Tanzania

Food insecurity has been a continuous problem in Tanzania for the past three decades, mainly resulting from poverty, climate change, and insufficient access to essential resources, such as water and cultivable land. The majority of individuals living in rural areas depend on subsistence agriculture, and they face difficulties in producing sufficient food given various climate shocks, such as droughts and floods. An estimated 839,000 people (9% of a population of 8.7 million people in 28 analysed districts) are expected to experience acute food insecurity – i.e. Crisis (IPC 3 Phase) – over the March–May 2023 period.

Tanzania was also hosting more than 247,000 refugees from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo as at 28 February 2023. The majority of them are sheltering in Nduta and Nyarugusu camps in Kigoma region, northwestern Tanzania.

For some host communities, the presence of refugees has created economic competition, especially in the agricultural sector, where most refugees are engaged. As refugees are paid less than workers from the host community, the economic opportunities of some Tanzanian nationals (especially casual labourers) are being affected. As a result, the Government has been limiting refugees’ engagement in some economic activities, such as in agricultural production, since the 1990s.

(IPC 30/12/2022, Xinhua 03/03/2022, UNCHR accessed 14/03/2022, UNCHR accessed 23/03/2023, UNHCR/WB 30/04/2018)