Tanzania Launch Council to Encourage Youth’s Involvement in Agriculture

U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Tanzania, Dr. Inmi Patterson, and Honorable Anthony Mavunde, Deputy Minister for Labor, Youth, Employment and the Disabled, launched on 20th August 2018 the national Advancing Youth Advisory Council, an advisory body aimed at tackling the real-world challenges facing rural youth in Tanzania.

The national council was established by Feed the Future Tanzania Advancing Youth, an activity funded by the United States through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Implemented in the Iringa, Mbeya and Zanzibar regions, the activity is designed to encourage rural youth to engage in Tanzania’s agriculture sector and increase economic opportunities for young people aged 15-35 while promoting healthy lifestyles.

In her address, Chargé d’Affaires Patterson noted that the youth participating in the activity “have already discovered how profitable and rewarding it can be to start their own agribusiness, create a new and innovative product, or tackle challenges facing their communities.”

Tanzania Agriculture
Agriculture is Tanzania’s economic mainstay, contributing 23% to its GDP in 2015 (29% in 2005) and 67% to total employment.

According to the country’s National Five Year Development Plan 2016/17 – 2020/2, by 2020 the agriculture sector’ share of GDP should increase to 24.9% while the share in total employment should be 56.5%.

In 2010 the SAGCOT, an agricultural partnership designed to improve agricultural productivity, food security and livelihoods in Tanzania, was initiated.

During March 2016, the WB approved a USD 70m SAGCOT Investment Project to support the agricultural sector of Tanzania and strengthen it by linking smallholder farmers to agribusiness for boosting incomes and job-led growth.