The context in Tanzania

Tanzania is an East African country located on the Indian Ocean. Population growth continues to progress with a fertility rate of 4.8 children per woman despite an infant mortality rate of 4.1 percent. As of 2018, Tanzania’s population was approximately 56 million.

 

One of the poorest countries in the world, Tanzania has significant resources: the second largest gold producer in Africa, a major exporter of coffee and agricultural products, and one of the largest recipients of international aid. The weakness of the infrastructure, especially transport, and the living, sanitary and social conditions, slow down the development of the country. Conversely, access to education and literacy rates have increased since the beginning of the 21st century (87% in 2015 according to UNESCO).

 

The development of infrastructure, the construction of hospitals, universities, roads, the improvement of railways, the increase in mining capacity, the fight against corruption, are the main lines of work of the government with an economic growth that is increasing but remains insufficient to meet the needs of the population.

On the agricultural front :

“Agriculture is the 2nd buoyant economic sector that currently contributes 30% of GDP behind services (37.5%) but ahead of industry (26.3%). The agricultural sector employs more than 70% of the working population and accounts for 35% of total national exports.

 

Tanzania has 44 million hectares of arable land covering 50% of the total area but only 25% is cultivated. Most of the production is done by small-scale producers with farms of 0.2 to 2 hectares, half of which are subsistence farmers. The number of large farms remains limited, but the structure of farms is changing with a significant increase in medium-sized farms (5 to 100 ha), which account for 43% of cultivated land. The country has a diverse climate with good weather conditions recorded in most of the country’s producing regions. Food production in 2017-2018 reached 16.9 MT. “

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[1] Source Ministère de l’Économie et des Finances France.
DG du Trésor.5/02/2019

On the health front :

  • In 2015, it was estimated that over 2.7 million Tanzanian children under the age of 5 were stunted and over 600,000 were acutely malnourished, of which 100,000 were severe cases.
  • The fight against the ravages of AIDS is very difficult: It is estimated that about 1.4 million Tanzanians are infected with HIV. In addition, for every 1,000 births, nearly 6 women die in childbirth. These factors, along with widespread poverty, have resulted in an alarming level of orphans and street children in Tanzania.

Orphanages :

There are two main types of orphanages in Tanzania to meet the care needs of these children: boarding orphanages and day orphanages.

 

The word orphanage in Tanzania does not necessarily mean that the children have lost both parents. In fact, the majority may have lost only one parent and the single parent cannot afford to raise the child. Residential orphanages are traditional orphanages where the children reside permanently in the home. In boarding orphanages, villagers or volunteers are involved in various aspects of the care of the children by supporting them with food and meal preparation, organizing games and sports activities, or simply spending time with the children.

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The villagers act with natural responsibility because they belong to the same village or family and are deeply committed to daily solidarity with the poorest.