Tanzania takes first steps towards initiating a Youth Agriprenuers program

IITA Tanzania will soon start own its youth agribusiness program that aims at equipping young, unemployed men and women with agriculture and business skills to encourage them to set up their own agribusiness or increase their employment opportunities in agriculture and research. This is part of the Institute’s effort to tackle the high unemployment rate, one of the main development challenges in Africa, and a general lack of interest in agriculture by young people.

Currently, several students from the University of Sokoine in Tanzania who finished their internship at the Institute but asked to stay on as volunteers have expressed their interest in such a program. The youth also met the IITA DG in December, while he was on an official visit in the country, and he briefed them on the Agriprenuers program in Nigeria. He also assured them that IITA was very keen on establishing such programs across all its hubs in Africa to create employment opportunities for Africa’s youth.

Dr Sanginga (centre) poses for a group photo with the staff and youth
volunteers at IITA Tanzania in Dar es Salaam

“It’s a good start. We are exploring how to establish a youth agriprenuers program in Tanzania under the SARD-SC project and around the cassava value chain modeled along the one in Ibadan,” said Abass Adebayo, IITA value chain specialist under whom the students interned and are now volunteering. They were involved in efforts to develop the cassava value chain in the country.

Adebayo said the Institute was also currently working with a group of youth in Kigoma region, named Big Power Group, who have 30 ha of land and were engaged in growing and processing cassava.

He also noted several leaders in the country had requested for IITA’s support in engaging the youth in agriculture including the Regional commissioners for Coast and Kigoma regions.

“We will work with these leaders in developing programs to involve youth in agriculture where we will train and support them to carry out modern agriculture”.

One of the volunteers is Gaspa Audifas, 25, who graduated from the University of Sokoine in Food Science. He says he is very interested in such a program following the briefing of IITA’s DG on the progress made by the youth in Nigeria.

“There are many opportunities for the youth in agriculture. We just sometimes lack the knowledge and even faith in ourselves. Therefore such a program that will give us the skills to help us to put into good use the knowledge  we gained in school, and not necessarily wait to be employed, will be very important for Tanzania where unemployment is very high” he said. “There are very many unemployed graduates roaming the streets. There is no difference between them and those who are not educated!”

 

Cassava more popular among the older populations in major cities in Tanzania

Over a half of the population in the three major cities in Tanzania eat cassava but nearly everyone eats maize.Furthermore, the hardy root crop, was found to be more popular among the older people who preferred  it in the form of ‘ugali’ made from its flour while the young population mostly ate it boiled.

Dr Adebayo Abass, IITA's value addition specialist briefs the cassava processors on the harmonized cassava flour standard

There is therefore a huge potential to increase the market for cassava in the country by getting more people to eat it especially the urban youth says Dr Adebayo Abass, a value chain specialist from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). 

Dr Abass was speaking at a recent training on standards for cassava flour in East Africa for cassava processors from Kigoma, Pwani and Mwanza regions held at the Lake Zone Agricultural Research Institute (LZARD) in Mwanza. The five East Africa countries harmonized their standards for cassava and potato and their products to facilitate cross-border trade.

Dr Abass said the study commissioned by IITA and conducted by Consumer Insight, asked 1,464 people in the major cities in Tanzania the important crops in their daily food. Over a half of them, 53% said they ate cassava compared to 100% of maize. 65% of them said they ate it boiled cassava while 67% consumed it as a stiff porridge ‘ugali’ made from the flour. 

Anna Mhalu from the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (second from left) oversees the practical session during the training on standards.

 “Looking at age differences, a majority of the young people between 18-24 consumed boiled cassava while among the older generation, most preferred to eat ugali made from its flour. Most of the younger people (70%)said they would like to eat cassava ugali, if the flour was white and not smelly” he said.

According to the researcher, ugali made from some traditional cassava flour is smelly while the modern processing method developed by IITA through and tested in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperation (MAFC) and the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Center (TFNC) and other partners gives non-smelly cassava ugali.

According to the study, conducted between May and July 2013, the region with the highest consumers of cassava was Mwanza and mostly in the form of cassava ugali. It was least popular in Arusha possibly because the cassava flour available in the market is grey in color (33%).

Looking at quality issues, the study found that 44% of the population wanted the cassava flour to be finely milled, 33% said they did not want smelly flour and 30% wanted it white in colour. And when asked where they wanted to buy their flour, majority said at the kiosks in the neighborhood. Only 9% said the supermarkets. Two thirds of the people interviewed also said they found it difficult to find the cassava flour because it was not available in the kiosks.

The processors spread the dried cassava mash on a raised platform to keep off livestock and dust to avoid contamination of the floor and preferably on dry black plastic bags which trap heat hastening the drying process.

Abass further advised the processors, “Looking at the whole population, majority want the flour to be white and finely milled. No one wants grey and smelly flour. That is how you should process your flour. Many of you have been targeting supermarkets, now you need to start considering the kiosks– the small shops within the residences.”

Dr Abass also added that a majority of those interviewed said that they did not want the cassava and maize flours mixed together by the processors. They prefer to buy each separately and mix at home themselves as they wish. They also preferred the packing to be in one kg packets.

The training was conducted by researchers from IITA and Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) with funds from Association for Strengthening Agriculture Research in East and Central Africa, (ASARECA).

One year of IITA Youth Agripreneurs

IITA Agripreneurs in their cassava field

The IITA Youth Agripreneurs are a group of young graduates involved in agribusiness, with the aim of being a unit that would serve as a model to other young people planning to venture into agribusiness and becoming the trainer of trainers. Within one year of their existence, they have established many hectares of maize, cassava, and soybean and also plantain/banana fields. They have also multiplied plantain suckers in the macropropagation chamber. They have managed to bridge the gender inequality gap in the team, with their present number standing at 11 men and 10 women.

The activities of the group cut across the value-chains of different crops including cassava, maize, plantain/banana, and soybean. For cassava, the Youth Agripreneurs  are into stem multiplication and root production. For maize and soybean, their focus is on seed multiplication (both certified and foundation seeds), whereas for the plantain/banana, they are into sucker multiplication and fruit production.

The uniqueness of the team lies in the heterogeneity of the disciplines inherent therein, ranging across the Arts, Sciences and Social Sciences. After a meeting with the IFAD President, Dr Kanayo Nwanze, intended to spur youth involvement towards sustainable agriculture, the members of the National Youth Service Corps who were then serving in IITA, Ibadan, under the guidance of the Director-General, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, responded with enthusiasm to the call on 28 August 2012.

The project began with a series of activities, such as attending seminars and training within and outside the
Institute, including a workshop organized by UNIDO in Songhai. Visits to seed companies, most of them in the northern part of Nigeria, were also made. The project has had visitors from various organizations, USAID, UNIDO, FARA, NIPSS, etc., to mention a few.

The Agripreneurs look forward to collaborating with sponsors and investors, as one of their future plans is to expand their production. They wish to become self-independent and self-employed, having acquired the necessary knowledge and skills, and ultimately become employers of labour.