Contribution of Voluntary Patriotic Practices on Poverty Reduction Initiatives in Zanzibar

The less known role of voluntary patriotic practices on poverty reduction in Zanzibar was a rationale for undertaking this study. This study aimed at assessing the actual contribution of voluntary patriotic practices on poverty reduction initiatives in Zanzibar, where West B District Council in Urban West Region, Zanzibar was used as a case-study. The research questions which guided the study included; firstly, what are the available voluntary patriotic practices in the West B District Council? secondly what are the impacts of voluntary patriotic practices on poverty reduction initiatives in West B District Council? and thirdly what are the factors affecting voluntary patriotic practices in West B District Council? The study applied case study method of cross-sectional research design. Various data collection methods including observation, interviews and questionnaire survey which were applied to sixty (60) respondents. The analysis of the collected qualitative and quantitative data was done through contents analysis and descriptive statistics respectively. Based on the analyzed data, the findings revealed the available voluntary patriotic practices in the West B District council including voluntary financial contribution 12(20%), voluntary material contribution 6(10%), voluntary manpower contribution 12(20%), voluntary service provision 7(12%), participatory community projects planning 4(7%), voluntary community support 5(8%), voluntary cleaning activities 4(7%), participatory security patrols 7(12%) and voluntary whistleblowing 3(5%). The revealed impacts of voluntary patriotic practices on poverty reduction initiatives in West B District Council namely saves costs 15(25%), avail development infrastructures 9(15%), enhance peace and social unity 7(12%), enhance social responsibility 6(10%), enhance social-infrastructure ownership 5(8%), enhance transparency and impartiality 4(7%), enhance community self-reliance 6(10%) and support government pro-poor initiatives 8(13%). The findings further revealed social factors, economic factors and institutional factors which influence the voluntary patriotic practices in reducing poverty in the study area. The study finally concludes the voluntary Financial contribution and voluntary Manpower contribution as the main voluntary patriotic practices available in reducing poverty in the study area. Also, the study further concludes that the impact of voluntary patriotic practices towards reducing poverty are mainly saving costs and supporting government pro-poor initiatives in the country. Finally, the study recommends many awareness creation programs to various actors; including government, CBOs and NGOs and community members on mainstreaming voluntary patriotic practices.