BBT programme opens farming opportunities for 2,437 beneficiaries

DODOMA: THE government has enrolled 2,437 youth and women in the Building a Better Tomorrow (BBT) programme to undertake commercial farming on land set aside by local government authorities, expanding opportunities for agribusiness and employment.

Agriculture Minister Daniel Chongolo said in Dodoma that the initiative aimed to empower youth and women through agribusiness while enabling councils to identify and support beneficiaries in their respective areas.

He said the selected beneficiaries will undergo two months of agribusiness training at incubation centres before starting production on designated farms.

“To reduce the need for youth to travel from one place to another, councils are setting aside farms and enrolling young people who will participate in production on those farms,” Mr Chongolo said.

During the 2026/27 financial year, training will be conducted in two phases, with 1,218 beneficiaries in the first phase and 1,219 in the second.

Mr Chongolo directed the selected beneficiaries to report to their assigned incubation centres between October 24 and 25, 2026 and comply with all training requirements.

He said the government would cover accommodation and training costs and provide each beneficiary with a monthly subsistence allowance of 150,000/- throughout the incubation period.

The minister said the list of selected beneficiaries, assigned centres and training requirements were available on the Ministry of Agriculture’s website and social media platforms.

The farms are located in several councils, including Kaliua, Muleba, Kisarawe, Bahi, Misenyi, Chemba, Njombe Town, Mpanda, Musoma District, Kibaha, Chunya and Ikungi.

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BBT Project I Coordinator Vumilia Zikankuba said the new arrangement was expected to improve the programme’s impact by giving beneficiaries practical experience and exposing them to modern agribusiness techniques.

She said incubation centres would help participants learn new farming technologies and understand agriculture as a business rather than merely a means of production.

“Agriculture is technology and technologies keep changing. A young person in a village may know how to grow maize, but at an incubation centre they may learn something different and return to their farm with new skills,” Ms Zikankuba said.

She added that the training would cover financial management, record keeping, innovation and business integrity to help beneficiaries manage farming as a commercial enterprise.

The BBT programme implements block-farming projects in areas including Ndogowe and Chinangali in Dodoma.

Thousands of young people have benefited directly from earlier phases of the programme.