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ARTICLE 1
The document discusses challenges facing youth in the agro-business sector in Tanzania and potential solutions. It outlines that youth face difficulties like inadequate capital, small farm sizes, use of traditional techniques, lack of skills, and lack of access to credit. However, youth are energetic and could boost the sector. The government should provide training, improve youth access to land, credit, markets and technologies to develop their agribusinesses. Collaboration between public and private sectors could help address the challenges.
ARTICLE 1
- 1. Shine Green Farms SUGECO’S CONTRIBUTION TO THEYOUTHS Mission: SUGECO’s mission is to prepare, enable, and support knowledge- intensive, innovative entrepreneurs as they build successful businesses along agricultural, agribusiness, forest, and livestock and fisheries sector throughout Tanzania. Vision: Create future generations of successful business persons who transform our culture to value entrepreneurship and help to create a vibrant interplay between the informal economy and formal economy. Go~green Issue 25 April 2015 Shine GreenFarms~ release agricultural articles Quality and healthy products 0712208855 Abdul shango 0767200885 Immanuel juma 0657840187 Paul Bernard Shinegreenfarms03@gmail.c om Strategic context of the agro business strategy Andlongterm economic and social development goalsfor three reasons. First,widespread improvementsinfarm incomesare a precondition to reductionof rural poverty.Second,any strategyfor addressingfood securitymustinvolve actionsto improve agricultural andlivestock productionandfarm incomes,thirdagriculture- As the single major contributor to national GDP, is keyto the country’s overall economic development now andin the near future. Its potential in this regard is substantial. The Agricultural Sector Developmentstrategy, whichisthe conclusionof a participatoryconsultative processamonga wide range of sectorstakeholders, providesabasisfor action by boththe publicand private sectorstosupport Tanzania’seffortsto stimulate agricultural growthand to reduce rural poverty. Thisstrategyis an integral componentof the ongoing macroeconomicadjustment and structural reformsthat are supportedby Tanzanian’sdevelopment partners.The mediumterm objectivesare determined by povertyreduction strategypaperand the long termgoalsby the Tanzania DevelopmentVision2025. Agriculture isimportantto Tanzania’simmediate- Shine green farms Discussedissues:- Sugeco’scontribution P.1 Youthsin agro business P.2 Government’s role P.3 Availableopportunities and youths agro business activities P.4 Challenges facing youth in agro- business industry. Article Created by; Abdul jafari shango Young people indeveloping countries especiallyTanzaniaare the most affected by common persistent problems including extreme poverty, HIV/AIDSandunemployment, yet theyare often overlookedinaddressingthese problems. Youth unemployment is highinurban areas thanin rural areasmainlybecause most employments opportunitiesinurban require skilledlabor of which most youths inurban lack hence endup to thinkof employing themselves andget engagedin trade or business offinishedgoods but endlesslyothers go further to focus onagrobusiness sector but unfortunatelytheyare put intovarious setbacks to their productionactivities hence failure to tolerate. In rural areasmost ofyouths are informally employed insubsistence agriculture and familybased livelihood activities such as handicraft, fishing, shops etc. however performance ofsubsistence farming is unfavorable due to several factors including low productivity, overdependence onrainfed agriculture, low use of agriculturalinputs andpoor marketing systems. Due to this rural youths are forced to move to urban informal sectors whichis characterizedby low incomes andpoor working conditions. Despite these challenges in subsistence farming in Tanzania, young people are most energetic humanresources to foster development of agricultural sector inTanzania. However for manyyears the government has overlookedandforgottenthe important contribution youngpeople have in agriculture development in Tanzania. This studythus looks on current status on challengesthat youths face duringinvolvement in the agro business zone as well as the position of the government incollaboration withprivate sectors to developmore effective andefficient measures to implement more support to the youths intheir engagements inthe agro business sector soas to enable them to enroll with available opportunitiesinthis vital sector for the improvement of not onlythe youths life standards but alsoto supplement the backbone of the country’s development.
