DAR ES SALAAM INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER STUDIES

ORDINARY DIPLOMA IN INFORMATION TECHNOLGY

NTA LEVEL 6

PROJECT TITLE: VICOBA FUND SOCIAL SYSTEM

PROJECT TYPE: PROBLEM SOLVING

CANDIDATE NAME: SAMWEL.M. JOSEPH

ADMISSION NUMBER: 180210920047

ACADEMIC YEAR: 2021/2022

CLASS: OD19-IT

SUPERVISOR NAME: Mr. JOSEPH.Y. CHALLO

 DECLARATION
I declare that this project is my original work as presented here as partial fulfilment of Ordinary
Diploma in Information Technology and has not been copied from anywhere.
Student
SAMWEL M JOSEPH Date……………………………………….

Signature………………………

Supervisor
Mr. JOSEPH Y CHALLO Date……………………………………….

Signature………………………

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 APPROVAL
This is to certify that SAMWEL M JOSEPH with registration number: 180210920047 is the really
owner of the project proposal and not copied or taken from other students from different academic
institute

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 ABSTRACT
The system and study specifically aimed to, identifying the impact of VICOBA on household welfare, to
examine the contribution of VICOBA in alleviation of income poverty and to determine the community
attitude towards VICOBA activities. The study used a cross-sectional research design to collect data
from respondents who were randomly selected. The study also involved 6 key informants selected
purposively. Primary data for this study was gathered through questionnaires, focus group discussions,
observation and key informant interviews; while secondary data was obtained through document
reviews. The findings of this study reveal that, VICOBA members have accrued a lot of benefits
impacting their lives positively. This study for instance witnessed and found out the way VICOBA
members reduced their income poverty by accessing credits at affordable interests. Furthermore, the
members have been able to create opportunities for entrepreneurship activities, social cohesion amongst
one another, improve fund management at household level and minimize the burden of unnecessary
loses due to family resources mortgage. The study further found out VICOBA group members improved
their household welfare by educating their children, improving shelter, medication, increasing household
assets and social cohesion. In addition, the study revealed that sometime become hard and people
become quarrel themselves due to lucky of believe among group leader who become greedy and use the
group members fund for their personal interest.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION........................................................................................................................................ i
APPROVAL .............................................................................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................ iv
LIST OF FIGURES. ............................................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................. viii
LIST OF ABREVIATION ...................................................................................................................... ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................................................ x
CHAPTER ONE ....................................................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Historical Background.................................................................................................................. 1
1.2. Problem Statements. ..................................................................................................................... 1
1.3. The Scope of The Project. ............................................................................................................ 2
1.4. Projects Objectives. ...................................................................................................................... 2
1.4.1. Main Objectives. ................................................................................................................... 2
1.4.2. Specific Objectives ............................................................................................................... 2
1.6. Limitations of The Project............................................................................................................ 2
CHAPTER TWO ...................................................................................................................................... 4
LITERATURE REVIEWS ...................................................................................................................... 4
2.1. Existing System ............................................................................................................................ 4
2.1.1. Disadvantage of Existing System ......................................................................................... 4
2.1.2. Block Diagram for Existing System ..................................................................................... 4
2.2. Proposed System .......................................................................................................................... 5
2.2.1. Advantage of Proposed System. ........................................................................................... 5
2.2.2. Block Diagram for Proposed System .................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................................. 7
RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGY................................................................................................... 7
3.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 7
3.2. Data Collection Method ............................................................................................................... 7
3.2.1. Questionnaire Method ........................................................................................................... 7
3.3. Software Development Life Cycle Methodology (SDLC) .......................................................... 9

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 3.3.1. Agile Methodology ............................................................................................................... 9
CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................................... 12
SYSTEM ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................................. 12
4.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 12
4.1 System requirement specifications .................................................................................................. 12
4.1.1 Functional requirements ........................................................................................................... 12
4.1.2. User case diagram .................................................................................................................... 12
4.2.1. Non-Functional Requirements .................................................................................................... 15
4.2.2. Hardware requirement ................................................................................................................. 15
CHAPTER FIVE .................................................................................................................................... 16
SYSTEM DESIGN .................................................................................................................................. 16
5.0. System design ................................................................................................................................. 16
5.1.1. Entity Relation Diagram (E-RD) ............................................................................................. 16
5.2.1. Interface design ....................................................................................................................... 16
CHAPTER SIX ....................................................................................................................................... 18
SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................................................. 18
6.0 System development ....................................................................................................................... 18
6.1 Module 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 18
6.2 Module 2 ......................................................................................................................................... 18
6.3 Module 3 ......................................................................................................................................... 19
CHAPTER SEVEN ................................................................................................................................. 20
SYSTEM TESTING ............................................................................................................................... 20
7.0 system testing technique used ......................................................................................................... 20
7.2. Unit testing: ................................................................................................................................ 20
7.3. System testing: ............................................................................................................................ 20
CHAPTER EIGHT ................................................................................................................................. 21
RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION .................................................................................... 21
8.1 Recommendation ......................................................................................................................... 21
8.2 Project constraints........................................................................................................................ 21
8.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 21
CHAPTER NINE .................................................................................................................................... 22
PROJECT BUDGET AND TIMELINE ............................................................................................... 22

