AMTD Project Empowers Young Women In Dodoma To Engage Into Agribusiness

👉 The twelve- months based project is implemented Agricultural Markets Development Trust (AMDT) through the  financial auspicious 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.

DODOMA. A record number of women youth in  central zone have been empowered to venture into key gribusiness 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, the initiative which focuses on assisting the youth to engage in agribusiness to secure dignified and fulfilling employment opportunities in the sunflower sub sector.

The twelve- months based project is implemented Agricultural Markets Development Trust (AMDT) through the  financial auspicious 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 ongoing NaneNane Farmers Annual Festival, ‘NaneNane’ some of the beneficiary youth expressed to have transformed their livelihood through the initiative.

Ms Aisha Marijani, a women youth from Chamwino district of Dodoma region said through the project, she has managed to engage into sunflower oil seed processing.

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

She expressed to have acquired vital entreprenuership skills from the project, including labelling of her products, as well as how to marketing her products through diverse online platforms.

Ms Beatrice Kalinga is the other young women from Mpwapwa district who have benefited from the project.

“The project have trained and enabled me to become 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 blessed by the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) is winning good market demand among peer farmers.

Adding his voice to the success stories from the beneficiaries, the AMDT Project Management – Monitoring Results and Measurements, Mr Delta Shila said the project majors into capacity building towards regional, international trade and export readiness for the youth-led MSME thus we facilitate their participation in trade fairs such as Nane nane to intensify their experience, build confidence and expand their market reach.

“Others 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.

Moreover, he 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 program) which provides significant opportunities among youth, especially on land acquisition and financing support.

“The project support market linkage initiative for MSMEs by organizing local and international Business to Business (B2B) networking events, matchmaking services, and industry-specific partnerships,” he added.

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Valentine Oforo

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