The Hadza, or Hadzabe, are an ethnic group in north-central Tanzania. They live around Lake Eyasi in the Central Rift Valley and on the nearby Serengeti Plateau. They are not related to any other African population either genetically or culturally.

Today this peaceful population has shrunk to less than a thousand individuals and is one of the last examples of the real hunter-gatherers of East Africa. The Hadzabe live in small nomadic villages and are not organized in any form of social hierarchy. The women forage, whereas the men are responsible for hunting.

They communicate using a very distinctive language characterized by “clicks” that is very close to what is spoken by the Bushmen in the African areas further south. Their language is part of the Khoisan group, but is considered a separate and isolated language unconnected with the others.

Tourism has become a new and significant factor in the Hadza economy, particularly with reference to ecotourism in the Yaeda Valley and Manyara Region, viewed as a resource whose proceeds are distributed among the local communities. The Hadzabe Survival Council is an NGO with members representing the various tribes. This organization promotes the survival of the Hadzabe culture and safeguards the rights of these communities to primary resources such as land and water.