The 8th of August is ‘Nane Nane’, a day where people across Tanzania celebrate the contribution that farmers have made to society and the economy. While it’s a Tanzanian public holiday, the message of this day is relevant to all Africans – farmers are important! More than 60% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa are smallholder farmers. And 23% of the GDP comes from agriculture. However, the future of agriculture is uncertain.
Currently, the average age of a farmer is 60-years-old. And while youth make up 60% of the unemployed on the African continent, less and less of them are interested in working in agriculture. When we asked our Ubongo Kids audience in both urban and rural Tanzania what careers they were interested in, only 2% expressed an interest in agriculture. We then conducted further research and learned that kids believe that farming is ‘old school’ and difficult. Simply put, when they think of farmers they think of their grandparents ploughing the land with hoes.
To address this challenge, we partnered with Agricultural Non-State Actors Forum (ANSAF) to create an episode of Ubongo Kids that raised awareness and illustrated agriculture as a viable field for young people. This is just the first step in our efforts to making farming cool for young people. Because, not only can it be a source of employment, but we believe that having young minds in the field could lead to innovation, increased efficiency and ultimately help us reach our development goal of zero hunger and improved livelihoods.
Learn more below.
