YOUTH FARMERS TRAINED ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN KAHE WARD

SIYB trainer Mr.Martin Jeremiah  presenting during seminar workshop.

Facilitator noting something on board.

Young farmers listening careful to the facilitator

Mr. Mbele, project coordinator prepare some training documentations during training.

Mr Calvin Salema, FASO project accountant during seminar workshop..

Youth farmers are considered as backbone of the country. In Tanzania youth is currently the largest group in its history facing a number of critical life decisions. Their well being and health is profoundly important for agribusiness development.

In this context, FASO is implementing a project funded by ILO through The Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) to provide five-day entrepreneurship training to youth farmers in Kahe ward, Moshi Rural recently to assist them to set up their own business (formal farming business) and save them from unemployment.

As part of Organic farming project, the training involved ILO entrepreneurship training packages and the trainer was Mr. Martin Jeremiah (Qualified ILO SYB trainer). Through those training youth farmers were offered business and counseling in areas including business start-up, business planning, management, marketing, finance and customer care.

The endeavors will be made to facilitate those youth farmers for market identification and product development. FASO will contribute in building networking with available Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) to the entrepreneurs for access to finance to establish small scale enterprise.

“Promoting entrepreneurship to youth farmers is our main worry and objective,” says Innocent Mbele, the Coordinator of the project. He indicates that in the country, the lack of employment is a major challenge encountered by youth. Although agriculture is a backbone of Tanzania economy, there is a decreasing interest among youth in entering agricultural related fields due to the persistent perception of agriculture as an outdated field with minimal financial returns. Agriculture must be made ‘sexy’ and profitable to the youth, and entrepreneurship training to young farmers is a one of the solution…He said.