Tanzania

MAF in Tanzania

Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. The economy depends heavily on agriculture, yet there is a limited amount of fertile land to meet the needs. Ageing infrastructure and difficult terrain mean travel conditions can be dangerous and the rainy season cuts off many villages for weeks at a time.

MAF started operating in Tanzania in 1963, stopping in 1966 due to resource and staffing difficulties. There were many unmet needs for missionaries serving Tanzania, so we established permanent operations in 1977 and construction of an aircraft hangar began in 1978. From the beginning we have been involved with national churches, assisting them to reach and encourage Christians in isolated places.

Much of the flying centres on medical and evangelistic ‘safaris’ where national and missionary staff are taken out to remote villages for several days at a time. These regular medical and evangelistic trips to remote communities around Haydom, Malambo, Mbeya, Mbesa, and Kilimatinde enable people who are cut off for most of the year to receive medical help and to hear the Gospel. This has necessitated a network of bush airstrips, with more being sited to enable other areas to be reached.

• MAF in Tanzania operates two bases. Flight bookings, operations, maintenance and accounts department are based in Dodoma. The logistics department is based in Dar es Salaam.
• The aircraft fleet is made up of 5 aircraft, 3 Cessna 206s, 1 Cessna Grand Caravan and 1 Cessna Caravan.
• In total there are 82 staff (62 national staff, 20 international).
• The Tanzania programme also flies into Burundi.

Types of flying MAF does in Tanzania:

• Missions
• Churches
• Medical emergencies
• Medical safaris
• Evangelistic safaris

Organisations served by MAF in Tanzania:

• Anglican Church of Tanzania (ACT)
• Africa Inland Church (AIC)
• AMREF
• Assemblies of God
• Baptist Mission of Tanzania (MBT)(& Singida project)
• Benedictine Missionary Fathers
• Bible Baptist Mission
• Bible Society (of Tanzania)
• Blue Ridge Christian Homes Mission
• Bureau des Oeuvres Médicales
• Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
• Christian Blind Mission (CBM)
• Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT)
• Christian Missions in Many Lands (CMML)
• Church of Sweden Mission
• Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC)
• Compassion International
• Danish Lutheran Mission
• Dodoma Christian Medical Centre
• Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT)
• Evangelical Lutheran Church of Wuttenburg
• Free Pentecostal Church of Tanzania
• Grace Ministries International
• Habitat for Humanity
• Haven of Peace Academy (Hopac)
• Haydom Lutheran Hospital
• Heri Hospital
• Inglesia Evangelica Morava (Honduras)
• Ivrea Sisters
• KIUMA (incl Kiuma Trust Fund)
• Korean Mission Groups
• Malambo Safari
• Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
• Missionaries of Charity
• New Life Outreach
• Pentecostal Evangelical Fellowship in Africa
• Peramiho Abbey (incl Peramiho hospital)
• President’s Office – Regional Admin/local govt (PORALG)
• Royal Norwegian Embassy
• Scripture Mission – Arusha
• Summer Institute of Linguistics(SIL)/Wycliffe Bible Translators/JAARS/Bible
• Uhai Baptist Clinic
• UNDP (United National Development Programme)
• WaterAid
• Youth with a Mission (YWAM)

Demographics

Tanzania has the 19th lowest Human Development Index rating in the world

• Population: 40,213,162 (UK: 61 million)
• Birth rate: 36 births/1,000 population (UK: 11 births/1,000)
• Life expectancy at birth: 51 years (UK: 79 years)
• Population under 15 years: 44% (UK: 17%)
• High infant mortality: 1 in 14 die at birth (UK: 1 in 200 die at birth)
• Population below the poverty line: 36%
• HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate: 8.8% of population (UK: 0.2%)
• Literacy rate: 69.4% (UK: 99%)

Infrastructure

Ageing infrastructure and difficult terrain make challenging travel conditions

• Area of the country: 364,900 sq miles (UK: 94,525 sq miles)
• 49,642 miles of roads, but only 4,230 miles of paved roads (UK: 241,104 miles – all paved)
• 124 airstrips of which only 10 are paved

Economy

Tanzania’s weak economy depends heavily on agriculture, despite a limited amount of fertile land

• 80% of the population employed in agriculture, fishing and forestry
• Main exports include gold, coffee, cashew nuts and cotton

Environment

Man’s influence has created a number of environmental issues

• Soil degradation through over cultivation
• Desertification is a growing threat as a result of deforestation
• Destruction of coral reefs threatens marine habitats
• Recent droughts affecting marginal agricultural land
• Wildlife threatened by illegal hunting and trade, especially for ivory

Climate

The climate varies from tropical along the coast to temperate in the interior highlands. This brings potential for natural hazards

• Flooding on the central plateau during the rainy season
• Drought

Religion

There is religious freedom and equal rights for all faiths

• Muslim 35%
• Christian 30%
• indigenous beliefs 35%