DAR ES SALAAM: PRESIDENT Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan on Thursday vowed that Tanzania is determined on promoting the agricultural sector not only for itself, but also for the continent.
President Samia made the statement in Dar es Salaam when addressing the youth at the ongoing Africa Food Systems Forum.
Her statement builds on the country's commitment to reform the sector to become the food basket for the African continent and globe by the year 2030.
Dr Samia also said the country envisions to up the sector's contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to reach 10 per cent by that period, citing the 'Building a Better Tomorrow' (BBT) programme as one of measures taken to achieve the targets.
The initiative, which runs from 2022 to 2030, aims to empower the country's youth by providing them with opportunities in agribusiness and fostering economic growth.
By empowering young individuals and equipping them with the necessary skills and resources, the programme seeks to create a generation of agribusiness entrepreneurs, who can drive economic growth to transform Tanzania's agricultural landscape.
"About 3 million youth will secure direct and indirect jobs by the year 2030. So far, since the programme started, the programme has enrolled 1252 youth in agriculture, livestock and fisheries," she pointed out.
Elaborating on strengthening the market for the agricultural produce from the youth, she said the government conducts research on what crops have high demand within and outside the country and connect the producers with the buyers.
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One of good examples of this approach is the peas crop where the government managed to connect the farmers in Southern Tanzania with the market.
The move saw the price of peas going up from only 300/- per a kilogramme last year to 2000/- this year.
She also said the government was making efforts to improve road infrastructures connecting regions in a bid to ease transportation of crops from the hinterlands to the market.
"We have also purchased new cargo airplane and improved our ports to facilitate the exports of the agricultural products," she stated.
Earlier, when launching the youth meeting, President and Chief Executive Officer of Yara International, Mr Svein Tore Holsether, said the new generation is capable, arguing that the youth are the entrepreneurs, who are capable of shaping the continent.
"Agriculture transformation is driven by technology which now deploys things like drones and advanced satellite," Mr Holsether, said as he called upon the youth to understand that farming is business and food is business.
"I urge the young generation to turn to the idea of business in agriculture. We need to bring the youth to this business, we need to demonstrate to the youth that this is business," he stressed.
