The South West Zone covers two administrative regions, namely:- Mbeya and Rukwa. Mbeya has an area of 63,420sq km and a population of 2,070,046. Rukwa has an area of 75,560sq km and a population of 1,141,743 the figures are as per zone census.

VET PROVISION                                                                                                                           The zone has 56 vocational training centres and  Folk Development Centres which offer training in different trade areas. The distribution of centres in the zones is as follows:

REGION	CENTRES
	PRIVATE PROVIDERS	VETA OWNED
Mbeya	46	1
Rukwa	10	1
TOTAL	56	2