Awareness of human health threats due to the use of antimicrobials in livestock and the factors that can contribute to selection of resistant bacteria were assessed among 160 randomly chosen Tanzanian small-scale livestock keepers. Thirty percent of the respondents were not aware of the concept of antibiotic resistance, 52% were not aware of which types of diseases can be treated with antibiotics, 22% did not know the principle understand withdrawal period after treatment of animals with antibiotics and 40% did not know if antibiotics used in livestock pose risk to human health. Side effects of antibiotics to human beings stated by the respondents included drug resistance, allergy, poisoning, skin rashes, cancer and resistance to treatment. The most commonly used antibiotics were oxytetracyline (62.9 %), sulphadimidine (23.2 %), penicillin-streptomycin (13.4 %) and gentamycin (0.5 %). Points of selling antibiotics and their prescriptions were found to be agriculture and veterinary implements shops, veterinarians, livestock markets and exhibition areas. Only 54 % of respondents obtained their antibiotics through prescription by veterinarians. Livestock management systems, antibiotics handling and types of antibiotics used in the study areas were identified as potential risk factors to the development of antimicrobials resistance. This study has revealed gross lack of awareness on health threats associated with antibiotics resistance among the farming communities posing serious public health threats in Tanzania.