Tanzania

Oyonemo N'gwaika receives food rations for her family at a USAID-supported food distribution center in Nyarugusu, Tanzania.

Photo: Imani Nsamila / WFP

Key Developments

As of July 2021, Tanzania hosted approximately 253,000 refugees who had fled violence in neighboring Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More than 80 percent of refugees in Tanzania reside in Mtendeli, Nduta, and Nyarugusu refugee camps in Kigoma Region. Restrictions on agricultral activities, market closures, and other measures have limited livelihood opportunities in and near the camps, and the majority of refugees rely on humanitarian assistance to meet basic needs.

Background

Since 1996, intercommunal violence and political instability have driven thousands of people from Burundi and the DRC to seek shelter in neighboring Tanzania. USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA) supports the delivery of emergency food and nutrition assistance to help meet the basic needs of refugees residing in Mtendeli, Nduta, and Nyarugusu camps.