Mtwara Region

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This article is about the region, for the city see Mtwara (city).

Mtwara is one of the southern regions of Tanzania which have been underdeveloped for a long time for various justifiable reasons and constraints. Among the development constraints for Mtwara is not the lack of resources but economic infrastructures of road and energy. Mtwara is now looking up and waking up to enormous development possibilities and exciting times ahead. The Dar-Kibiti-Lindi-Mtwara road has been given a boost after the completion of the Mkapa bridge over the mighty Rufiji River. Energywise, Mnazi Bay gas promises to provide the badly needed reliable and adequate electricity for powering industrial and commercial activities in the region.

The boundary with Mozambique to the south is formed by the Ruvuma River. To the west, the Mtwara Region is bordered by the Ruvuma Region, to the North, by the Lindi Region, and to the East the region is bordered by the Indian Ocean.

According to the 2002 Tanzania National Census, the population of the Mtwara Region was 1,128,523.[1]

The regional commissioner is I. Shirima.[2]

1 History
- 1.1 The Groundnut Scheme
2 Districts
3 Sources

[edit] History

[edit] The Groundnut Scheme

In 1948, the British Government formulated the "Tanganyika groundnut scheme" through the Overseas Food Corporation (OFC). The purpose was to alleviate the worldwide shortage of vegetable oils. However, inadequate research and adverse environmental conditions caused by poor planning resulted in the complete and disastrous failure of the scheme. The port of Mtwara was to have been the focus of the exported crop.