Effectiveness of Zakat Community Development Program: A Case Study in West Sumatera

Abstract

This research aims at assessing the effectiveness of zakat community development program, a community-based development program funded mainly through zakat, undertaken at Tanah Datar District, West Sumatera. The program was intended to establish a center for superior goat breeding in the district which was expected to enhance the quality of life of the program beneficiaries (zakat recipients) and to transform them to become zakat payers. The program was designed as four years program which was started in 2016 and ended in 2020. The research was designed as case study research involving in-depth interviews, site observations, and documentary analysis. The time spent for conducting the case study research was two years and 9 Months (December 2018- October 2021). The findings of the study showed that the program can be categorized as ineffective program due to the following reasons. First, the program had been introduced as a top-down approach. The program attempted to create a totally new community, a breeder community, in the selected village while the residents do not have qualities required to become a good breeder. The program could have been a successful one if the program focusses on developing the existing local economy potency. Next, the Zakat Board of Tanah Datar District has no institutional capacity to implement the program. The implementation had relied on the assistance from a research center in North Sumatera Province. Once the support was withdrawn, Zakat Board of Tanah Datar could not do much with the program. Finally, the program was lacked stakeholders’ support and lacked transparency and accountability.