Tanzania launches effort to reduce youth unemployment

 

Tanzania has launched ‘Building a Better Tomorrow’ a new program aiming at improving youths’ agricultural skills as it attempts to address the unemployment rate among the key population group in the country.

Patrobas Katambi, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office says both graduates and non-graduates are eligible to participate.

The prime minister’s office will be charged with training participants, while the Ministry of Agriculture will be responsible for ensuring the youth acquire the needed land, capital and infrastructures.

“Also, the ministry for agriculture will be coordinating markets for agro-produces,” he said.

Katambi says that apart from training on smart agriculture, a good number of young graduates have also benefited with training on essential professional skills which would help them compete well in the labor market.

The deputy minister made the remarks in response to a question by Thea Ntara, a Special Seats Member of Parliament, who had asked the government to explain what it was doing to resolve unemployment facing the country’s young graduates.

Katambi explained that the government is also implementing other programs including the National Skills Development Program that provides training and experiences through block farming techniques. A total of 12,580 youth have so far been trained, according to official figures.

Likewise, he said, the internship training program for graduates has reached about 6,624 youth. Incubation centers in Morogoro and Coastal Region have also provided training to an additional 1,000 youth.

A Policy Forum study on Tanzanian unemployment found that 19 percent of the country’s population is between 15-24, the age group being targeted in the “Building a Better Tomorrow” program.  For men in that age group, the unemployment rate is 12.3 percent. The rate is 14.3 percent for women.

According to official statistics, about 800,000 Tanzanian young men and women are estimated to enter the labor market each year.