Karagwe District Council-Kagera, Tanzania

Karagwe District Council
History
ORIGINS OF KARAGWE AND ITS PEOPLE (ANIMALS)
According to legends by various elders and researchers such as Katoke (1975; 162) the name ‘Karagwe’ is derived from a hill located southwest of the Karagwe district headquarters, in Kandegesho village, Nyakakika ward where the first ruler (Omukama) is. he made the first sacrifice. According to the available information, the ruler was known as ‘Nono ya Malija’ from the Basiita clan. And that this reference to “Karagwe ka Nono” stems from the fact that Nono was the last ruler of the indigenous peoples before being ousted by King Ruhinda the son of Wamara. It is said that Nono was cleverly removed without any disturbance or fighting of any kind. In short this is his memory and the origin of the history of the name Karagwe.
DISTRICT BOUNDARIES.
Karagwe District is one of the seven (7) Districts of Kagera Region. Karagwe District borders Kyerwa District in the North, Rwanda in the Southwest, Ngara District in the South and Missenyi Districts, Bukoba Rural and Muleba in the East.
DISTRICT GEOGRAPHY.
The district is located 105 km from Bukoba Municipality – Kagera Regional Headquarters. The territory is located between 1o and 2o degrees, 20 ‘South Latitude 30o to 38,30 East Longitude. The elevation of land from sea level is 1,500 meters to 1,800 meters. The climate is generally an average temperature of 26oC. Rainfall averages 1,040 to 1,200 mm per year, between September and January and between March and May.
DISTRICT AREA.
Karagwe District has an area of ​​4,500 square kilometers of which 4,342 square kilometers is land area and 158 square kilometers is water area. The area suitable for agriculture is 153,540 hectares and the cultivated area is 82,808.5 hectares equivalent to 53.9 percent.
ADMINISTRATION.
In terms of administrative areas, Karagwe District Council has five (5) Divisions which are Bugene, Nyakakika, Nyaishozi, Nyabiyonza and Kituntu. The district also has 23 wards, 77 villages and 612 suburbs of which 612 out of these suburbs, 20 sub-districts are in the Kayanga Small Town Authority and are called sub-districts because the small town authority has not yet been fully empowered to name the neighborhoods. The district council has 32 honorable councilors of whom 23 are elected from the wards of the District Council, 8 are special seats and 1 State MP.
POPULATION.
According to the 2012 Population and Housing Census, Karagwe District had a total population of 332, 020. Of these 163,864 (men) and 168,156 (women), of which the population growth is 2.9 percent per annum.
The target population for 2015 was that the District had 351,555 people. Of these, 178,050 are women and 173,505 are men. In addition, the number of households has also increased from 72,836 households in 2012 to 76,425 households in 2015.
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES:
1. AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND IRRIGATION:
Agriculture is one of the economic activities that contributes to an average of 70% of the Council’s output. The number of households participating in agricultural activities is 61,351 out of all 76,425 households in Karagwe district. The area suitable for agriculture is 153,540 hectares out of 4,500,000 hectares of total district territory. The area suitable for Irrigation is 4,500 hectares. The District is also cooperating with various stakeholders in the district in developing the agricultural sector. Some of these stakeholders are ELCT, Karagwe Agribusiness, MAVUNO, CHEMA, WORLD VISION, GOOD FRUIT, BISHESHE WINE, KARAGWE ESTATE LTD, RADIO KARAGWE, RADIO FADECO, LUKALE WINE, KDCU, Good Fruits, KADERES AND OLAM.
In addition, there are 31 SACCOS with a total of 46,319 members and 1 Central Cooperative Union (KDCU) which deals with the purchase of farmers’ produce. The district has initiated and built one large irrigation project (Mwisa Irrigation Scheme) with a size of 120 Hectares. The mobilization of the people to cultivate rice and vegetables is ongoing. This project will increase the income of the Karagwe farmer and reduce poverty.
2. LIVESTOCK AND FISHERIES:
Karagwe District has 140,000 hectares suitable and is used for pastoral activities. This sector contributes more than 10% to citizen employment and household income. Livestock that are domesticated include cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks and rabbits.
Fishing activities take place in the small lakes of Burigi, Rwakajunju, Kamakala and the Kagera River. The district has 67 dug dams for fish farming. Fish production is approximately 33,000 kg per year. The most common fish species are caterpillars, crocodiles, crocodiles, cod mammals, furs, ningu, chats and domodomo.
3. INDUSTRIES AND TRADE:
The towns of Kayanga and Omurushaka as well as the small towns of Kihanga, Nyakaiga, Rwambaizi, Nyaishozi, Chanyamisa, Nyabiyonza, Nyakabanga and Ihembe are among the cities that are growing commercially and with great interaction of economic and social activities. These areas continue to invest in commercial industries such as coffee processing factories, dairy processing factories, honey, milling and threshing grain. Production activities continue to intensify and increase productivity, expand employment, promote trade in the sale and purchase of expected products and thus increase income and economic growth, improve community livelihoods, reduce income poverty and thus accelerate poverty eradication.

Karagwe District is administratively divided into more than 20 wards, these include:
1 Bugene
2 Bweranyange
3 Igurwa
4 Ihanda
5 Ihembe
6 Kanoni
7 Kayanga
8 Kibondo
9 Kihanga
10 Kamagambo
11 Kiruruma
12 Kituntu
13 Ndama
14 Nyabiyonza
15 Nyaishozi
16 Nyakahanga
17 Nyakakika
18 Nyakabanga
19 Nyakasimbi
20 Rugu