Millennium Development Goals in Tanzania

Tanzanian Mother and daughter

Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world, with 58% of the population living below the $1 per day threshold for extreme poverty adopted by the UN. Based on Tanzania's own assessment of the minimum income for basic needs, the percentage is less acute, just under 36% in 2004. The equivalent figure for 1990 was 39% implying a disappointing rate of progress. The same is true for the percentage surviving below the more extreme food poverty line. The latest position is awaited in results of a Household Budget Survey conducted in 2007 but it appears likely that, taking into account population growth which continues at about 3% pa, there are more people now living in poverty in Tanzania than in the baseline year for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This poverty is very substantially located in rural areas where most of the population lives. 85% of farming is by hand tools with minimal inputs and poor access to credit. Although Tanzania is normally able to feed itself, as recently as 2006 prolonged drought compelled an appeal for international food aid. Arid and semi-arid regions such as Lindi, Mtware and Kigoma are especially vulnerable. Malnutrition is the cause of about 50% of child mortality.

This gloomy picture is greatly cheered by the phenomenal progress in getting children into school that has occurred since 2004, thanks to the lifting of fees and the construction of hundreds of new schools. Net primary school enrolment has rocketed from 65% in 2001 to 96% in 2006; with girls benefiting as much as boys, key MDG targets are close to fulfilment. Given that the number of primary pupils has almost doubled to 8 million in this 5 year period, there are inevitable problems of capacity and the government has conceded that over 5,000 additional teachers are needed.

Despite this bottleneck, the Tanzanian government in general has taken great trouble to articulate its vision for development and plans for poverty reduction. The National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP), known as Mkukuta in Swaheli (and Mkuza for Zanzibar), covers the 5 year period to 2010 and involved detailed consultation with international and local development stakeholders. It places great emphasis on the contribution of economic growth to poverty reduction, a premise which to date has been less than convincing in Tanzania. Impressive growth rates in recent years have so far rewarded only the urban elite.

Health and HIV/AIDS in Tanzania

AIDS suffering in Tanzania © Christian Aid

The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS has undermined every aspect of the struggle against poverty in Tanzania. Although prevalence has fallen in recent years to 6.5%, there are 1.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS and half of hospital beds are filled by patients with AIDS-related illnesses. Less than 20% of those in need are receiving anti-retroviral treatment.

Coordinated by the Tanzania Commission for AIDS, years of public campaigns have created high awareness of the risks of HIV but underlying stigma and misunderstandings remain powerful enough to impose barriers to the free testing programmes now available. Strong commitment demonstrated by President Kikwete and his wife is not readily reproduced in local community leaders. The result is what UNAIDS describes as "scattered interventions" rather than a solid programme of HIV testing and counselling.

Lack of capacity in rural health services is of course as much a constraint as incisive leadership. In a country which offers only one doctor per 20,000 people, child mortality is not improving fast enough to meet the MDG targets and, in common with many African countries, maternal mortality appears to be worsening. Data is unreliable but maternal mortality in 2005 has been estimated at 578 per 100,000 births, higher than the rate in 1996. Only 27% of births in rural areas were attended by a qualified health worker.

Tanzania © United Nations Children's Fund

Approximately half of the population is affected by malaria which remains the leading cause of death. A major initiative announced during the 2008 visit of President Bush aims to distribute over 5 million bednets. UNICEF's answers to common health problems, now to be found all over Tanzania, are Child Health Days which schedule regular visits to villages from health workers giving advice and immunisations.

A potentially more positive health issue for Tanzania is access to clean and safe drinking water for which the country claims to be on track to achieve the Millennium Goal. The decentralised model of establishing local community committees to take responsibility for maintenance and revenue collection for water sources has worked particularly well in Tanzania. However, only 53% of the rural population had access to an improved water source in 2005 and much remains to be done to achieve the 2015 target of 82%.
Climate Change in Tanzania

Ngorongoro Crater © Kathryn Russell

The 2006 MDG Progress Report for Tanzania makes not a single mention of the impact of climate change on poverty reduction plans. Yet the country's National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) published in the following year offers over 60 pages of alarming grounds for concern. Of greatest significance is the assessment that a 2 degree rise in temperature could reduce yields of Tanzania's staple maize crop by as much as 33%. Diversifying into new crop varieties will test impoverished farmers to the limit.

Receding glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro © Greenpeace International

Tanzania is home to one of the great symbols of climate change - the melting icecap of Mount Kilimanjaro - which is projected to lose its permanence by 2020. However the greater significance of the Kilimanjaro region is the impact of temperature change on its sensitive forest ecosystem and the role that plays in the water cycle. Indeed water management dominates the NAPA list of recommended adaptation projects - irrigation, conservation, harvesting and hydropower - all vital in defending a rural economy which the World Food Programme describes as "highly susceptible to climatic shocks". Alongside concerns about expanding malaria risk, increased insect infestations, and pressure on the "rangelands" already overused for livestock, it is clearly the poorest communities who will be hit hardest. It seems illogical to pump hundreds of millions of aid dollars into Tanzania's development agenda whilst climate change adaptation funds contemplate mere fractions of these sums.
Politics in Tanzania

Maasai Man © African Initiatives

Tanganyika gained independence from the British in December 1961 and formed a union with Zanzibar in 1964, becoming the United Republic of Tanzania. There are believed to be over 120 ethnic tribes in the country but, such is the culture of non-violent conflict resolution and political engagement, that Tanzania is typically described as one of the most politically stable countries in Africa.

