Coping Strategies of Feminine Peasant Networks and Social Protection (SP): The case of Village Community Networks (VCONEs) in Tanzania

Abstract

Networking among African women has become one of the community-centered strategies to deal with the shortfalls of the market. VCONEs, as self-created women's networks, provide informal social protection (SP) to marginalized communities because they have taken on board the local context. VCONEs have created a platform that accommodates women's context-specific needs and interests. Accordingly, the study employed an exploratory longitudinal action research design and an embedded multiple-case study research method to explore the coping strategies of Village Community Networks (VCONEs) as a new form of self-created women's networks in providing SP and promoting community development in Tanzania. VCONEs have emerged following the market's and the government's failures to reach marginalized people. The findings indicate that VCONEs have developed replicable context-specific coping strategies to cope with the contingencies of the patriarchy and the market economy. The coping strategies can be replicated elsewhere to create a relatively similar impact in other communities. Overall, there is a need for a major structural change in existing social protection systems. Development agencies should avoid implementing social protection schemes that instil over-dependency on marginalized people on external resources. Specifically, development agencies should adopt a "VCONE cash transfer" to be disbursed as a one-time cash transfer to successful VCONEs