Success Story: Casting Glimmers of Horticultural Opportunities for Youths in Ilula

The activity focuses on the Kilolo district, specifically the small town of Ilula, which is known for its vibrant business activities and agriculture production and trade. However, the agriculture sector in the area faces numerous challenges, including low productivity, poor awareness of and access to productive resources, inadequate extension services, unprofitable markets, insufficient finance and credit services, and unfavorable policies. Youth in the area are disproportionately affected by these challenges, which can cause them to consider agriculture as a job for uneducated people, tedious work, unprofitable, and old-fashioned. However, the FTFT-MnM activity is working with the Tujiajiri Youth Farmers (TYFG) group from Ilula to change this notion. The activity works with Tujiajiri's youth members to identify existing opportunities in the horticulture sector and to capitalize on untapped markets. Staff focused in complementary activity components are working throughout the value chain to remove key obstacles that hinder youth engagement in agriculture. Through specialized trainings and unveiling opportunities available across the horticulture value chain, the Tujiajiri Youth Farmers Group considered engagement in input supply chains, agro-services, processing and value addition, and market research. The group decided to launch a demo-plot using the GAP methodologies promoted by FTFT-MnM. This empowered TYFG with the skills they needed to increase productivity and earn income while cultivating leadership skills, business management experience, and other important aspects of farming as a business. The demo-plot, planted with an improved tomato variety, yielded 11.7 tons of tomatoes, earning the group of 14 young farmers Tshs. 9,807,000 ($4,282 USD) from an investment of Tshs. 4,948,000 ($2,160 USD), inclusive of all production costs. The chairman of the group, Khalfan Mbugi, stated that this is the type of gain for which they have been waiting for years, and none of them have ever earned this amount of money in the business. The group plans to use the obtained money to expand their farming business for a better future.