- 2. EYE ONIT Opportunities in agriculturalsector for the youths… President Jakaya Kikwete has officially opened the first youth agricultural training camp at Mkongo in Rufiji district, Coast Region tomorrow. According to the Director General of Rufiji Basin Development Authority (RUBADA) Aloyce Masanja, the brain behind of the project, the camp is part of implementation of the Youth in Agricultural Programme - YIAP. “This is part of efforts to prove to the youth in the country that agriculture pays,” he told journalists yesterday in Dar es Salaam. Masanja said that the camp seeks to provide skills to youths and enable them to profitably engage in agricultural activities as a way of realizing the government’s ambitious ‘Big Results Now’. Agricultural activities involving youths RUBADA is rolling out the training by using a “Hub and Spoke” modal where a big local or foreign investor will be a “Hub” while small holder farmers will be “Spoke”. It’s expected to have five training camps which will harbor 300 youths each for this financial year, the training will be offered for a period of one year. The camps will be responsible in offering trainings on modern agricultural practices; mechanized methods; environmental protection; value addition; project write ups and formation of community and saving groups among others. The trainings will be grouped in three major areas of producing high value crops especially horticulture products and fruits; modern livestock keeping; and fishing. Mkongo camp which will begin with 50 youths has the capacity of taking 300 youths at par. “RUBADA expects to AMONGEST THE SETBACKS FOR YOUTHS FULL PARTICIPATION IN THE AGRO BUSINESS SECTOR Findings and researches for the go about challenges in the vital sector TOMATO CULTIVATION ON A ½ AN ACRE PIECE OF LAND - Youths are facing a problemof inadequate amounts of capital to finance the production activities - Due to the use of the conventionalmethods in agriculturalactivities theyhence fondof not affording the high prices set for the incentives and equipments for their productionactivities - Theyface a problem also offarm sizes being too small average of 2 acres or evenless than that, leads to low productions - Low growth of incomes hence lower their activitiesandas well as poor connectivityto the value chains and markets. - Theystilluse the traditional techniques- “Cross cutting challenges that youths faced in agro business today” Wherebytheyproduce veryless compared to the market requirements andas well compared to the waythe competitionis inside andoutside the country. - Government and donors focus more on improvingagricultural value chains for cash crops lie tea, cotton, cashewnuts, coffee, sugar cane etc. living behindother crops especiallythe horticultural as well fail to promote other agricultural activitiesto which evenmost ofthe youths are engagedin. - Banks negative attitude towards Agro- financing. Experience and studies showthat most banks in Tanzania consider agriculture sector as too riskyto qualifyfor financing with exceptions of a few whichhave been trying their level best to provide a conducive environment for financing this sector. Largelyenoughthe banks and financing institutions that provide financing interms ofloans have higher interests rates most above 14 percent but alsorequire detailedbusinessplans, collaterals like land tittles and focus onlarge scale farms projects withthe scale not less than even 50 hectaresof farm land. These conditions are mostly not conducive for people especial the youths as most ofthem are smallholders andespeciallyin rural hence not qualifyfor the financing therefore tends to hinder their involvement inagro business activities. - Most if not manyyoung people inagriculture lack better farming techniques andthe agro businessskills especiallyhorticultural farming lack these skills and end uppracticing basedonexperiences. Hence thisandother challengesput youths involvedinthis type of agriculture unable to produce better quality and adequate quantities products hence failto secure their markets. Policies that will recognize youth andallocate landfor youth agricultural projects in urban andrural areas. - The government should promote successful youth agricultural groups and present themin communityas role models as wayto attract more youths in agriculture sector. - The government should improve access to markets for agricultural products and informationon available opportunitiesin farming to enable youth engaged in agriculture access and capitalize onthem. - Youths shouldbe mobilized into farmer’s cooperatives both rural andurban areas from district level to village level and promote youth agricultural projects through technical skills andfinancial support. - Improve land formalizationprocess in rural andurban areas to enable youth own bankable land. - Better land reform policies to allocate landfor youthto access the agricultural projects - - Better credit and finance facilityfor youth agricultural activitiesto develop an attractive loan obtainingas well as credit package for youth international banks, SACCOS projects from local district andrural areas as evenin village government level. - Improve access to markets for agricultural products, linkyouths with agribusiness to small and large processing companies involved food processing industries, retail and wholesale food markets. - To put stable and effective policies concerning the prices for the input materialsand incentives involvedin their production activitiesespecially the equipments hence enablingthe young entrepreneurs in their productions and acquire health, good qualityproducts and inanappropriate quantityto manage the competitive access inthe markets with other producers. - The government should playa vital role of providing agribusiness management training on better farming techniques onshort term crops especially horticultural crops where manyyouths are engagedinto. - The government should strengthen and impose more efforts onpromoting various projects through technical and fundingsupport. - Provide more business management and entrepreneurship training focus on using onagricultural projects to young people withemphasis on more advanced entrepreneurial techniques. - The government through its agencies in collaborationwith private sector should developsuitable credit andfinance facilityfor agricultural projects managed and ranbyyoung farmers particularly for those inrural areas but alsothose alreadyengagedinto the activities. - The government should develop suitable landreform- To attract youth and helpimprovingtheir agro businessactivitiesa multi- stake holder process and analysis must be takenin which government,donor community,NGO’sand private sector must address the following: Government support to the youth(s).