Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is renowned for its attractions such as the Serengeti National Park, as well as being home to the highest point in Africa - Mount Kilimanjaro. It is the largest of the East African countries, and since its formation in 1964 its population has tripled to 41.3 million.

While Tanzania is bordered by the three largest lakes on the continent, many areas are very dry, with little opportunity for agriculture. Water and sanitation remains a high priority: just less than half of Tanzanians have somewhere safe and hygienic to go to the toilet, and only 62% of the population have access to an improved water supply.

On average women and children spend over two hours a day collecting water while journeys of six to seven hours are not unusual in some rural areas.

WaterAid in Tanzania

WaterAid has worked in Tanzania since 1983, helping to improve poor people's access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. We work with local partner organisations and communities on practical, sustainable projects and influence district, local and national government to invest effectively in these services. This work is vital as without water and sanitation childhood ailments like diarrhoea are killers, resulting in the deaths of 4,000 children worldwide every day.

In the last ten years WaterAid has expanded its presence into the Tabora, Singida and Manyara Regions, and the Temeke Municipality in Dar es Salaam. We work with a wide range of local partner organisations including church groups, municipal and district councils, local development organisations and the private sector; utilising their knowledge and understanding to reach those communities most in need. WaterAid's partners help communities set up low-cost, sustainable projects using technologies that are affordable, appropriate to local conditions and which can be maintained by the community themselves. The community is asked to determine how much it can afford to pay and the types of technology that would suit them best.

Hawa Mohammed, 38 collecting water in Mtika village in Tanzania's Singida district.

Credit: WaterAid / Marco Betti

Water supplies are usually established by rehabilitating boreholes or constructing small gravity schemes or shallow wells. In semi-arid areas such as Dodoma and Tabora, where water tables are very low, diesel engines and pumps are often needed to pump the water from deep in the ground. In cities, WaterAid's work is focused on influencing
governments and service providers to ensure that those unserved by the piped network gain access to clean water.

The sanitation programme typically includes the promotion of appropriate and affordable pit or composting latrines, through raising awareness around the importance of good hygiene and sanitation practices. WaterAid is also lobbying for all schools to have adequate sanitation and experimenting with innovative latrine pit-emptying technologies so that waste from latrines is not left to overflow into the streets.

Hygiene education takes various forms, including the child to child approach where children receive hygiene messages which they pass on to their friends and family. The main focus of this is on the importance of hand washing at critical times such as after defecation and before eating or feeding children – one of the most effective ways of reducing many illnesses. Other hygiene messages include the safe handling of water especially for drinking, use of latrines and restricting the access of cattle and goats to areas around the home.

Download the Tanzania country information sheet ( PDF 1.4MB)

Tanzania documents and publications