Zanzibar turns to agriculture to tackle youth unemployment
ZANZIBAR: ZANZIBAR is stepping up efforts to tackle youth unemployment by promoting agricultural investment, skills development and access to affordable financing and reliable markets, with youth-led farming initiatives identified as an important driver of job creation and economic empowerment.
The Minister for Labour, Employment, Youth and Empowerment, Mr Ali Suleiman Ameir Mrembo, said the government was committed to equipping young people with relevant education, practical skills and innovation to enable them to create jobs for themselves and others.
He made the remarks during a visit to Green Hope Cooperative in Bambi, accompanied by members of the House of Representatives’ Standing Committee on Economy and Investment.
“The government recognises the challenges facing young people who struggle to find employment,” Mr Mrembo said, adding that access to relevant education and practical skills would strengthen their ability to become self-reliant and participate actively in economic activities.
He said the Green Hope project had significant potential to generate employment, empower young people economically and link them to affordable loans and reliable markets for their agricultural produce.
For his part, the Chairperson of the House of Representatives’ Standing Committee on Economy and Investment, Mr Makame Mohammed Sufiani, said the committee was impressed by the investments young people were making in agriculture.
He pledged that the committee would follow up on the challenges facing the cooperative to ensure its members could access affordable loans and reliable markets to sustain and expand their activities.
Mr Sufiani said addressing the challenges confronting young agricultural entrepreneurs was essential to increasing production, improving livelihoods and creating additional employment opportunities.
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Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Youth and Empowerment, Ms Salama Mbarouk Khatib, said the ministry was ready to work with young people by providing guidance, supervision and access to opportunities that would support productive agricultural activities.
“Such support will help young people establish sustainable businesses, become selfemployed and create jobs for others, contributing to broader economic development,” she said.
Explaining the challenges facing the cooperative, Green Hope Executive Secretary, Ms Sihaba Abdalla Suleiman, said that despite the progress made, members continued to experience shortages of working equipment, difficulties accessing reliable water supplies and limited access to modern agricultural knowledge and skills.
