Njombe Region () is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions which covers a land area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of El Salvador. for El Salvador at Njombe Region is bordered to the north by the Iringa Region and Mbeya Region, to the east by Morogoro Region, to the south by the Ruvuma Region and to the west by Lake Nyasa. The regional capital is the municipality of Njombe. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population of 702,097.
Etymology The name Njombe originated from a name of a tree species called ‘Mdzombe’ for singular and Mazdombe for plural which then dominant in one of its localities known as Mdandu. And it was in Mdandu where the Germans chose to build an administrative and defence block; the Boma.
Geography The Njombe Region is situated in Tanzania's Southern Highlands Zone. It shares borders with the regions of Iringa to the north, Morogoro to the east, Mbeya to the west, Ruvuma to the south, and the Republic of Malawi to the north west via Lake Nyasa. The Njombe region has a total surface area of 24,994 square kilometers, of which 3,695 square kilometers (14.8 percent) are water from Lake Nyasa, and 21,299 square kilometers (85.2 percent) are land. The Njombe region occupies around 2.8 percent of the 881,300 km2. of territory on the Tanzanian Mainland, making it the fifth-smallest region in terms of total area in the entire nation.
At the district level, Ludewa District Council has the most land (8,397 km2, or 33.6%), with a land area of 6,325 km2 and a water area of 2,072 km2. With a surface size of 5,800 km2., Makete DC comes in second, followed by Wanging'ombe DC, which has 3,570 km2. of territory. The Makambako Town Council recorded the least land area at 862 square kilometers, or 3.4 percent. Additionally, it was noted that the town councils of Njombe and Makambako do not have any water areas, although Ludewa DC (2,072 km2) and Wanging'ombe DC both have tiny water areas (226 km2.).
Climate The Njombe Region, a part of Tanzania's Southern Highlands zone, has extensive rainy seasons and brief dry seasons, which are typically cool with moderate winds. The yearly total rainfall varies greatly geographically, seasonally, and annually, ranging from 600mm to 1,600mm. A single, very distinct rainy season that lasts from November through May is followed by a chilly, dry season that lasts from May to September. Depending on the altitude, the temperature in the area can range from 0 °C in May and June to roughly 20 °C to 24 °C in October and November. Furthermore, there can be significant temperature changes between day and night, with scorching afternoons reaching temperatures of up to 26 °C and chilly evenings and nights reaching temperatures of less than 0 °C.
Topography The Njombe region is located on Tanzania's southern plateau, which rises from 600 to 3,000 meters above sea level. A significant scarp that can reach 800 meters in height, which is the eastern portion of the Kipengere Range, surrounds the area on all sides. Massive outcrops escarpments and metamorphic rocks are a notable aspect of the land escarpment in Makete and Ludewa DCs. These outcrops, also known as inselbergs, are the remains of old land surfaces that have been eroded to create a vast, gently undulating pen plain in the nearby areas. The Kipengere and Livingstone Mountains, which divide the Njombe and Mbeya areas in the west, are the dominant features of the area. The eastern arm of the Great Rift Valley, through which the tributaries of the Great Ruaha River flow, cuts across the northern parts of the region, leaving comparatively flat, high plains. The existence of a sizable plateau section, the area's common landform, adds to its distinctiveness. The Ruhuji, Hagafilo, Ruaha, Mbarali, and Ruhuhu are the only long-lasting, significant rivers in the area.
Economy The agricultural industry dominates the local economy of Njombe Region. Agriculture made up 42.3 percent of the economy in 2016, 48.4 percent in 2017, 47.4 percent in 2018, and 45.2 percent in 2019. The second-largest contributor to GDP, the services sector, generated 33.6 percent of it in 2016, 30 percent in 2017, 29.6 percent in 2018, and 32.6 percent in 2019. In each of the four years, the industry and construction sectors made up a smaller portion of the GDP. There is subsistence farming as well as commercial farming. The majority of the region's cash income in 2019 comes from the agriculture industry, primarily from the production of tea, beans, maize, groundnuts, potatoes, paddy, and sunflowers. Additionally, it contributes roughly 45.2% of the region's GDP.
Service sector After agriculture, services are the second-most significant economic sector, accounting for around 32.6% of the region's GDP in 2019. The third largest economic contributor to the region's GDP is the industry and construction sector. In 2019, the sectors are predicted to contribute roughly 22.1% of the GDP. Of this more than half (73.5 percent) of all service jobs in the Njombe Region were in the education sector between 2016 and 2018. Agriculture and livestock are second with 4.3 percent of employment, followed by the health industry with 22 percent. With only 0.3% of the region's total employees working in the government, the natural resources sector had the lowest percentage of employees.
Makambako TC (26.6%) contributed the most to the region's GDP in 2016, followed by Njombe TC (24.8%) and Wanging'ombe DC (2.4%). (13.9 percent). The two districts that contributed the least to the region's GDP were Njombe (10.4%) and Makete (10.6 percent). From 2017 to 2019, the economic performance trend shifted, with Njombe TC having a large percentage of the region's GDP (27.7 percent in 2017, 26.6 percent in 2018, and 27.4 percent in 2019), followed by Makambako TC (24.4% in 2017, 24.8 percent in 2018, and 24.6 percent in 2019). On the other hand, Njombe DC's part of the GDP was extremely low during the course of the three years, while Makete DC's share was the lowest in 2019.
