Tanzania
OVERVIEW
Tanzania is an admirable example of economic reform and political stability. Its considerable resources are a source of great potential for sustained growth. Driven by tourism, mining, trade, and telecommunications, the private sector has grown considerably. Despite a gross domestic product growth rate of 6.2 percent in 2006, the average GDP per person of $319, and the country relies heavily on foreign aid. Lack of basic healthcare and low levels of education are major challenges to development. Preventable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria risk sapping the country's economic and productive capacities. Additionally, Zanzibar remains divided between political parties. USAID addresses Tanzania's development challenges through democracy, education, health, and economic growth and environment programs.
PROGRAMS
GOVERNING JUSTLY AND DEMOCRATICALLY
USAID's democracy and governance program is based on improving public accountability at both the national and local levels as a critical step toward a more competitive democratic process in Tanzania. USAID is reinforcing the successes of the Millennium Challenge Account Threshold Program's anti-corruption efforts which focused on reforming public procurement, strengthening anti-corruption investigations, and improving the investigative reporting skills of journalists. USAID is also strengthening the role of civil society watchdog groups, working with the Department of Public Prosecutions to improve prosecutors' effectiveness, and with Parliament to strengthen the work of key oversight committees.
EDUCATION
USAID improves the quality of teaching by working with the government and underserved communities from pre-school to the secondary level in Zanzibar and the coastal areas of mainland Tanzania. The program, funded through the President's African Education Initiative, helps the government mentor and train teachers, improve school management, and strengthen teacher skills. An innovative radio instruction activity focuses on pre-primary and primary education, while providing children in isolated communities access to education.
HEALTH
Life expectancy in Tanzania is 51 years and falling, largely due to malaria and a 6-percent HIV/AIDS infection rate. In response, USAID focuses on preventing the spread and mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS, combating malaria, and increasing the use of reproductive and child health services. More than 25,000 people with AIDS received treatment last year, and over 215,000 orphaned and vulnerable children received support services. To fight malaria, USAID is supporting a multi-faceted program of prevention and case management. Zanzibar has essentially halted malaria transmission, and on the mainland, malaria deaths have been reduced by half-from 120,000 in 2005 to 60,000 in 2008. Since 2003, infant deaths have dropped 31 percent and child deaths 24 percent.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
Thirty-eight percent of Tanzanians-17 million people-live in poverty, the vast majority in rural areas. USAID seeks to increase rural incomes by improving agricultural productivity, increasing market access, and promoting investment and trade. USAID initiatives support direct air-freight for horticultural exports, promote smallholder vegetable out-growers to meet global market standards, and facilitate private investment through a $20-million credit guarantee. Kilicafe Association has tripled export revenue in three years to over $3 million, thereby improving the incomes of 10,000 coffee farmers. Overall, sales by USAID-supported farmers increased to $17 million during 2008, up from $10 million the previous year.
The livelihoods of the rural poor depend almost entirely on natural resources. USAID is improving conservation of these resources in some of Tanzania's critical ecosystem, through community livelihood improvement approaches. USAID supports the establishment of wildlife management areas, which empower communities to manage sustainable ecotourism enterprises and attract investments. The revenues made off their land improve rural livelihoods while conserving biodiversity. USAID also supports the development and implementation of the Environment Management Act, one of the country's most important pieces of conservation legislation. Since the initiation of program activities, almost 3 million hectares have been brought under sustainable conservation management.
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