Tanzania: Ministry Announces Grant for Youth, Women in Agriculture

According to the BBT-YIA booklet, the programme aims to achieve 12,000 profitable enterprises across 12,000 villages in Tanzania over the course of eight years by training 200,000 youths and engaging 20,000 young people in internship programmes, as well as mentoring and coaching 15,000 youth-led agribusinesses through incubation programmes.

This financial assistance will be provided through the Agricultural Input Trust Fund (AGITF), according to a call note published on the ministry's website. These financial opportunities are open for applications from January 15th, 2023 to April 30th, 2023. The BBT programme aims to address the issues that young people and women face in agriculture, such as access to land, capital, technology, and markets.

According to the announcement, the initiative will provide grants and soft loans to youths and women involved in commercial crop value chains in order to support the growth of a successful and sustainable agribusiness sector. "Applicants must be Tanzanian youth aged 18-40 years with experience in agricultural activities to be eligible for the programme," according to the announcement.

They must also be actively engaged in an agricultural enterprise at the time of application, either on their own or family's land, or on rented land (with specific conditions for those who are renting).

Tanzania's government is utilizing the BBT programme to support the growth of a thriving agribusiness sector while also addressing the challenges faced by young people and women in agriculture. Youth entrepreneurs in established agribusinesses, youth entrepreneurs whose agribusinesses have yet to be established, youth trained to be workforce in established agribusinesses, and youth with no interest in agriculture will be divided into four clusters.

The BBT-YIA programme will be funded through a combination of government resources, development partners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector, with the Ministry of Agriculture serving as the program's facilitator and coordinator. Tanzania has approximately 16 million youths, with approximately 51% of those aged 15-24 years and 46.6 percent of those aged 25-34 years engaged in farming. Off-farm agri-food systems, on the other hand, employ 8% and 16% of youths aged 15-24 years and 25-34 years, respectively.

Other sectors employ approximately 19% and 31.5 % of youths aged 15-24 years and 25-34 years, respectively, outside of farming and agri-food systems. Meanwhile, the ministry has invited both domestic and international investors to express interest in investing in Block Farms through the Building a Better Tomorrow (BBT) programme. This initiative aims to involve youths and women in the development of Block Farms, thereby creating long-term and empowering opportunities for these groups.

Tanzania is well-positioned as a food powerhouse and net exporter of agricultural goods as the region's leading producer of crops such as maize, rice, cassava, beans, and others.  Investing in block farms through the BBT programme allows investors to capitalise on this success and potentially realise significant long-term returns. The ministry has identified 162,492 acres of arable land in various regions of the country for crop production, including Mbeya, Dodoma, Kagera, and Kigoma.