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 9.2. Material and Cost ....................................................................................................................... 22
9.2. Work Schedule ........................................................................................................................... 22
9.3. Gantt Chart ................................................................................................................................. 23
APPENDIX .............................................................................................................................................. 24
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................ 26

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 LIST OF FIGURES.
Figure 2:1 Existing System ......................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 2:2 Proposed System ....................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 3.2 Questionnaire chart .................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 3:4 Agile Methodology.................................................................................................................. 10
Figure 5.1 Use case diagram ..................................................................................................................... 13
Figure 6.1 ERD for VICOBA social fund system .................................................................................... 16
Figure 7.1 Login Page ............................................................................................................................... 17
Figure 8.1 Dashboard Page ....................................................................................................................... 17
Figure 9.1 Loan Request Page .................................................................................................................. 18
Figure 10.2 Permission Request Page ....................................................................................................... 19
Figure 11.3 Payment Means ..................................................................................................................... 19

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 LIST OF TABLES
Table 3:1 Sample Questions ....................................................................................................................... 8
Table 4:1 Cost Estimation ......................................................................................................................... 22
Table 5:1 Duration of Project ................................................................................................................... 23
Table 5:2 Gannt Chat ................................................................................................................................ 23

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 LIST OF ABREVIATION

PHP =PHP HYPERTEXT PRE-PROCESOR

HTML =HYPERTEXT MARKUP LANGUAGE

CSS =CASCADING STYLESHEET

JS =JAVA SCRIPT

VICOBA =VILLAGE COMMUNITY BANKING

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Every project big or small is successful largely due to the effort of a number of wonderful people who
have always given their valuable advice or lent a helping hand. I sincerely appreciate the inspirations
support and guidance of all those people who have been instrumental in making this project a success.

I feel deeply honored to express my sincere thanks to my project supervisor, Mr. Joseph Y Challo for
guiding me all through the project and providing valuable insights leading to the successful completion
of my project

Last but not the least I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to my family members especially Ms
Irene Joseph who has been my sponsor all through, and my friends who have been constant source of
inspiration and encouragement during this project work.

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 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.1. Historical Background
The concept of microfinance is not new to the world since there have been informal savings and
credit groups that have operated for centuries including the "susus" of Ghana, "chit funds" in
India, "tandas" in Mexico, "arisan" in Indonesia, "cheetu" in Sri Lanka, as well as numerous
savings clubs and burial societies found all over the world (Mercy Corps Global Envision, 2009).
Formal credit and savings institutions for the poor have also been around for decades. They have
been, providing customers who were traditionally neglected by commercial banks a way to
obtain financial services through cooperatives and development finance institutions (Schreiner &
Colombet, 2001).

VICOBA stand for Village Community Banking. Refer to the group of people not less than 15
who meet regularly at least once per week to contribute(save) and give loan to member among
them. It is a self-financing scheme which need no external funds as group members work with
their own capitals through shares and contribution Before the advent of VICOBA there were
critical poverty symptoms in Tanzania, which associated with underfeeding, poor shelter and
unemployment especially for primary, secondary and higher learning graduates (SEDIT 2008).
Therefore, it is in this situation that the Government of Tanzania in year 2000 opened a new page
for the first cluster of National Strategy for Economic Growth and Reduction of Poverty, which
is Economic Growth and Reduction of Income Poverty. It is at this stage the VICOBA schemes
began

1.2. Problem Statements.

 The existing system has lead to penalties when a member does not contribute due to
his/her absence.
 Also there is quarrels and misunderstanding when among of leaders spend contributed
money.
 Also members do not get loan on time.

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1.3. The Scope of The Project.
This project will reach savings and credit groups operating in accordance to the core principles
of Village Community Bank (VICOBA), focusing on VICOBA group members and non
VICOBA group members who are either member of the family wants to register as a group and
for aim of getting knowledge about fund and loans.

