Malinyi District Commissioner Mathayo Maselle has praised IITA for providing youth with opportunities in agribusiness through capacity building and empowerment after visiting the Institute’s booth at the recent National Farmers Exhibition “Nane nane” held in Tanzania’s Morogoro region.
IITA promoted the IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) incubation program, which empowers youth in agribusiness. IYA has trained young agripreneurs across Africa on mindset change, agribusiness activities, and proposal writing and has facilitated youth access to credit through partnerships with financial institutions. “Youth empowerment is a good initiative. The government has been in the forefront in issuing loans; training youth on where to invest will help solve the employment challenge we are currently facing,” Maselle said.
Moreover, the District Commissioner applauded the technologies and innovations IITA displayed during the exhibitions. He highlighted the need to enhance strong collaboration between the government and IITA to ensure that the country and people are aware of and benefit from the technologies to develop the agriculture sector. He noted that this would increase food security and improve income and livelihoods for smallholder farmers.