HOW WE CAN GUARANTEE A BETTER FUTURE FOR YOUTH
Today, August 12, is International Youth Day (IYD), so designated by the United Nations starting on August 12, 2000 “to draw attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth”.
The Day is an opportunity for governments and other stakeholders in the welfare of humanity at the national and global levels to do this in the best interests of their youth in particular, and the youth of the wider world in general.
In Tanzania, the youth dominate in the population stakes, with about 64 percent of the 60 million-strong population as of last year being under 24 years of age. Looked at from another angle, about 34 percent of the population is made up of persons aged between 15 and 35 years – and the numbers are growing relentlessly with the passage of time.
Generally speaking, Tanzania’s growing youthful population represents tremendous opportunities for overall socioeconomic development, as well as potential challenges that must be functionally surmounted in order to attain the country’s noblest of goals: an all-inclusive, sustainable social and economic development all-round.
The challenges include – but are by no means limited to – the fact that, while more than 800,000 youths graduate at different academic levels annually, only about 50,000 of them secure salaried jobs. This results in the persisting rural-to-urban youth migration in the vain hope of securing salaried employment and a better life in urban settings.
This rarely happens on the ground, making joblessness among our youth a nightmare for society.
We think revisiting agriculture to make it both attractive and beneficial to our youth would go a long way in solving the burgeoning problem whereby the youth turn to crime and other forms of improper behaviour for lack of gainful employment that would make them strictly keep to the straight and narrow.
We also need to revisit our education system with the goal NOT only of passing exams, but making graduates skills-oriented and, therefore, readily employable.
REIN IN FERTILISER DEALERS
Agriculture is generally regarded as the backbone of Tanzania’s economy. Unfortunately, however, our farmers are still desperately grappling with dwindling crop yields.
Certainly, there are many factors that bog down the agricultural sector, including weather vagaries and unproductive farming practices. For example, skyrocketing fertiliser prices are a massive blow for farmers, leaving millions of them practising subsistence farming whose contribution to the economy is meagre, and threatens the country’s food security.
Undeniably, world market fertiliser prices have recently been going cup, as the Agriculture minister, Prof Adolf Mkenda, has noted. But, there is also a problem in the distribution chain, which needs addressing. Without a doubt, unscrupulous traders are also behind price hikes, which often leave our farmers counting losses when prices of their produce plunge.
Granted, the government has promised that fertilisers will be available at affordable prices. But, without keeping close tabs on traders-cum-distributors to ensure they observe price caps, it will be business as usual for them. Indeed, the increasing farm inputs costs – including fertiliser prices – could plunge the agriculture sector into a major crisis.
The government should also revisit its subsidies scheme to ensure that it benefits farmers who form almost 80 percent of the Tanzanian population.