1.4. Projects Objectives.

The objective of this projects has been categorized to two parts which are main and specific
objective.

1.4.1. Main Objectives.

To design and implement VICOBA social fund system (VSFS).

1.4.2. Specific Objectives

 To create a subsystem for member and administrator accounts.

 To design a subsystem for loan request.

 To design a subsystem for permission request.

 To design and create subsystem for contribution.

1.5. Significance of The Project.

 To help members of the group to create faithfully among them.

 To resolve quarrel and increase respect among them.

 To provide means of contribution among the member of the group who are not able to
attend frequently.
 To enable members of the group to be able and responsible even if they are far away.

1.6. Limitations of The Project.

The proposed system will have the following limitations

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  The system will be only accessed through the internet since its web-based system
 Only the registered users will be able to post the advertisement
 Only admin will able to delete post.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEWS
This literature review explains about the working of the existing system and its weaknesses.
Apart from that it also explains how the proposed system will work together with its advantages.
I studied the current system being used and described it as follows

2.1.Existing System
Existing system require members join to meet so that they can submit their contribution even if
you have other responsibilities (Care, (2004).). As more people gain confidence in current
encryption technologies, more and more users can be expected to frequently use internet and able
to use the available system for their use. Existing system is that when people want to join
VICOBA they have to meet group member and submit the contribution daily or once the group
meet even if you have other responsible. Tanzania have found some of the system which seems
to be VICOBA system but not really mean it (E wallet 2017, Amala 2020).

2.1.1. Disadvantage of Existing System

 Time consuming.
 It has some penalties.

2.1.2. Block Diagram for Existing System

Figure 2:1 Existing System

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2.2.Proposed System
The proposed system which is VICOBA social fund system will provide an independent web
based which mostly will be suitable to all kind of social group who are willingly to join and able
to contribute for all person who know each other like family members, friends or neighbors. So
databases will be created to store the information about group members, but also the information
will be available to all members about the general issues of their group.

2.2.1. Advantage of Proposed System.

 It will enable members of the group to create faithfully among them.
 It will remove quarrel and increase respect among them.
 It will give member enough time.
 Will enable members to see and know their contribution.

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2.2.2. Block Diagram for Proposed System

Figure 2:2 Proposed System

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 CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGY

3.1.Introduction
Methodology as the framework which is associated with a particular set of paradigmatic
assumptions that we will use to conduct our research or project. Hence this means the technique
and procedure adopted by conducting a research or project study. It outlines how data will be
collected and the tools for collecting data, system methodology, the proposed system input and
output, users and systems development tools.

3.2.Data Collection Method

When conducting field studies it is important to obtain accurate and reliable information about
the phenomenon under study. Questionnaires and observation are the most straightforward
instruments; hence the following methods will be used in gathering the information.

3.2.1. Questionnaire Method

This method will be used to obtain information from external party about the system. Concise
and unambiguous questions made up the questionnaire. Questionnaires will be used for the users
who will use the system.

3.2.1.1.Reason For Using Questionnaire

i. They are relatively easy to analyze and get more information from many people.

ii. They are easy record keeping.

iii. A large sample of the given population can be contacted at relatively low cost

iv. They are simple to administer

v. The format is familiar to most respondent hence it is easy to give full response.

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3.2.1.2.Sample Questions to Members

S/N QUESTIONS PARTICIPANT RESPONDENT

EXCELLENT GOOD BAD

1 What qualification a member 10 6 3 1

should have to be registered at
VICOBA?

2 What is allowed & not allowed 10 8 1 1

in VICOBA membership?

3 What challenge do members 10 7 1 2

face in VICOBA membership?

4 Is there any penalties for a 10 9 0 1

member failing to abide on
VICOBA agreements? If yes
specify

5 Do you think VICOBA 10 4 2 4

SOCIAL FUND SYSTEM will
help you to conduct your
contribution?

Table 3:1 Sample Questions

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 Figure 3.2 Questionnaire chart

3.3.Software Development Life Cycle Methodology (SDLC)

3.3.1. Agile Methodology
The agile models or methodologies are group of methodologies that utilize incremental changes
with focus on quality and attention to detail. Each increment is released in specified period of
time which creating a regular release schedule with very specific objectives. The Agile
methodology begins with clients describing how the end product will be used and what problem
it will solve. This clarifies the customer's expectations to the project team. Once the work begins,
teams cycle through a process of planning, executing, and evaluating which might just change
the final deliverable to fit the customer's needs better.

