Current and Emerging Youth Policies and Initiatives with a Special Focus and links to Agriculture

Introduction

Young people in developing countries are the most affected by the common persistent problems including extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS and unemployment, yet are often overlooked in addressing these problems. According to ILO’s 2006 Global Employment Trend Brief, unemployment has risen over the last decade and it is estimated that the number of unemployed worldwide reaches nearly 192 million people. Furthermore the estimate indicates that about 35 percent of the worlds unemployed are the youth.

Youth in Tanzania are not exempted from these data; young people in Tanzania face similar problems as they are the most affected community group of poverty and unemployment. According to 2000/2001 Tanzania Integrated Labour Force Survey youth unemployment in the country is 17 percent in mainland and it is estimated to be 20 percent in Zanzibar (HBS 2004/2005). 

Youth unemployment is high in urban areas than in rural areas mainly because most employment opportunities in urban require skilled labour of which most youths in urban lack. In rural areas youths are informally employed in subsistence agriculture and family based livelihood activities such as handicraft, fishing, shops etc. However the performance of subsistence agriculture is unfavorable due several factors including low productivity, overdependence on rain fed agriculture, low use of agricultural inputs and poor marketing systems.

Due to this rural youth are forced to move from rural sector to urban informal sector which is characterized by low incomes and poor working conditions. Despite these challenges in subsistence agriculture in Tanzania, young people are most energetic human resource to foster development of agricultural sector in Tanzania. However for many years the government has overlooked and forgotten the important contribution young people have in agriculture development in Tanzania.

This study thus looks on current status on the involvement of young people in Tanzania in agriculture sector and finds out youth perceptions on agriculture and its available opportunities in the county but also recommends on what can be done to attract and engage youth in agriculture sector in Tanzania. The objectives of this study were therefore 

§  To identify space and opportunities for developing national youth and agricultural policies and make appropriate policy recommendations.

§  To assess and show crucial factors that should be taken into account on engaging young people in agriculture and agricultural processes.

§  To give an overview of agricultural sector development in Tanzania.

§  To find out young people’s perception on agricultural sector and its existing opportunities.

Results

This report first provides an overview of the agriculture sector in Tanzania on the challenges and weaknesses of the sector as outlined by Agricultural Sector Development Strategy (ASDS) of 2001. Furthermore the study highlights key institutions that influence and drive agriculture sector development in Tanzania on national and international level by analyzing their strengths, weaknesses and mechanism to influence policy changes and the engagement of youth in agriculture. The study also analyzes national policies including Agricultural and Livestock Policy of 1997 and other sectoral related policies to see how youth are incorporated in these policies. The major results of the study are challenges in attracting youth in agriculture and young people’s perception on agriculture and its available opportunities which are all summarized below:

1.       Rural-urban youth migration

In Tanzania agriculture is the primary economic activity in rural areas, the ongoing migration of rural workforce to urban areas is the number one challenge to attract young people in agriculture. With the reasons for ruralurban migration being poor performance and failure of agriculture sector to generate incomes and improve lives of rural population. With this in hand,  improving rural conditions must be a development priority which would require serious reforms in agriculture sector itself that employs more than 70 percent of rural population to slow down the move of agricultural labour force  to urban areas.

2.       Government and donors focus more on improving agricultural value chain  for cash crops like tea, cotton, cashew nuts, coffee, sugar cane etc

For many years the government focus on agriculture sector development in Tanzania has been on improving agriculture sector with focus on cash crops (tea, cotton, sugar cane, coffee etc) because they generate huge revenues due to exports and employ more people. However the study found out young people are attracted to short term food crops such as vegetables, root crops like cassava, irish potatoes and fruits that takes less time for harvest. This is due to the fact that with the economic pace of today’s world young people prefer farming of crops that take less time to harvest for them  to make “quick money” to meet their life desires. 

With the exception of USAID-TAPP program implemented in Tanzania, TAPP targets smallholders by providing technical assistance, business development skills and services to smallholders involved in crops like flowers, spices( chilies, vanilla, ginger) and processed fruits(mangoes, pineapples) in adding value addition to these crops. The government and international donor community focus in Tanzania focus more on improving farm conditions for cash crops farmers to which the involvement of youth is very limited.

