Thu, November 29, 2018 at 9:20 am GMT
Rural – urban migration has been a main feature of migration in Tanzania for many years. The increase in rural –urban migration has led to increasing rate of urbanization, especially in major urban centers like Dar es Salaam, Mbeya, Mwanza, and Arusha. The proportion if population living in urban areas increased from 5 percent in 1967 to 13 in 1978 and 21 percent in 1988. Between 1978 and 1988, the urban population for Tanzania increased by 53 percent. These are variations alone contained about 25 percent of the total urban population in 1988. The unprecedented migration of people from rural areas increase the burden on already over- loaded public services and social infrastructure especially in the squatter areas, which stimulate the flourishment of communicable diseases like tuberculosis, cholera and malaria. Rural –rural migration also contributes to the regional and district level variations in terms of population pressure over resources. These variations are demonstrated by differences in population densities between districts, wards and villages. The general observation is that population increase has not been in line with the land area available for human use.