3.3.1.1.Phases of Agile Model

 Requirement gathering: All possible requirements of the system to be developed are
captured in this phase and documented in a requirement specification doc.
 System analysis: In this phase include all information collected during data collection
process.

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  System Designing: The requirement specifications from first phase are studied in this
phase and system design is prepared. System Design helps in specifying hardware and
system requirements and also helps in defining overall system architecture.
 Implementation (Coding or Construction): With inputs from system design, the
system is first developed in small programs called units, which are integrated in the next
phase. Each unit is developed and tested for its functionality which is referred to as Unit
Testing.
 Unit testing and Deployment: All the units developed in the implementation phase are
integrated into a system after testing of each unit. Post integration the entire system is
tested for any faults and failures.

3.3.1.2.Why Agile Model?

 People over process and tools it involves users to give feedback on what they want on the
system.
 Working software over comprehensive documentation
 It involves customer collaboration over what should be included in.
 It responds to change rather than following the plan.

Figure 3:4 Agile Methodology

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Language used for markup and programming

A programming language is a formal language, which comprises a set of instructions that

produce various kinds of output. Programming languages have strengths in different areas.

 Back-end: PHP Web-Programming Language

 Front-end: HTML, Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) & Bootstrap library
 Database (DBMS): My Structured Query Language (MySQL)
 Web-server: Apache web-server.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

SYSTEM ANALYSIS
4.0 Introduction
System analysis is the process or technique that breaks down a system into its different
component parts for the aim of studying how the component parts work and interact to
accomplish their tasks or purpose

4.1 System requirement specifications

A software requirements specification (SRS) is a description of a software system to be
developed. It lays out functional and non-functional requirements, and may include a set of use
cases that describe user interactions that the software must provide.
4.1.1 Functional requirements
A functional requirement specification is a function that a system component must be able to
perform. It might be documented in various ways. The most common ones are written
descriptions in documents, and use cases.

4.1.2. User case diagram

A use case diagram is a graphic depiction of the interactions among the elements of a system. A
use case is a methodology used in system analysis to identify, clarify, and organize system
functional requirements.
Based on the above functional requirements, then the following cases shows how Admins,
accountants and members interact with the system.

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 Figure 5.1 Use case diagram

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The following are the functional requirement that will be used in order to complete the project;
1. Registration:
In this feature the function delivered are.

 Administrator registration
 Administrator to register members

2. Authentication

This includes log in as well as log out of the system users.

3. Managing loan

In this feature the function that will be delivered are

Forms filled by member managed by accountant

4. View Transaction

This will involve members of the group to see what they had contributed

5. Approve permission
Chairperson/admin will be able to allow members who requested permission
6. Generate reports
Chairperson/admin will generate the overview report and share to all members
7. Contribute
All absent member will be able to contribute online
8. Login and Logout
Member will enter and exit the system
9. Request loan
All members who need loan will be able to request here
10. Feedback

This involves accountant or admin returning feedback to the member if a certain request is
granted or not

11. Uploading and viewing reports

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 In this feature the function that will be delivered are

• Administrator/Chairperson uploading reports

• Member viewing reports

4.2.1. Non-Functional Requirements

Non-functional requirements include a set of use cases and data flow diagrams that describe user
interactions that the software must provide. It also show what a user can do in a system.
Performance
The system is expected to have more than 50 registered users and it can serve about 300 users
concurrent without introducing any delay or system crash (expected 80% of users would be
online each day). The system will deliver high performance and higher response to its users if
the requirement as shown in the hardware requirement sections are met. At the peak hour, the
system response should not exceed 1minute.

Security
Each member will have a privileged to access the system database by using his or her phone
number, password and his or her status.
Secured from hacker’s attack: In order to protect information stored, the system will be kept
away from public network to reduce probability of being compromised.

Accessibility
A proportion of the targeted population will access the system, wherever they are at their own
comfort.

4.2.2. Hardware requirement

Computer with minimum:
 1GB RAM
 Processor speed 1.0 GHz
 128 GB HDD/SSD can be used to develop the proposed system

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 CHAPTER FIVE

SYSTEM DESIGN
5.0. System design
System design is the specification or construction of a technical, computer-based solution for the
business requirements identified in a system analysis
The designing of the system covered logical & physical design where creation of different
entities for data storage using a specified Database Management System (DBMS) and designing
of an interface, which will help the user to interact with the system.

5.1 Database modelling

5.1.1. Entity Relation Diagram (E-RD)
All the four tables, the postpone table, special exam table, appeal table and user role table
interact with the user table while the user role table only interacts with the roles table

Figure 6.1 ERD for VICOBA social fund system

5.2.1. Interface design

Interface design is the design of user interfaces for machines and software, such as computers,
home appliances, mobile devices, and other electronic devices, with the focus on maximizing
usability and the user experience.

