The Maisha Bora (‘Good Life’) Study is an innovative, community-led research project exploring what prosperity means to people living in three unplanned settlements in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The Maisha Bora Index is Africa’s first citizen-led prosperity measure co-designed over five years with citizen scientists, community members, community leaders and government officials, and launched in partnership with the Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI).

About the Maisha Bora Study 

The Maisha Bora (‘Good Life’) Study is an innovative, community-led research project exploring what prosperity means to people living in three unplanned settlements in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Mji Mpya, Bonde la Mpunga, and Keko Machungwa. 

The goal of the research is to develop new ways of understanding and measuring prosperity that reflect peoples’ lived experiences and what supports and what prevents people from living good lives. Residents, community leaders, and NGOs are using the findings to identify priorities for action, develop community led interventions, and to work with municipal and city officials and public agencies to change policymaking. 

The Maisha Bora Study has been co-designed and co-produced by community members and leaders from Mji Mpya, Bonde la Mpunga, and Keko Machungwa, working with the Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI) in Dar es Salaam, and the IGP. The research has been carried out by a team of citizen scientists – people who live and work in the three settlements – trained by the UCL Citizen Science Academy and employed by CCI. As citizen-led research to define, measure, and act to generate shared prosperity, this is the first project of its kind in Africa. The lead researchers were Saffron Woodcraft and Festo Makoba of the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity.

Resources

Working paper: Redefining prosperity with and for communities in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Beyond economic metrics for African cities

This working paper summarises headline findings from the Maisha Bora Index. It discusses the implications for urban governance, policy, planning, and development of co-designing new prosperity measures and strategies for action with communities to create more just and inclusive cities.

Redefining prosperity with and for communities in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.pdf

Methodology: Empowering communities to define, measure, and take action on creating a good life in Dar es Salaaam

This document summarises how the project has been co-designed with citizen scientists, community members, community leaders and government officials, and how the citizen-led evidence is being used by the communities to develop new interventions with entrepreneurs.

 communities to define, measure, and take action on creating a good life in Dar es Salaaam.pdf
Working Paper (In Swahili and English): Co-Producing Prosperity Research in Informal Settlements in Tanzania

This paper argues that novel methodological and theoretical approaches to co-producing context-specific policy-relevant knowledge about pathways to prosperity creates inclusive spaces for both community participation in processes of urban knowledge production and critical social enquiry that can lead to grounded theory building.

Co-Producing Prosperity Research in Informal Settlements in Tanzania.pdf

Tanzania Citizen Prosperity Index Dashboard 

Explore the dashboard (In Swahili)

Explore the dashboard (In English)

Lead researchers