From Coop to Capital: How poultry is powering Tanga’s youth-led revival

In the narrow lanes of Tanga City, where chickens once wandered through family compounds as a sign of subsistence, a quiet revolution is underway.

What was once a casual tradition is now a burgeoning industry led not by corporations, but by young people.  At the heart of this transformation are two names: Omari Mussa Mhina and Paul Divason Skombe.

Both are products of the TangaY­etu Programme, an ambitious city-wide initiative supported by Fonda­tion Botnar which aims to facilitate social, economic, and technological change that would improve the wellbe­ing of the youth in Tanga City.

Through the poultry value chain project, these young men have turned lessons into livelihoods and their journeys show what’s possible when empowerment meets opportunity.

Dreams caged by circumstance

Before the programme, Omari faced a familiar Tanzanian reality—uncer­tain employment and limited pros­pects. Though chickens were part of his daily life, they held little economic meaning.

“Before, it was just about letting them roam free,” Omari recalled. “I never saw chickens as anything beyond that.”

For his part, Skombe had the drive but lacked the direction. As a youth leader in Tanga, he wanted to create something meaningful, but struggled to find the right path.

“I had ideas, but nothing concrete. I wanted to build something with oth­ers, but we didn’t know how to start,” he said.

For both, poultry was a background feature of life. What they needed was the structure to transform familiarity into opportunity.

Training the next generation of poultry entrepreneurs

In 2023, both Omari and Skombe enrolled in the Empowering Youth in Poultry Value Chain Project under TangaYetu, facilitated by AKM Glitters Company Ltd.

The Programme trained 49 youths in entrepreneurship, poultry housing, chicken care, and business develop­ment. Participants also received men­torship and farm inputs to launch or scale their businesses.

Omari, mentored by poultry expert Elizabeth Swai, learned systematic farming, disease control, breed-specif­ic care, and enterprise planning. He began with 500 chickens. Within a year, he expanded to over 4,000 broilers and hybrids. His mindset had shifted.

“Thanks to TangaYetu, I now see poultry farming as a real business, not just a custom,” he said. “My goal is to inspire others in Tanga to view poultry as a serious income source.”

Skombe used his training to form the Unity Youth Group, gathering motivat­ed peers to launch a group enterprise. They started with 400 chicks, then expanded to 500, then 600. They rein­vested all profits—focusing on building sustainability, not short-term gains.

“We didn’t take profits at first,” said Skombe. “Instead, we reinvested everything into growing the business, knowing every increase in production would strengthen our group.”

Their growth revealed a key bottle­neck: access to quality chicks. With support from TangaYetu, Paul pro­posed a local hatchery.

“We’re hopeful we’ll be producing our own chicks locally,” he said. “This will help not just our business, but the whole community.”

From survival to scale

Today, both young men are not just poultry farmers—they’re mentors, innovators, and employers.

Omari’s business success led him to launch Kuku Pesa Investment Group, a youth-led training and support initi­ative. Through it, he has trained over 118 young people and supported nearly 100 poultry farmers regionally.

“Most households in Tanzania keep chickens, but it’s rarely seen as a source of income,” Omari explained. “We’re proving that it can be a career.”

In October 2024, Omari was recog­nized at the Poultry Futures Forum in Dar es Salaam, where he was awarded as a top young poultry innovator by Tanzania’s Deputy Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, Unity Youth Group—under Skombe’s leadership—has expanded its operations to Msamb­weni, where they now run a secondary site with a hatchery and feed produc­tion unit. This allows them to reduce costs and ensure feed quality.

“Producing our feed has made a big difference,” Skombe said, adding, “Every savings goes back into improv­ing quality and capacity.”

The Unity Youth Group now employs other young people and trains aspiring farmers. In a recent session, they trained 25 youth and hired three of them. Others started their own ven­tures.

“We’re not just growing our busi­ness,” said Skombe, adding, “We’re empowering others to create their own paths.”

A model for sustainable youth empowerment

The impact of the poultry project in Tanga extends far beyond profit. It’s about shifting perceptions—from poultry as domestic filler to poultry as enterprise. It’s about replacing jobless­ness with ownership, and dependence with networks of shared growth.

TangaYetu’s integrated model—combining training, funding, men­torship, and youth organizing—has already enabled three businesses, trained dozens of new keepers, and seeded a Sh 40 million revolving fund. Its young leaders are being considered for local government loans and are now contributing to regional food security and economic resilience. But the jour­ney is far from over.

Skombe envisions a future where the “Unity Youth Group” becomes a household name for poultry in Tanga. Omari sees an entire industry trans­formed.

“Let’s make poultry farming a seri­ous, profitable industry, not just a household tradition,” Omari declared.

Their stories show what develop­ment looks like when driven from the ground up. They are not beneficiaries. They are architects.

“The training from TangaYetu has shaped who we are today,” Skombe said. “We’re not just poultry farmers; we’re confident, capable young entre­preneurs ready to lead the way in our community,” he added.

Development doesn’t always require complex infrastructure. Sometimes, it starts with a chick. Sometimes, with a savings group. Sometimes, with belief.

TangaYetu has done more than teaching young people to farm—it has taught them to dream of enterprises, to lead by example, and to lift others as they rise.

And maybe that’s the biggest trans­formation of all: a city where youths no longer ask for permission to grow, because they’ve already started build­ing the future they want.

TangaYetu initiative is funded by Fondation Botnar and managed by INNOVEX Development Consult­ing Limited in collaboration with Tanga City Council making Tanga a city where youth thrive.