Kagera Region (Mkoa wa Kagera in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions, with an area of . Kagera Region is bordered to the east by Lake Victoria, Mwanza Region and Mara Region, to the south by Geita Region and Kigoma Region, to the west by Rwanda and to the north by Uganda and Burundi to the south west.
The regional capital city is Bukoba. According to the 2022 national census, the region had a population of 2,989,299, an increase from 2,458,023 in 2012.
Etymology
The region derives its name from the Kagera River.
Geography
Kagera borders Uganda to the north, Rwanda and Burundi to the west, and the Tanzanian regions Kigoma to the south and Geita to the east. The Kagera River forms the region's border with Rwanda. It lies between 30°25' and 32°40' east, and 1°00' and 2°45' south. The total area is , of which is land, and 27 percent, is water. Much of the water is Victoria, lake Ikimba, Burigi, Ngono and the Kagera River. Kagera is Tanzania's fifteenth-largest region and accounts for approximately 3.3 percent of Tanzania's land area of . The regional capital Bukoba is about from Dar es Salaam.
Kagera is known for its agriculture, lush landscapes, and wildlife. It has reasonably fertile old soils but poor soil management has led to soil exhaustion requiring the use fertiliser.
Demographics
Population
One of the top five most populous regions in the nation is the Kagera region. According to the population and housing Census of 2002, the region had a total population of 2,033,888, with an average growth rate of 3.1%. 6.0% of all Tanzanians living on the mainland were found in the region.
For a period of about five centuries, Kagera was home to nine different kingdoms with highly hierarchical societies. Before European colonialism, coffee was a traditional crop in the area, used for its stimulant properties and in local cultural rituals. During colonial times, coffee was a cash crop. Bananas were a staple food in the region. Although there was a gender-based division of labour in the traditional Bahaya society, women at the time were not thought to be inferior to men. In fact women commanded special respect in all traditional rituals. For example, upon the death of a family head (Nyin'enju), inheritance rituals were followed, the "Main Inheritor" (Omusika) had to have a female counterpart selected from among his sisters to share his authority. Similarly, upon the death of a reigning king, during the crowning of the next king, there had to be a "sister to the nation" (Kinyany'engoma) who was also selected from among his sisters.
The kings lived in elaborate palaces and were respected as the direct link to gods of their kingdoms. The authority of the nine kingdoms (Kihanja, Karagwe, Kiziba, Misenye, Bugabo, Kyamtwara, Ihangiro, Bukara and Biharamulo) was diminished when Germans colonised Tanzania in 1885 and supported the Haya, the ethnic group of Bukoba and Muleba Districts over the other districts. However, the local kings held on to power. The demise of these kingdoms came after Tanzania gained its independence and president Nyerere considered them detrimental to national unity.
There was a chief called Omukama (the word meant a king or chief) who could be born with that authority. Some prominent chiefs in Kagera include Kyamukuma, who was the last chief in Misenye (currently Missenyi District). Other chiefs included Rumanyika of Karagwe, Ruhinda, Kahigi and other inferior chiefs. Kahigi is among the chiefs who waived their territories by collaborating with German colonialists.
Cultural tours are available for tourists visiting Kagera and can be accessed from the region's capital of Bukoba. These tours include visits to the region's national parks/nature reserves etc.
During German rule Dr. M. Zupitza, then serving as the local medical officer, encountered a plague outbreak in Kiziba (1897–1898). In cooperation with Dr. Robert Koch, he confirmed that the cause was the same bacteria as the outbreak in Bombay.
When authority was transferred to the British after World War I, Kagera was opened to Lutheran missionary activity. Other Christian denominations including the Roman Catholic arrived later. Their legacy is in the many churches in the region.
The attempted annexation of Kagera by Uganda in 1979 triggered the Uganda–Tanzania War.
Economy
Agriculture is the main economic activity, the primary crops being pulses. With Cereals the most frequent crop, at (42.8% of the total area planted with annuals), followed by root and tubers with (17.8%), (2.9%), cash crops (2.1%), and fruits and vegetables with (1.0%). The major cash crops were cotton. Cereal crop output in the area is dominated by maize, with 302,529 households in the region growing maize during the brief wet season. This made up about 93.8% of all households that raised crops during the season.
Food crop sales accounted for 54.0% of smallholder households' total cash income in the Kagera Region, with cash crop sales (18.9%), other sporadic income (8.7%), fishing (4.3%), and wages/salaries (4.3%).
Small businesses were the primary source of income for only 3.4% of smallholder households, followed by the sale of livestock (2.5%), cash remittances (2.0%), sales of forest products (0.7%), and sales of animal products (0.6%).
Administrative divisions
Districts
Kagera Region is divided into eight districts, each administered by a council:
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="7" | Districts of Kagera
|- style="text-align:center;"
! style="width: 6em" | Map
! style="width: 12em" | District
! Population<br />(2012)
! Area<br />(km<sup>2</sup>)
|-
| rowspan=9 | 250px
| Biharamulo District
| style="text-align:right;" | 323,486
| style="text-align:right;" | 5,627
|-
| Bukoba Rural
| style="text-align:right;" | 289,697
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
| Bukoba Urban
| style="text-align:right;" | 128,796
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
| Karagwe District
| style="text-align:right;" | 332,020
| style="text-align:right;" | 7,716
|-
| Kyerwa District
| style="text-align:right;" | 321,026
| style="text-align:right;" |
|-
| Missenyi District
| style="text-align:right;" | 202,632
| style="text-align:right;" | 2,709
|-
| Muleba District
| style="text-align:right;" | 540,310
| style="text-align:right;" | 10,739
|-
| Ngara District
| style="text-align:right;" | 320,056
| style="text-align:right;" | 3,744
|-
! Total
! style="text-align:right;" | 2,458,023
! style="text-align:right;" | 40,838
|}
In 2016 the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics report there were 2,789,577 people in the region, from 2,458,023 in 2012.
Notable people from Kagera Region
- Ali Mufuruki, business man and motivational speaker
- Claver Kamanya, athlete and medalist 400m
- Anna Tibaijuka, politician
- Laurean Rugambwa, Catholic cardinal
- Saida Karoli, musician
- Josiah Kibira, filmmaker
- Justinian Rweyemamu, scholar and economist
James Kamala, Journalist
References
External links
- United Republic of Tanzania: Kagera Region
- Kagera Region Homepage for the 2002 Tanzania National Census
- Tanzanian Government Directory Database