malaria, ARI 22 and diarrhea), malnutrition and poor quality health care have been majorfactors in poor survival indicators.The illiteracy rate( % of population age 15+) is 25%. The Gross primary enrollment ( %of school-age population) is 67% for men and 66% for women.The age structure is as follows:0-14 years: 44.3% (male 7,988,898; female 7,938,979)15-64 years: 53.1% (male 9,429,959; female 9,634,102)65 years and over; 2.6% (male 405,803, female 524,713)Median age: total: 17.5years, male: 17.2 years and female: 17.7 yearsIn Tanzania, there are two official languages, Swahili and English.4.2.1 Characteristics of PovertyBased on the results of the in-country consultations with local communities, local andcentral governments and civil society members, during the preparation of this ESMF, thefollowing characteristics of poverty were derived:Who are the Poor?• Rural households.• Female headed households, other households with less than two adult-members,elderly and handicapped persons.• Large households.• Urban households.The groups are not mutually exclusive.Why are they poor?• Rural Households- low agricultural productivity, declining soil fertility and environmental degradation.- lack of access to land, land fragmentation, insecurity of land tenure.- lack of access to markets, absence of rural commercial activity and alternativeincome earning opportunities.- poor quality education, lack of access to education, high cost of education.- poor health services and health standards and rise in HIV/AIDS incidence,impacting negatively on productivity.- Poor nutritional intake- lack of access to low cost capital or micro-credit or micro-grants.- lack of access to affordable and sustainable household energy sources.- Vulnerability• Female-headed households- shortage of household labor.22 ARI – Acute Respiratory Infection36/114
- declining soil fertility- many women have to take care of unemployed/unemployable husbands,dependant parents, dependent orphans,- low education attainment, poor access to land, paid employment and credit- poor social services, e.g. water, health, education etc.• Urban Poor- rapid increase in urban population.- no employment opportunities particularly among poorly educated young people.- poor basic social services and infrastructure.- lack of housing.- lack of land.- high food prices due to low agricultural productivity, high transport costs andrestrictions on petty trade.• Where are the poor?Poverty continues to be essentially a rural phenomenon.37/114