Note: The menu shows the 36 African countries where Africare has worked, not the other African countries.

Tanzania (Map courtesy of The World Factbook)

Africare-Tanzania

Africare’s History in Tanzania

Africare opened its doors in Tanzania in 1994. Since then it has worked closely with the government and community groups to implement many development activities.

On the islands of Zanzibar, for example, Africare assisted indigenous self-help groups to develop a counseling program for AIDS victims. Tanzanian craftspeople received help from Africare to improve the quality and marketability of their products. A major child survival project, begun in 1998, delivered life-saving assistance to families in the district of Kongwa. Also in 1998, Africare began an integrated poverty alleviation and environmental conservation project in communities adjacent to the Ugalla Game Reserve.

From 1996 to 2005, Africare provided emergency shelter, education, food and medical care to tens of thousands of refugees from the ethnic warfare in neighboring Burundi. By 2005, many of those refugees were gradually returning home. Africare assisted local governments and communities in Kigoma, Tabora and Dodoma regions to build hundreds of classrooms, health clinics, staff housing and water systems in a program which ended in 2006.

Since 2005 Africare has been assisting orphans, other vulnerable children and their caregivers throughout Dodoma region. That work expanded to Coast region and Zanzibar in 2006, where it was complemented with home-based care for people living with HIV/AIDS. In 2005 and 2006, Africare assisted the Zanzibar Ministry of Health to distribute life-saving insecticide-treated bednets to all women of child-bearing age and children under five years of age. In 2007, Africare began assisting local groups to fight HIV/AIDS among high-risk groups along major truck routes.

In the year 2005, Africare also began assisting the Ministry of Health in the roll-out of the malaria treatment Artemisinin combination therapy throughout mainland Tanzania. Since the same time period, Africare-Tanzania has hosted the secretariat of the Tanzanian Non-governmental Alliance Against Malaria.

Africare-Tanzania Today

Africare-Tanzania’s programs continue to build local institutional capacities at village and broader community levels. The sustainability of any project and the long term improvement of any community’s living conditions depend on capacity building support for stronger local institutions. Africare-Tanzania ensures that all its projects involve participation and input from the ground level, as well as support and governance from local bodies, skills training, and instruction for future sustainability. Africare-Tanzania prioritizes strengthening indigenous organizations’ capacities to strategize and mobilize for response to community demands beyond external support.

Our philosophy supports sustainable socio-economic development inspired and guided by local communities and their governments.

Africare-Tanzania Country Development Strategy 2009 – 2014 aims at:

1. Contributing to Tanzania National Strategy for Poverty Reduction (MKUKUTA)

2. Contributing to food security and promote conservation of natural resources.

3. Building capacities of local government authorities and community based

initiatives in providing quality health services.

Country Profile

REGION: East Africa
CAPITAL CITY: Dodma
POPULATION: 41,892,895
LAND AREA: 885,800 sq km (550,410 sq miles)

The United Republic of Tanzania came into being in 1964, following the merger of Zanzibar (an island nation) and Tanganyika (principally mainland). Today's Tanzania also includes the islands of Mafia and Pemba. As so many African countries, Tanzania transitioned during the second half of the 20th century from socialist to capitalist economic systems. Clear economic progress has been achieved in recent years. Between 2000 and 2006, the annual growth rate averaged 5.8 percent ― making Tanzania among the best performers in Sub-Saharan Africa. A major source of revenue has been tourism. Tanzania has wildlife-rich national parks such as the Serengeti; it has the highest point in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro; and it is bordered by three of Africa's largest lakes: Lake Victoria (the world's second-largest freshwater lake), Lake Tanganyika (the world's second deepest lake) and Lake Nyasa. Yet the average Tanzanian remains poor. Only 4 percent of the country's land is arable, and 80 percent of the work force depends on agriculture. In addition, Tanzania has received thousands of refugees from conflicts elsewhere in the Great Lakes region.