Mlele District Council is among of the councils dealing with livestock keeping. The natural animal births and influx of livestock (Cattle, Goats and Sheeps etc) from Tabora, Shinyanga and Singida increase the population of livestock keeping in the Council. Mlele Distict Council also conducted an Artificial Insemination due to improve the breeding of livestock. Most common livestock in the council are as elucidated in the table bellow;
Table 1: Number of livestock available in the District Council
NO.
ANIMAL TYPE
QUANTITY
1.
Cattle
43,481
2.
Goats
83,373
3.
Sheep
976
4.
Swain
522
5.
Chicken
41,928
6.
Cats
2,884
7.
Dogs
1,700
Total
174,864
Source: District director’s, Mlele DC (Livestock Deprtment) 2018
Livestock Infrastructure
The district has three (2) Veterinary Heath Centers which are found at Mpimbwe and Inyonga division, 7 Dips (Owned by Government), 4 abattoirs (Slaughter slabs), and 2 Crushes, 5 livestock markets (Auctions), distributed as follows;-
Fisheries
Fishing is not a major economic activity in Mlele and thus, its contribution towards changing livelihood of Mlele residents is very insignificant. Small scale fishing is carried out in rivers Ugala, , Koga, and Kavuu. Major fish species found are sardines, English fish and Nile perch
Industrial Development
Mlele DC, like the rest part of the county, informal sector plays a major role in socio-economic development of the district council. The small scale industries such as oil processing, carpentry, welding, grain milling, and timber processing contribute to some extent in increasing employment opportunities and reducing income poverty in the district. Unfortunately, unreliable electricity power supply, poor road infrastructure and lack of skills and technology of informal sector operators contribute to slow growth of this sector in the district.
Table 2: Number of Small Scale Industries in the District
Type of small scale industry
Number of industries
Number of Staff
Sunflower oil extraction
1
2
Welding
5
10
Carpentry
25
26
Grain milling
35
60
Timber processing
5
12
District total
71
376
Source: District Executive Director’s Office (Trade and Finance Department), Mlele DC, 2018
Forestry and Beekeeping
Forests.
Land and forest resources are the main natural endowments of Tanzania. Mlele DC is also endowed with forestry potential and is the leading district council in Katavi region with the largest natural forest reserves. Its natural forest reserves area of 411,265 ha is accounted for about 58.9 percent of the council total land area under natural forest reserves of 698,102 ha.