Wealth Distribution The district with the greatest poverty rate was Ludewa DC, with 29.5 percent of its residents living below the poverty line for basic requirements, according to the 2012 Region and District Poverty Estimates for Tanzania Report. In the councils of Wanging'ombe DC and Njombe DC, respectively, 28.7 and 26.4 percent of the populace were living in poverty. Njombe TC, which had 16.1% of its population below the poverty line for basic requirements, and Makambako TC, which had 23.5 percent, were the two districts with the lowest percentages of people living poverty. The worst district in the Njombe region in terms of the rate of poverty gap was Ludewa, with 6.9 percent, followed by Wanging'ombe DC and Njombe DC, with 6.4 and 5.8 percent, respectively. Makete DC, which was leading in the Njombe region's unequal wealth distribution with 30.7 percent, was closely followed by Njombe TC, which had 30.2 percent, and Ludewa DC, which had 29.3 percent.
Wildlife, Tourism and Reserves The overall forest area in the Njombe region is 332,086.6 ha, or 13.3 percent of the region's total land area of 2,499,400 ha. With 132,129.5 ha, Wanging'ombe DC has the most forest cover, followed by Njombe DC (40,530.6 ha), and Makete DC (58,155 ha). Njombe region is home to the Kitulo National Park. Nyumba Nitu forest, meaning a Black house, consists of natural caves and a natural forest located at Mlevela village in Mdandu ward, approximately 15 kilometers away from Njombe Township. The forest has its root from Nyumba Nitu caves, since the caves are very dark for one to see and they are associated by the myth of black cows which lived in the cave. Inside the caves, local Wabena people hid or took refugee during tribal wars between rival Wahehe fighters during Chief Mkwawa conquests in Iringa Region, back in last quarter of 19th century. The caves also provided safe hideout from German forces during the Maji Maji uprising.
“Lwivala Stone”, or Glittering stone, the slab-rock has a feature similar to a map of Africa. It is located in Lwivala natural forest which local communities perform rituals and traditional ceremonies. The7.5-acre rock is grown with short grass with glittering outgrows during rainy season. There are some unreadable inscriptions which, according to local legend, appeared naturally. It is located in Igodiva village, about three kilometres from Nyumba Nitu forest. Luhuji waterfall in Njombe town is a tourist attraction, used for filming and picnics.
Old colonial buildings including a Catholic Cathedral and a Lutheran church are located in Njombe town. A memorial monument to honour Tanzanians who fought the Second World War is found in Njombe. This bears inscriptions of the veterans who fought under the command of King's African Rifles (KAR) of the British Army. An early German built Primary Magistrate's Court and a German administrative block are historical sites found in Njombe Township. A mass grave of the local Wabena warriors killed during the Maji Maji war in 1906 is found in Utengule village. The mass grave bears hundreds of remains of the fallen warriors who were slaughtered by German colonial forces.
Infrastructure The region of Njombe has a total of 6,403.49 kilometers of roads. Trunk roads made up 6.1 percent of the regional network, regional roads 12.45 percent, and district roads made up a total of 81.45 percent of the network (Paved roads 0.52, Gravel 19.93 and Earth 60.8). Wanging'ombe (1,305.07 kilometers), Ludewa DC (1,369.35 kilometers), Njombe TC (1,359.19 kilometers), Makete DC (946.9 kilometers), Njombe DC (724.07 kilometers), and Makambako TC make up the region's total 6,403.49 kilometers of highways (698.91 kilometers).In the Njombe region, 3.29.43 kilometers, or 5.14 percent of the entire regional road network, are made of tarmac (Figure 4.1). 2,180.93 kilometers, or 34.06 percent, of the network are made up of gravel roads, while 3,893.13 kilometers, or 60.8 percent, are made up of the Earth Road Network.
Since there is a strong correlation between road worthiness and tarmac/gravel surface, it can be said that 39.2 percent of the region's road network is usable throughout the year, especially during the rainy season. Tarmac and gravel roads made up 39.20 percent of the network. The length of the tarmac and gravel road network is 606.63 kilometers in Makete DC, followed by 563.8 kilometers in Ludewa DC, 463.41 kilometers in Wanging'ombe DC, 425.07 kilometers in Njombe TC, 328.01 kilometers in Njombe DC, and 123.44 kilometers in Makambako TC.
The TAZARA railway line, which runs through Makambako Station in Makambako Ward and Utiga in Wanging'ombe Ward, serves the Njombe region and travels to Mbeya and New Kapiri Mposhi . These two railroad stations act as a hub for transporting large commodities and services to the area. There are just two aerodromes in the area that cater to air passengers. The two small airports are at Njombe TC and Wanging'ombe DC, respectively, but due to the lack of regular flights, there is no information on passengers boarding and disembarking at either location. Their earth-surfaced airstrips can only accommodate tiny aircraft or charter flights.
The Njombe region has 349 landline telephone services, no TV stations, 8 radio stations, 7 internet cafés, 6 mobile phone providers, four post offices, and three sub-post offices, according to information received from the six District Councils.
A total of 293 villages/mitaas out of 463 have been connected to electricity services through TANESCO, which is equivalent to 63.3 percent of the region's villages/mitaas. The least connected council in the region is Makete, with only 31.2 percent of its villages having power. Makambako TC is leading in the region with roughly 85.3 percent of its villages/mitaa connected.
Population