Julius Nyerere of TANU, the party later known as Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), became the president following independence. He advocated socialist policies of self-reliance. From independence until the mid-1990s Tanzania operated as a one party state, with the president of Zanzibar acting as vice-president of Tanzania. Eventually in October 1995 the first multiparty election was held, with 13 parties contesting, and the presidential election held simultaneously. Elections in 2005 led to another overwhelming CCM victory with Jakaya Kikwete taking over as president. Two key posts in the new government have been filled by women, a much needed step towards greater gender equality in Tanzanian public life. Kikwete is highly respected inside and outside Tanzania but questions are beginning to be asked about the slow progress in human development.

Zanzibari boys © Kathryn Russell

Separate elections are held in Zanzibar, often generating far more heated debate than on the mainland with a tendency to violence. Although CCM is also the ruling party in Zanzibar, the question of autonomy is kept high on the current political agenda by the opposition Civic United Front party. Poverty rates in Zanzibar are higher than on the mainland.

Civil Society organisations in Tanzania have grown considerably since the country's independence and many play a part in the creation and maintenance of democracy. The movement has as yet been unsuccessful in ending the corruption that pervades everyday life, and which corrodes underpaid public sector workers including the judiciary. However, a new anti-corruption law was introduced in 2007 and early 2008 saw the resignation of prime minister Edward Lowassa, two other cabinet ministers, and the central bank governor over graft accusations.
Human Rights in Tanzania

Burundian refugees in Tanzania

Human rights issues in Tanzania are dominated by its status as host to the largest number of refugees in the world, relative to its GDP. Over several decades refugees have originated from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Somalia and Burundi, for reasons ranging from the genocide in Rwanda to famine in Somalia. The total registered at the end of 2007 was 381,000 including 288,000 from Burundi. The government therefore is constantly faced with tension between its obligations under the Geneva Convention and inevitable pressures on Tanzanian communities adjacent to refugee camps - as well as the decrepit state of the camps themselves, with outbreaks of illness caused by the cramped conditions and overstretched medical and humanitarian resources. For example, in 2007 Human Rights Watch was critical of Tanzania for the arbitrary expulsion of refugees from Burundi and DRC.

2007 also marked a determined effort by Tanzania and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to take advantage of improving conditions in Burundi and DRC to support a programme of repatriation and, in the case of Burundians who arrived as long ago as 1972, the offer of Tanzanian citizenship. If all goes to plan, a number of refugee camps will be closed and total numbers of refugees remaining in Tanzania reduced to 234,000 by the end of 2009.

In the national context, violence against women is Tanzania's main concern; this often goes unpunished in court, due to patriarchal customs being upheld. The most serious aspect is female genital mutilation on which NGO advocacy groups and local community-based organizations are making some progress in overcoming deep seated traditions with prevalence down to about 15%. Cultural barriers are also relevant in those pockets of the country where child labour remains common, especially in the crop plantations, mines and the islands of Zanzibar.
Information and Media in Tanzania

IT students in Tanzania

State control of the media was lifted after the introduction of the multiparty system and there are now over a dozen daily newspapers, scores of weekly and monthly newspapers or periodicals, and six television stations, most of which were privately owned. By contrast, the situation in Zanzibar is more restricted, with critical papers banned by the regional government. Radio is the main media, with dozens of stations operating on the mainland.

The internet is available in Tanzania and mobile phone technology has leapfrogged shortcomings in infrastructure and is widely used. Both the internet and mobile phone technologies are being utilised by local people to develop and grow their businesses and likewise by development agencies as a means of communicating at grassroots level.
The Economy in Tanzania

Market in Tanzania © Kathryn Russell

The Tanzanian economy is dependent on primary agriculture, with cotton, coffee, tea, cashew nuts, sisal, maize, rice, wheat cassava and tobacco accounting for 46% of the GDP. Although Tanzania was one of eighteen countries qualifying for immediate cancellation of major debts in the 2005 package announced by G8 finance ministers, 42% of its budget continues to be funded by foreign aid - indeed the country is the largest recipient of aid in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mass privatisation began in Tanzania in 1993 and has continued. The country's socialist background accounts for the preponderance of state-owned companies. Most proved themselves unprofitable and up to 80% were sold off by the end of 2002. Privatisation is considered by many to be a success in Tanzania, with newly privatised companies creating jobs, paying taxes and generally improving the economy. A noteworthy exception was the privatisation of water which had a detrimental impact on the poor who could neither afford the higher charges nor increase their access to water supplies. In May 2005, UK water company Biwater was kicked out of Tanzania after failing to provide satisfactory supplies or adequate levels of investment in Dar es Salaam.



The OneWorld Tanzania Guide was first published in this format in December 2004 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Kathryn Russell

---------

Help us to complete OneWorld Guides
Some developing countries are missing from our range of Country Guides. OneWorld wants to fill these gaps but we need financial help. If there is a country that you would especially like to see included, then you could make it happen...... find out more