Dar es Salaam. The government is creating a viable space for encouraging agricultural innovative activities in a bid to attract more youth into the sector, which employs about 80 per cent of Tanzanians.

The remark was made by the policy advisor for the ministry of Agriculture (Food Security and Co-operatives), Mr Revelian Ngaiza said on Tuesday August 29 when presenting a report in a meeting organised by the East African Community (EAC) in Dar es Salaam.

Mr Ngaiza, who represented the ministry’s permanent secretary, said the government had identified the innovative approach as a powerful tool of encouraging the youth to take up agriculture as their main economic activity.

“In our two-year pilot project for identifying the challenges making the youth shun agriculture, they have discovered that innovations in agriculture were crucial in attracting the youth to engage in agriculture,” he said.

In his opening remarks to such meeting on Best Youth Agri-business Models in East Africa, the EAC deputy secretary general, Mr Christophe Bazivamo, said that since many young people do not regard agriculture in a positive way, there is a need to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to attract them.

“ICT can be improved let us say to integrate music and sports in agricultural activities for attracting more youths in this sector,” said Mr Bazivamo.

He cited the case of the use of ICT in agri-businesses such as marketing of agricultural produce, which is attracting more youths in Kenya.

The EAC senior officer for the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Mr Mohamed Al-Wahir said that FAO has been working closely with the EAC member countries to mobilise more young people to engage in agriculture for reducing the growing rate of unemployment among youths. According to 2018 report of FAO, agriculture in the EAC nations is facing more than 30 percent post-harvest losses due to lack of enough agro-innovations.

Source: The Citizen