News in brief: Tanzania ministers have called for increased youth engagement in agriculture to boost revenue, create jobs, and utilise the country’s arable land.
Tanzania’s Finance Minister, Dr. Mwigulu Nchemba, has called for increased youth engagement in agriculture. As quoted by a local news outlet, he said that it was essential for the country to raise its revenue base and create more jobs.
He was speaking at a sideline event at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AGRF) 2023 Summit, the minister said that agriculture has enormous job opportunities for young people and the government was taking steps to encourage them to enter the sector.
Dr. Nchemba noted reform efforts to reform the sector while enhancing its attractiveness to the youth including increasing the agriculture budget by four. He assured that the administration was working to rebuild the mentality among young people that there is business in agriculture.
His call was echoed by Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe, who lamented that Tanzania has about 44 million hectares of arable land, but only a small fraction of it is currently being utilised for agriculture.
Bashe, therefore, urged for transformation of the sector which involved bringing in more young people. Additionally, he encouraged investors to come to Tanzania and invest in agriculture, stressing that the country had a lot to offer.
Livestock and Fisheries Minister Abdallah Ulega also called for more investments in agricultural infrastructure and technology. He urged for improvements in the way things were done in agriculture, to make it more efficient and profitable.
Many see the call for increased youth engagement in agriculture as a positive development. The Tanzanian government has expressed commitment to making it happen.
Other participants at the event opined that with the right policies and investments, agriculture could be a major driver of economic growth and job creation in Tanzania.
Some of the ways proffered to engage more youth in agriculture include providing more training and education opportunities, creating more favorable financing terms, promoting the use of modern agricultural technologies, and supporting for young farmers.
