Why tech is key to attracting young people to agriculture

Dar es Salaam. Technology is expected to play an important role in Tanzania’s agricultural transformation agenda, particularly in the effort to attract more young people into farming.

The government has set an ambitious goal of luring 200,000 young men and women into agriculture each year in order to reduce youth unemployment and increase agricultural productivity.

Tanzania has one of the world’s youngest populations, with a median age of 18 years, and the government expects that agriculture will be the single largest activity for the sustainable livelihoods of millions of individuals in their active years.

Presently, the agriculture industry employs more than 65 percent of Tanzanians, generates approximately 28 percent of the country’s GDP, supplies 60 percent of raw materials, and receives 25 percent of foreign currency.

Programmes such as Building a Better Tomorrow—Youth Initiative for Agribusiness (BBT-YIA) and Ajenda 10/30 under the ministry of Agriculture lean heavily on finding solutions that will create an additional one million jobs for young Tanzanians through farming.

Many studies have shown that young people have shunned farming owing to numerous barriers they faced, including negative perceptions towards agriculture, limited agricultural entrepreneurial skills, poor access to land, and limited accessibility to financial services, markets, and digital technologies.

Yet, Agricultural minister Hussein Bashe feels it is not too late to turn the tide and encourage younger Tanzanians to engage in profitable farming since their increasing numbers are one of the country’s competitive advantages.

 “Youth are more productive, avid users of technology, and eager to learn and try new things than adults,” Mr Bashe says.

A report by the Africa Development Bank says given the opportunity to actively participate in economic activities, the youth have the potential to contribute to an increase in GDP by more than 10 times. Tanzania’s youth account for more than 56 percent of the active labour force, of which 51 percent of those engaged in agriculture are aged between 15 and 24.

Technology deployment

Among ongoing public and private initiatives to attract young people into agriculture, technology-based solutions offer clear advantages, if a digital solution platform being fronted by a coalition of private companies targeting farmers is anything to go by.

The Africaconnect Digital Platform (ACDP) was launched in 2022 by agriculture inputs manufacturer Yara Tanzania. It was designed to bridge the gap between farmers and the four important elements for their success: financial aid, quality agricultural inputs, agronomic assistants, and the market.

With only a mobile phone, the AfricaConnect digital platform brings all the essential services a farmer would need to embark on stable, predictable, and profitable farming together in one place.

“This is potentially revolutionary in the way we want to approach the future of agriculture. Through modern technology, youth now have a reason to believe in agriculture again and embark on an experience guaranteeing them a successful career in agribusiness,” said Deodath Mtei, Yara’s digital retail solutions manager for Tanzania and Rwanda. 

According to Mtei, farmers enrolled with Africaconnect need not worry about any problems hindering their work, as the platform has assembled various service providers to offer effective solutions to their needs. 

“By offering a one-stop solution to the farmers’ access to funding, high-quality and reliable inputs, extension services, and a readily available market for their produce, Africaconnect has deployed technology to impact the lives of small and mid-sized farmers, including those who would be beginners,” said Mr Mtei.

With Tanzania’s mobile phone penetration and internet access on a rapid trajectory, platforms such as Africaconnect are set for phenomenal growth and influence.

Official data indicate that around 70 percent of the surveyed population used a mobile phone daily in Tanzania as of 2021. The frequency of use was higher among respondents living in urban areas, where 85 percent used the mobile phone every day against 64 percent in rural areas.

Statistics released by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) show that Internet usage in Tanzania has increased by 4.2 percent from 29.8 million users recorded in 2021 to 31.12 million users recorded in September last year.

With tangible success in 2022, the AfricaConnect partnership will seek to enroll 300,000 farmers on the platform in 2023, with a target of 1 million farmers by 2025.

Mr Mtei explains that while all farmers are free to join the initiative, they expect that it will attract younger farmers who are tech-savvy and looking for opportunities to grow.

Only last week, AfricaConnect added the issuance of crop insurance to its array of services to mitigate the impact of climate change, which has led to lower crop yields and increased vulnerability for farmers.

Lack of insurance coverage for farmers made them more vulnerable to bad weather, a gap that AfricaConnect sought to bridge so that farmers are more confident in what they are doing. The Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority (Tira) shows that the agricultural insurance market in Tanzania was valued at a paltry Sh1.3 billion in 2021, equivalent to just 0.17 percent of all general insurance sales.

This means that the vast majority of farmers in the country are not insured against the risks they face, leaving them exposed to financial losses if their crops fail.

“Offering crop insurance to farmers across the country is a huge milestone for us at Yara as we seek to secure livelihoods and food security. By joining Africaconnect, Jubilee Insurance adds to the impetus of making farming in Tanzania stable and profitable,” said Yara Tanzania Managing Director, Winstone Odhiambo, during the announcement of the facility.

Oher Africaconnect partners are Equity Bank, Corteva Agriscience, Agriculture Seed Agency (ASA), and Murzah Wilmar Rice Millers Ltd. Jubilee Insurance is the latest partner to join the initiative that provides tailor-made solutions to raise farmers’ productivity.

Farmers wishing to join the platform can use Yara Fertiliser agents near them, any Equity Bank branches, or call the toll-free number 0800750188.

By partnering with private firms, farmers have access to the kind of financial services that can help them manage risk, invest in their businesses, and improve their productivity. Dipankar Acharya, Chief Executive Officer and Director at Jubilee Allianz General Insurance Company, said, “We are excited to be joining the Africaconnect Partnership to shield farmers from losses occasioned by natural calamities through offering them crop insurance cover and better management of the risk exposures they face. We anticipate that farmers will now farm with greater confidence as a result of this.”

In 2022, Equity Bank Tanzania Ltd. issued loans worth Sh14 billion to some 4,600 farmers through Africaconnect in the Kilimanjaro, Tanga, Morogoro, Arusha, Manyara and Iringa regions.

Equity Bank managing director Isabela Maganga says, “It has been an exciting year of our partnership, with farmers accessing collateral-free input loans from the bank. We look forward to serving more farmers this year as Yara extends the service to cover more crops.” 

Upendo Daniel, a widowed rice farmer in Mvomero District of Morogoro Region, said, “With my small farm, it was impossible to get a loan as most financial institutions would not approve of me. I thank Yara for availing to us Africaconnect and now I can feed and school my children.”Last year, Upendo raised productivity on her quarter-acre farm from four to 11 bags of 100kg each.

Speaking exclusively to The Citizen, Jubilee Insurance product development manager Mr Hussein Nassoro said the insurance business is all about dealing with risks, mitigating them or creating a safety net for future losses, and agriculture is a significant economic activity that deserves to be covered.

Manager for Agriculture Development at the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (TCCIA), Mr Julius Marwa, said insurance plans in agriculture are important to encourage farmers to do productive farming with high profitability chances.

He said that the insurance extension in agriculture is still low because many people do not have the correct information. Still, if farmers were to adopt and access it, it would improve their focus on their productivity and investment costs management as well as land use and eventually surge the sector’s performance.