and programs, and constrains efforts to monitor change in Zambia.
Zambia Research and Development Centre (ZRDC) has develop
implemented the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS); and is now in the
process of institutionalizing CBMS in all Councils. The main objectives of CBMS to
be addressed in this project are: i. to diagnose the extent of poverty at the
level (particularly at ward level), ii. Formulate appropriate plans and programs to
address problems, iii. Provide the basis for rational allocation of
Identify eligible beneficiaries for targeted programs, v. Monitor
impact of programs and projects. The distinctive features of CBMS are that: It is a
census of households and not a sample survey, it is rooted in local government and
p r o m o t e s c o m m u n i t y p a r t i c i p a t i o n , i t u s e s l o
volunteers as monitors, it has a core set of simple, well established indicators and
that it establishes data-bank at all geo-political levels within the country. C
implementation is an Eight Step Process: Step 1: Advocacy/organization, Ste
Community Capacity Building, Step 3: Data collection and field editing, S
Data encoding and map digitization, Step 5: Processing and mapping, Step 6: Data
validation and community consultation, Step 7: Knowledge (database) management,
Step 8: Dissemination. This project was carried out in line with this methodology in
about thirty-five Local Administrative Units (councils) across Zambia and
indicators were formulated for the data collection tools (household questionnaires).
Focus group discussions were also used in order to authenticate data whi
collected using questionnaires. CBMS has showed that good public policy choices
for empowering and uplifting the poor are best made when local authoriti
communities work together and are guided by sound data and
analysis. This is vital for ensuring effective public spending and gr
accountability. Enabling Conditions for CBMS implementation are: Decentralization
w h i c h f a c i l i t a t e s t h e a d o p t i o n o f C B M S , P o l i
sustainability, Public participation is important, CBMS is cost-ef
empowers the community by building its capacity to participate in diagnosing the
problem and offering solutions, CBMS improves the allocation of r

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making it easier to prioritize interventions, CBMS increases equi
allocation, CBMS helps to monitor the impact of projects and
contributing to poverty-reduction efforts. The institutio
designed to enable Local Administrative Units (councils) accurately determine the
m a g n i t u d e o f p o v e r t y a n d o t h e r p r e v a i l i n g s o c i o - e c
formulate programs and policies based on regular up-to date information in order to
p r o v i d e p r a c t i c a l s o l u t i o n s , i n c r e a s e t r a n s p a r e n c y a n
governments in resource allocation, thereby improving governance. This project has
demonstrated that CBMS data can be used for: Monitoring public expenditures and
donor programs, enabling gender-responsive budgeting, tracking progress toward the
MDGs, better targeting of program beneficiaries, sounding an early warning.

K e y —w o C r o d ms m u n i t y B a s e d M o n i
Institutionalization, Local Government Administrative Units, Zambia.

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Table of contents
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................11
1.1 Background....................................................................................................................11
1.2 Statement of the problem..............................................................................................16
1.3 General objective...........................................................................................................17
1.4 Specific objectives of CBMS..........................................................................................17
1.5 Research questions.........................................................................................................17
1.6 Identification of variables:............................................................................................17
1.7 Theoretical framework..................................................................................................18
1.8 Operational definitions..................................................................................................19
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW.................................................................................20
2.1 Diagnosis of poverty at local level.................................................................................20
2.2 Formulation of appropriate plans and programs to local address problems............22

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 2.3 Provision of a basis for rational allocation of resources..............................................26
2.4 To identify eligible beneficiaries for targeted programs.............................................28
2.5 To monitor and assess the impact of programs and projects.....................................30
2.6 Personal critique of literature.......................................................................................32
2.7 Establishment of the research gap................................................................................32
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................................................34
3.0 Research design..............................................................................................................34
3.1 Sampling design.............................................................................................................36
3.2 Target population..........................................................................................................37
3.3 Data collection method..................................................................................................38
3.4 Data collection tools.......................................................................................................38
3.5 Triangulation..................................................................................................................38
3.6 Data analysis...................................................................................................................39
3.7 Ethical considerations....................................................................................................39
3.8 Limitations.....................................................................................................................40
CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.......................................41
4.1 Background characteristics of the respondents.................................................................41
4.2 Diagnosis of poverty at local level.......................................................................................46
4.3 Formulation of appropriate plans and programs to address local problems..................58
4.4 Provision of a basis for rational allocation of resources....................................................67
4.5 To identify eligible beneficiaries for targeted programs...................................................69
4.6 To monitor and assess the impact of programs and projects...........................................69
4.7 Discussion of findings..........................................................................................................73
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION........................................78
5.1 Conclusion......................................................................................................................78
5.2 Recommendation...........................................................................................................78
References..................................................................................................................................80

List of Abbreviations

CBMS: Community Based Monitoring System

MIMAP: Micro Impact of Macroeconomic Adjustment Policy
LGUs: Local Government Administrative Units
CDF: Constituency Development Fund
ZRDC: Zambia Research and Development Centre
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CDDM: Community Driven Development Model

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background

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