3.       Young people see agriculture as work for poor people, a job or career for people with no education or no   skills.

Young people both in urban and rural areas revealed that agriculture is the last career or job choice. For many agriculture remains an old fashioned sector, a sector that cannot generate income for their living. With the rapid development of Information Communication Technology (ICT) that has also exposed rural youth into fast moving world, even those who wish to engage in agriculture would want to practice modern agriculture that use more of technical skills and less energy to produce. 

Young people interviewed in the study stated to be attracted by the development of telecommunication sector which has for a short period of time changed every aspect of young people’s life even in rural areas. Many cited an example of introduction and use mobile financing service locally known as M-PESA and Tigo-Pesa introduced by mobile phone companies in Tanzania. The mobile financing service that is widely used by young people in rural and urban areas was cited as model youth would want such kinds of innovations applied in agriculture   for them to practice agriculture as an exciting and potential career (job) to make living even in rural areas.

4.       Banks negative attitude towards Agro-Financing

Experience and studies show that most banks in Tanzania consider agriculture sector too risky to qualify for financing. This is due to the fact that agriculture in Tanzania has failed to convince banks and other financial service providers on its ability to generate income. Banks and financial institutions that provide financing in terms of LOANS have higher interest rates most above 14 percent but also require detailed business plans, collaterals like Land Titles and focus on large scale farm projects with the scale of not less than 50 hectares of farm land. These conditions put many if not all   smallholders in rural areas unqualified for financing. Currently though local banks including CRDB, NMB and TIB offer financing (loans) on agriculture but for many farmers their conditions put many smallholders and even young farmers unqualified for the loan facility.

5.       Young people involved in agriculture lack better farming techniques and agribusiness skills

Those youths involved in agriculture such as horticultural farming, fruits and root crops farming lack better farming techniques. Most practice farming based on the experience they gained from family or friends, some acquired farming techniques and knowledge from friends when they joined particular youth group. These and other challenges put youths involved in this type of agriculture unable to produce better quality products on large scale and hence  they cannot capture big markets outside Tanzania export.

In urban areas where land for farming is scarce and unavailable most young people involved in horticultural farming operate in valleys and in river banks to access water for irrigation and most of urban rivers are often contaminated with industrial waste and urban waste which again put the consumers into health risk. Again youth engaged in this type of agriculture lack basic facilities such cold, drying and storage facilities to keep their products after harvest hence experience huge losses every day. 

For those youth that take agriculture as their main economic activity, most work as individuals and not in groups or farm cooperatives because of mistrust among themselves. These and other factors  put young people engaged in  agriculture unable to access  agricultural related opportunities like grants and  support for farm  equipments and inputs from donors and NGOs which often require farmers to be in groups or in cooperatives for better management and monitoring of their projects.

Recommendations

To attract and engage young people in agriculture a stakeholder process and analysis must be taken in which government, donor community, NGOs and private sector must address the following:

§  Enforce and promote agricultural based school programs from primary school to higher learning institutions. In Tanzania the government should re-introduce agriculture education into primary and secondary school syllabus, agriculture must be an exam subject in government and private managed schools to expose young people on agricultural education and build interest in agriculture among youth.

§  Youth should be mobilized into Farmer’s Cooperatives in both rural and urban areas from district level to village level and promote youth agricultural projects through technical and funding support

§  Provide agribusiness management training on better farming techniques on short term crops like vegetables, root crops and animal husbandry such as pig farming and poultry to young people involved in agriculture. 

§  Provide business management and entrepreneurship training focusing on agricultural projects to young people in schools with emphasis on agribusiness as self-employment opportunity for young people.

§  The government should develop suitable land reform policies that will recognize youth and allocate land for youth agricultural projects in urban and rural areas.

§  The government through its agencies in collaboration with private sector should develop suitable credit and finance facility for agricultural projects managed and ran by young farmers particularly those in rural areas.

§  Promote successful youth agricultural groups and present them in community as role models as way to attract more youths in agriculture sector.

§  Improve access to markets for agricultural products and information on available opportunities in farming to enable youth engaged in agriculture access and capitalize on them.