AMDT project empowers women in agribusiness

DODOMA: SIGNIFICANT number of young women in central zone have been empowered to venture into key agribusiness opportunities available in the sunflower sub-sector to improve their livelihood.

The useful economic opportunities that the youth have so far managed to grab include production of sunflower seeds, edible oil processing and value addition toward the perennial flowering plant.

The youth have masterminded the opportunities after being trained through the Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Food and Agriculture (YEFFA) project, which focuses on assisting the youth to engage in agribusiness to secure dignified and fulfilling employment opportunities in the sunflower sub sector.

The twelve-month project is implemented by the Agricultural Markets Development Trust (AMDT) through the financial support from AGRA and it works to impact at least 28,000 smallholder farmers directly and a total of 152 youth-led small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in five regions.

Speaking at the just concluded NaneNane exhibitions, some of the beneficiary youth expressed to have transformed their livelihood through the initiative.

Ms Aisha Marijani, a young woman from Chamwino District, Dodoma region, said through the project, she has managed to engage into sunflower oil seed processing.

“Before I joined the project, I used to grow maize and sunflower with poor yield, but the project has now enabled me to venture into edible oil processing,” she said.

She said she has acquired vital entrepreneurship skills from the project, including labelling of her products, as well as how to market her products through diverse online platforms.

ALSO READ: AMDT supports women in agribusiness

Ms Beatrice Kalinga is another young woman from Mpwapwa district who has benefited from the project.

“The project has trained and enabled me to become a producer of the quality declared seeds for sunflower,” she said.

With vital marketing skills she acquired from the initiative, Ms Kalinga expressed joy as her seeds which has been approved by the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) have created strong demand in the market.

AMDT’s Monitoring, Results and Measurement Officer, Delta Shila, said the project majors into capacity building towards regional, international trade and export readiness for the youth-led businesses, thus facilitating their participation in trade fairs such as Nane Nane to intensify their experience, build confidence and expand their market reach.

“Other knowledge that the project rolls out, include, sanitation, handling and storage, quality control and safety measures which ensures consistency and compliance with industry standards,” he said.

He said informed that the project works to link young women and men SMEs to government initiatives such as innovation hubs and block farms (Building a Better Tomorrow programme) which provides significant opportunities among youth, especially on land acquisition and financing support.