Tanzania (Past)

Tanzania has been spared the internal strife that has blighted many African states but domestic stability has not translated into economic prosperity for Tanzanians with 67.9% of the population living below the official poverty line. Many of its people live below the world bank poverty line. Most people rely on small-scale farming in rural areas, but around 35% of the population do not have enough food to eat.

Signpost started working in Tanzania in 2019 when we partnered alongside the Vine Trust and the African inland church Tanzania to address water-related health concerns in the Island communities of Lake Victoria.

WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is one of Signpost’s four strands of work and Tanzania is in crisis when it comes to Water and Sanitation. Only 57% of Tanzania’s population of 57 million have access to safe water, and only 30% of Tanzania’s population have access to improved sanitation.

Tanzania is surrounded by many large lakes which offer an abundance of water but many of the lakes including Lake Victoria are polluted due to the inadequate infrastructure of sewage and water systems.

For most people on the islands, water for drinking, cooking and cleaning is only accessible from the heavily contaminated lake water. Though there is knowledge of waterborne illnesses, without the resources to treat the water, community members are often left with little option but to use it. As a result, there is a high prevalence of waterborne illness recorded as a direct consumption of contaminated water sources.

We hope that our WASH projects will implement the provision of water-treatment solutions to island households improving water, sanitation and hygiene.