Makete District is one of the six
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
of
Njombe Region
Njombe Region (''Mkoa wa Njombe'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers a land area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of El Salvador. Njombe Region is bord ...
of
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
. Its administrative seat is the town of
Iwawa. It is bordered to the north and west by the
Mbeya Region
Mbeya Region (''Mkoa wa Mbeya'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Guinea Bissau. Mbeya Region is bordere ...
, to the east by the
Njombe District and to the south by the
Ludewa District
Ludewa District is one of six districts in the Njombe Region in Tanzania, East Africa. Prior to 2012, the district was one of the seven districts of Iringa Region. The town of Ludewa is the administrative seat of the district. A hospital is lo ...
. It is divided into six divisions and 17 wards. Makete District was founded in 1979 with the policy of the
Ujamaa
Ujamaa ( in Swahili) was a socialist ideology that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania after it gained independence from Britain in 1961.
More broadly, ujamaa may mean "cooperative economics ...
. Before, this part of Iringa Region belonged to Njombe District. The district is known for growing apples due to the favorable climate.
According to the 2002 Tanzania National Census, the population of the Makete District was 128,520.] The
Kinga people, Wakinga people mostly live in Makete District.
Geography
The area of the district is 5,800 km
2; however, only 371 km
2 of the land is useful for agriculture. The region is at an altitude of 1,500 to 3,000 m above sea level, being crossed by both the
Livingstone Mountains
The Kipengere Range, also known as the Livingstone Mountains, lies entirely in Njombe Region in southwest Tanzania at the northern end of Lake Nyasa. Near Lake Nyasa they are known as the Kinga Mountains. It is a plateau-like ridge of mountains r ...
and the
Kipengere Range
The Kipengere Range, also known as the Livingstone Mountains, lies entirely in Njombe Region in southwest Tanzania at the northern end of Lake Nyasa. Near Lake Nyasa they are known as the Kinga Mountains. It is a plateau-like ridge of mountains r ...
. Temperatures range from 2 to 20 °Celsius and 20 to 30 °Celsius in the mountains and on the plateau, respectively. Annual rainfall is from 1500 to 2800 mm in the mountains and 300 to 800 mm on the plateau. Major rivers originating from the mountains are Numbi, Kimani, Luvanyila and Ijangala .
[http://ourmakete.org/why_makete.php] Smaller portions of the
Great Ruaha River Basin lie within Makete District.
Social situation
Currently, the biggest challenges to be met by administration, are to improve the transportation infrastructure and provide better health care. HIV/AIDS appears to be a special challenge for the region.
The persons tested HIV-positive increased from 3,900 in 1988 to over 10,000 in 2002. Approximately 5% of children under 17 years are orphans.
Consequently, care for orphaned children make up a large part of the expenses. A program funded by
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
, ''Mama Mkubwa'' offers financial support.
Programs of numerous NGOs and faith-based organizations (
FBOs) put special emphasis on combatting malnutrition.
Economy
Agriculture provides the livelihood of most people in Makete District. Because of the temperate climate, wheat and potatoes are widely cultivated; they are often intercropped with
pumpkin
A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
, ''Phaseolus''
beans
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
and
peas
The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
. Because of the temperate climate, also fruit trees, such as plums, peaches, apples and pears, are being cropped in the district. The region is well known for its bamboo wine (''ulanzi''), which is prepared from the fermented juice of the wine
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
(''
Oxytenanthera
''Oxytenanthera'' is a genus of African bamboo. Bamboos are members of the grass family Poaceae.
The only recognized species in this genus is ''Oxytenanthera abyssinica''. This species is found widespread across much of sub-Saharan Africa. In ...
'').
People from Makete District traditionally worked as pluckers on tea plantations of the country. Maize has only recently been introduced. Diverse livestock species are held.
While cattle are usually kept on communal grazing land, goats, pigs and poultry are reared close to the homesteads. Inside the houses, a large proportion of the rural population also keeps domestic cavies (i.e.,
Guinea pig
The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ani ...
, ''Cavia porcellus'') for meat production, although they are rarely mentioned in statistics. Locally, the animals are called ''simbilisi'', which is a
Kihehe word. In Makete District, cavies are largely fed with bamboo leaves.
Wards
The Makete District is administratively divided into 22 wards. Distribution by division:
* Bulongwa Division: Bulongwa, Luwumbu and Kipagalo
* Magoma Division: Iniho, Ipelele and Kigulu
* Matamba Division: Matamba, Mlondwa, Kitulo and Itundu
* Ikuwo Division: Ikuwo, Mfumbi and Kigala
* Ukwama Division: Lupila, Ukwama, Mbalatse and Ipepo
* Lupalio Division: Lupalilo, Tandala, Mang'oto, Iwawa and Isapulano
Notes
References
Makete District Homepage for the 2002 Tanzania National CensusEvans, R. 2010. ‘We are managing our own lives . . . ’: Life transitions and care in sibling-headed households affected by AIDS in Tanzania and Uganda.Area, no.
{{Coord, 9, 15, S, 34, 10, E, display=title, region:TZ_type:adm2nd_source:GNS-enwiki
Districts of Njombe Region