Rural Life in Tanzania

After the Arusha Declaration of 1967, Tanzania became a socialist state. This resulted in stagnant economy, but helped cure corruption and political instability. However, Tanzania is faced with low rainfall and poor soil, worsening the life of people living in rural areas. This fits in to the larger African pattern of internal migration, where people move from rural areas to cities.

One factor that may explain the difficulty of rural life in Tanzania is the poor health services. The main health issue of Tanzania is, supposedly, the lack of outreach both in terms of medical supplies and equipment, and awareness of such diseases such as HIV/AIDS. 29% of all deaths in Tanzania are caused by AIDS. Also, malaria, the third leading cause of death in Tanzania, which mostly occurs in rural areas, accounts for 5.6% of all deaths in Tanzania.

However, urban life in Tanzania doesn't seem to be much better than rural life. The under-5 mortality rate for rural Tanzania is of 16.6%, whereas the same figure for urban Tanzania is still a whopping 14.2%. In addition, diarrhoeal diseases (4th leading cause of death in Tanzania) account for 3.6% of all deaths in Tanzania. Water quality, though, is equally poor all over the country.