Posted on March, 26, 2019 at 10:05 am
A batch of 250 youths from Coast, Dodoma, Morogoro and Singida regions will undergo an agribusiness and entrepreneurship training by Sokoine University Graduate Entrepreneurs Cooperative experts with support from United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
SUGECO’s Executive Director, Revocatus Kimario said the training is aimed at giving the youth skills to engage in profitable agriculture production while also creating employment for themselves and their peers.
Kimario said at Mkongo Agricultural Youth Camp in Rufiji district of Coast region last week that FAO has already given a 215m/- grant to SUGECO for the purpose. He said the traning will mainly focus on horticulture, beekeeping and poultry farming value chain as the such products have big demand in Dar es Salaam and other urban areas.
“We already have 48 youths Mkongo Agricultural Camp attending the training under SUGECO experts,” said Kimario who unveiled that the training will be conducted in five phases with each group comprising of 50 participants.
While paying tribute to FAO for the financial support, the SUGECO chief executive explained that during the training, the youths will undergo both theory and practical exercise aimed at ensuring that they put to practice what they have learnt.
“Among other things, they will do theory and practice on drip system installation, fertilizer application, soil preparation techniques, seed sowing, how to add value to commodities that they will produce and business skills acquisition,” he added.
The training will also incorporate the government’s Agriculture Strategy 2016-2020 and the broader Agriculture Sector Development Program and the country’s Vision 2025.
Addressing the inaugural training program, FAO’s National Consultant for value chain cum youth employment, Cypridion Mushongi said the world food body wants graduates of the program become successful agribusiness ventures which will also create jobs for their peers.
Mushongi pointed out that the project also seeks to integrate youths into an emerging modern commercial agriculture sub sector that serves growing markets in urban areas where population is on the increase.
“When you go back to your villages, please make use of the skills acquired during the training to engage in successful agribusiness activities and be our good ambassadors and models to your peers,” the FAO National Consultant said.
He pledged that FAO will continue to work in partnership with SUGECO and other professional organizations plus government agencies to build capacity of youth to become agribusiness successful individuals or groups with a significant contribution to national development.
“You as modern farmers can’t engage in agribusiness activities without undergoing these tailor made training,” he added while noting that the UN specialized body issued the grant after discovering that the majority of Tanzanian youths are jobless and that agriculture is the best sector to engage them.
Since 2016, FAO in collaboration with SUGECO have trained over 500 young agribusiness entrepreneurs from across the country who have since become successful.
Rufiji District Commissioner, Vedastus Luseko who officiated the inaugural training session also thanked FAO and SUGECO for coming up with the project which complements government efforts to ensure that youth engage in productive activities.
Lusekelo said the government through Rural Energy Agency will connect Mkongo to the national grid in the next two weeks to end the problem of lack of electricity. “The Deputy Minister for Energy recently visited Mkongo Agricultural Youth Camp and saw the current situation including lack of power supply and vowed to ensure the camp has electricity within
the next two weeks,” he noted.
Already, Mkongo village has received a supply of electric poles, cables and billing meters ready for technicians to connect the place which include the camp to the national power grid.
Source: IPP Media