Tabora Urban District

The history of Tabora town can be traced back to 1830 when it was called “Unyamwezi”. During the slave trade in mid-1840s, the Arabs constructed a base in the town.

Tabora Municipality is 800 km (500 mi) west of Dar es Salaam, 320 km (200 mi) east of Kigoma port on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, and 360 km (220 mi) south of Mwanza city. The climate of the district is generally hot (20 to 32 degrees), with relative humidity ranging from 25 to 65% and the rain fall ranges from 650 to 850 mm (26 to 33 in) per year.

The Municipality is projected to have a total population of 197,825 people according to the 2002 census and a growth rate of 2.36 annually; within the jurisdiction area of 1092.26 square kilometres.

The literacy rate of the population in Tabora Municipality is 56% which has implications for health awareness. The Municipality is reasonably well connected through rail, roads and air services, although the main means of transportation is the railway. Even though the roads cover a fairly large percentage of the municipality, the condition of the roads has been deteriorating due to lack of funds for maintenance and the building of new roads and this adversely impacts access to health care services.

In the Municipality, agriculture is the main economic activity, focusing on maize, rice, groundnuts, beans, cowpeas, cassava, sweet potatoes and tobacco. Tabora is also famous for beekeeping (honey and beeswax) and forest timbering activities. Livestock farming is also an important economic activity in the region.

Much of the arable land in Tabora Municipality has been degraded due to poor irrigation practices and an increasing demand for land for agriculture, grazing and firewood. The industrial sector employs about 8929 people, 13.5% of which are in the formal sector.

There are various commercial activities varying in size and encompassing various retail activities such as groceries, stationery, hotel, bars, guesthouses, restaurants, cinema, pharmacies etc. Commercial activities are mainly concentrated in the central area, while the rural areas are largely poorly serviced. In summary, the low incomes of the population, low productivity of land and the existence of poor infrastructure influences the low health quality of the population and their access to health services.

Tabora acquired a Township council status in 1958 and was raised to municipal council July 1988. Administratively, the Municipality is subdivided into 21 wards; 8 rural and 13 urban. The urban wards are subdivided into 116 streets, while the rural wards are subdivided into 24 villages that are further subdivided into 117 hamlets.

The Municipal council has 9 departments: health, finance, economic planning and trade, education, agriculture, livestock and cooperatives, community development, works, town planning and environment, and administration and personnel. Municipality's economic base depends on the services sector provided by both central and local governments. Other economic activities in the Municipality are public services, commerce, small enterprises, industry, small-scale agriculture and forestry.

The climate of the Tabora region favours forestry, livestock and agriculture processing industries. In the 1960s and 1970s, Tabora was popular in timber processing industries and brands like Tabora Misitu was a common name. On the other hand, beekeeping industry was highly developed and Tabora Beekeepers Cooperative Union located at Kipalapala in Itetemia Ward was glorious with exports to West Germany, Britain, United States and other western countries reaching more than 200,000 tons in 1989. In 1992 Tabora Beekeepers won certification from the Soil Association and Organic Standards of Bristol, UK as producers of organic beeswax and honey. The famous blue label honey packs popularly called African Queen has now lost its glorious moments and the industry is in poor conditions following the liberalization of honey buying and selling business.

As of 2012, Tabora Urban District was administratively divided into 25 wards.[3]

• Tabora Urban District Homepage for the 2002 Tanzania National Census