Water management holds the potential to address a multiple range of livelihood, poverty
and development issues in Africa. There are a number of initiatives to realise this
potential but, despite this, progress is slow in many areas. The African Development
Bank commissioned Stockholm Environment Institute to conduct a study on waterpoverty
linkages with the aim of disentangling some of the water-poverty complexities
and identifying new dimensions for progressive development in Africa. The study
contains three country cases, including this report from Tanzania, in which the countryspecific
context of water-poverty linkages is discussed.
Tanzania has a high level of water dependence in its economy, with agriculture the
largest sector and main source of livelihoods for the majority of the population; other key
sectors, such as tourism and fisheries (the two largest sources of foreign exchange
earnings), are dependent on healthy ecosystems, whose integrity in turn depends on water
flows. Agriculture is dominated by rainfed farming and livestock, both of which are
severely affected by unreliable rainfall and poor water management. Safe water supply
and improved sanitation coverage in both urban and rural areas is low and the rate of
progress in extending coverage is below that necessary for Tanzania to attain its MDG
targets.