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Login page

Figure 7.1 Login Page

Dashboard page

Figure 8.1 Dashboard Page

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 CHAPTER SIX

SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
6.0 System development
Systems development is the process of defining, designing, testing and implementing a new
software application or program. It can include the internal development of customized systems,
the creation of database systems or the acquisition of third party developed software.

6.1 Module 1
Loan request
This shows the loan request form where member will fill the form to request a loan which will
be approved by accountant.

Figure 9.1 Loan Request Page

6.2 Module 2
Request permission
This shows the permission page for member where the admin manages the permission issues. So
that if it is approved or denied member gets the notification.

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 Figure 10.2 Permission Request Page

6.3 Module 3
Contribution means
Tis feature will show the page/panel where member will pay to contribute. Accountants will
process the payment and member will be notified.

Figure 11.3 Payment Means

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 CHAPTER SEVEN

SYSTEM TESTING
7.0 system testing technique used
7.2. Unit testing:
Was used where-as the testing was done, making debugging easier since finding issues made
issues to be fixed in less time

7.3. System testing:

Was used to evaluate the integrated system, this kind of testing tests the entire system that’s
fully functional to ensure it meets all the requirements. Here the users of the system test the
system if the system requirements are met or not, this was done by few students and some staffs

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 CHAPTER EIGHT

RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION

8.1 Recommendation
I would like to recommend that the system should be further developed for the implementation
of online payment when it comes to the issue contribution. I would also recommend the increase
the reach and quality of campus internet networks for s

8.2 Project constraints

The constraints that led a few functions not to be implemented is the period. Due to being behind
timeline it was unable to implement some functions as other time you had to concentrate with
other studies too, and the timetable being too tight

8.3 Conclusion
Therefore, the implementation of this system will help VICOBA to ease up the contributions
and act as a storage medium to their information and data securely since it is computerized and
it will reduce inconveniences and penalty that occur when a member will not attend the meeting.
It will also enable member to get notifications on their status on the issues of VICOBA, whether
they are allowed/denied on permission request and loans.

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 CHAPTER NINE

PROJECT BUDGET AND TIMELINE

9.2. Material and Cost
The implantation of the computerized system it requires software and hardware material. The
kind of material required depend on the kind of the system which going to be constructed for
example material of develop web-based system some of them are vary and some are the same
between one the other web system. The following table show the material that will be most
usefully to develop the VICOBA social fund system.

S/No Material Costs

1. Transport fee during data Tsh 25,000/=
collection.
2. Internet. Tsh 40,000/=
3. Stationary and printing services. Tsh 70,000/=
4. Developing language Free
TOTAL Tsh 135,000/=

Table 4:1 Cost Estimation

9.2. Work Schedule

Project scheduling is one of the critical management tasks as it dictates the time frames in which
the project will be completed, the resource requirements and the sequence of tasks to be
completed. Project scheduling is defined as the process of determining when project activities
will take place depending upon defined durations and precedent activities. Schedule constraints
specify when an activity should start or end, based on duration, target dates or other time
constraints.

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 S/N EVENT DURATION
1. Requirement gathering 7 weeks
2. Data analysis 3 weeks
3. Design system 5 weeks
4. System implementation 6 weeks
5. Unit testing and deployment 2 weeks

Table 5:2 Duration of Project

9.3.Gantt Chart
DURATI NO DE JAN FEB MAR MA JUN JUL
ON V C Y
S/N ACTIVIT
1 Requirement
gathering
2 Data analysis
3 Design system
4 System
development
and testing
5 System
implementatio
n
Table 5:3 Gannt Chat

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 APPENDIX
Source codes

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 REFERENCES

1. Dissertation under Kishapu district (Shinyanga) project by Rutenge final. Retrieved

19.1.2022 Bandura, A. (1977). Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral
Change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215
2. Bikki, R. (2001). Financial Sector Operations and Policy Department, Social Finance
Programme Working Paper Geneva. ILO.
3. Calgagovski J., Gabor, V., Germany, M. C., and Humphreys, C. (1991). “Africa
Financing”
4. Needs in the 1990s. Washington, DC: World Bank. CARE, (2004). Where the end of
poverty begins [online]. Retrieved on December 24, 2003 from:
http://www.careusa.org/?source www.care.org.
5. Ngalemwa, D. M. MARD. Candidate (2013). The Contribution of the Village Community
Banks to Income Poverty Alleviation

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