Socio-economic Factors Affecting Infant Mortality in Morogoro District, Tanzania by Deogratias Kamilius a Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Rural Development of the Sokoine University of Agriculture

The study on socio economic factors affecting infant mortality was conducted in Morogoro District. In spite of measures taken by key stakeholders including the government, UNICEF, WHO, health initiatives in Tanzania infant deaths are increasing in rural populations. Socio economic factors are said to be main courses. A cross sectional study to observe the influence of socio economic factors affecting infant mortality was, therefore, conducted in Morogoro district. The ultimate objective of this study is to determine the socio economic factors influencing infant mortality. The specific objectives were as follows; to show the role of poverty on infant mortality, explore the influence of occupation on infant mortality, investigate the association between education and mortality, show the role of income on infant mortality, explore the linkage between sanitation and infant mortality, and investigate the influence of distance on infant mortality. A total of 100 respondents were included in the survey. The data were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 12.0 version computer software program. The results showed that, education, sanitation, low income, short distance, poverty and occupation of the households associated with infant mortality. There is a need of more emphasis on rural (community) development efforts so as to improve the living standards of all people in the countryside. These efforts include: increasing of employment opportunities, quality education, improvement of sanitations, infrastructure such as roads and health facilities by providing qualitable medications and seminars to households on good care to infants. ii