Malinyi District Commissioner Mathayo Maselle has praised IITA for providing youth with opportunities in agribusiness through capacity building and empowerment after visiting the Institute’s booth at the recent National Farmers Exhibition “Nane nane” held in Tanzania’s Morogoro region.
IITA promoted the IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) incubation program, which empowers youth in agribusiness. IYA has trained young agripreneurs across Africa on mindset change, agribusiness activities, and proposal writing and has facilitated youth access to credit through partnerships with financial institutions. “Youth empowerment is a good initiative. The government has been in the forefront in issuing loans; training youth on where to invest will help solve the employment challenge we are currently facing,” Maselle said.
Moreover, the District Commissioner applauded the technologies and innovations IITA displayed during the exhibitions. He highlighted the need to enhance strong collaboration between the government and IITA to ensure that the country and people are aware of and benefit from the technologies to develop the agriculture sector. He noted that this would increase food security and improve income and livelihoods for smallholder farmers.
Visitors at the IITA booth were interested in the innovations and services offered by IITA’s youth program and requested more information. They also gave suggestions to the Institute and other youth. “I would like to advise my fellow youth to respect and value agriculture, especially agribusiness because it provides us with food and income,” said Farida Juma, a 28-year-old vegetable farmer from the Kibaha district.
“You are doing great work. I suggest using media to promote this program so that you can also reach out to marginalized people in the villages where more youth need these opportunities,” advised Karata Hendrish, a 24-year-old from the Tanga region.
During the Nane nane exhibitions, Tanzanian Prime Minister Hon. Kassim Majaliwa launched a new youth initiative, Building Better Tomorrow: Youth Initiative for Agribusiness (BBT-YIA), under the Ministry of Agriculture. The BBT program’s primary goal is to enhance youth engagement in the agricultural sector for sustainable and improved livelihoods. It will contribute to Agenda 10/30, which envisages increasing youth employment and attaining a 10% growth rate in the agricultural sector by 2030.
Contributed by Hadi Rashid
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