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• Belshaw, D. G. R. (1981). "Village viability assessment procedures in Tanzania: decision-making with curtailed information requirements." Public Administration & Development 1(1): 3.

This article explains the methods developed for gathering necessary data to make assessments of village viability in Tanzania during the period 1975-78. The need for methods arose out of the consolidation into villages of dispersed rural settlements and the problem encountered by an unknown number of new villages of deficiencies in the available and accessible physical environment. What was required was a means of identifying those villages where priority should be given to population resettlement and the identification of new village sites. The initial attempt at establishing a standard village viability assessment procedure involved devising a procedure which assumed the need for a high level of environmental data. This presupposed the use of staff with considerable expertise, and, given the scale of the problem, this expertise was not available. A revised procedure was therefore developed which was based on more realistic assumptions about what was available. This involved making fresh estimates about the level of expertise, the amount of assessment time available and the degree of data accuracy required. On the basis of field testing a revised approach was developed. The main features of this approach are outlined, and the merits of the approach discussed.