Resources / Water and Sanitation in Tanzania: an Update Based on the 2002 Population and Housing Census

Summary

This briefing paper is an update of a 2003 study of water and sanitation indicators in Tanzania. It uses data from the 2002 Population and Housing Census to comment on two National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP) operational targets: water supply and basic sanitation. The results highlight the inequality of access to improved water supply between urban and rural communities, and among districts. While the Census reports a very high percentage of households as having pit latrines, the data say nothing about the quality of these facilities or whether they amount to basic sanitation. The water and sanitation data from the 2002 Census, although basic, are an invaluable baseline as the sector progresses towards universal access to water and sanitation.