Fax: +255 736 604 517 Email Address: lenecorgz@gmail.com/ Link: http://www.greenchangesforlenec.webs.

com

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Local Entrepreneurship Network and Environmental Conservation (LENEC) is a growing youth-led organization that
operates through legal registration number 00NGO/00006063 under the ACT of 2002 in Tanzania. The Organization
targets to work with marginal youth and other local individuals with focus on entrepreneurship, environmental
stewardship and human related context that aim to evacuate the constraints which create and perpetuate poverty
within the indigenous societies.
The Organization encompasses of energetic youth who are very thirst to developmental changes in their
communities. These youths are gender sensitive and possessing various field professions that range from Rural
Development, Agronomy, Business Administration and Extension. The Organization is governed with the mission of
providing significant trainings based on socio-economic related assistances to local entrepreneurs in connection to
ordinal communities to acquire overall knowledge on incidental yielding and environmental conservation,
management and oppression free.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Horticultural Farming for Improved Production Economy (HoFIPE) is a project that desires to address youth
employment through the agricultural sector in Tanzania. The project intends to involve youth and other peasant
individuals through building their capacities on improved irrigation scheme under three (3) important phases, (1)
Awareness on Agricultural information: Challenges and Opportunities; ( giving information through local meet-ups,
seminars, workshops, and social media (2) Development of farm training: (for demonstrating improved farming
technology and better farming strategies) (3) Connect trained individuals: (youth and other peasant individuals) to
financial institutions or companies like SACCOS and banks for loan or farming tools access respectively.
This initiative is organic farming growing sweet peppers, tomatoes, and onions as pilot crops for the training through
the use of improved farming technology, consisting of a solar electric pump, drip set-up, improved seeds, and plant
vitamins that will ensure vegetable products of quality and quantity at market.
The project is focusing on the agricultural sector since it is the cornerstone of the country’s economy. Agriculture
accounts for about half of the national income, three quarters of merchandise exports, is a source of food and
provides employment opportunities to about 80 percent of individuals (URT 2009). It has linkages with the non-farm
sector through forward linkages to agro-processing, consumption and export; provides raw materials to industries
and a market for manufactured. Moreover, the project insists on resource-saving agricultural crop production that
strives to achieve acceptable profits together with high and sustained production levels.

The initiative shall establish the training base at Mvomero District where will be the centre for the project. Thereafter,
the initiative shall expand to other farming zones to reach out the young people and other indigenous community
members to participate in agriculture which is the biggest employer, has high income returns and offers food security.
Also, this initiative shall introduce the Agricultural Show-Case (ASC) that shall act as platform for discussing and
presenting the Agricultural Context through TV/Radios explaining the farming activities, opportunities and other
important information relating to agricultural sector to youth and other peasant individuals.
This project views that inadequate awareness on farming and technology, poor lending access, non-specific training
on crop types to grow and unreliable product market cause the youth and other individuals to shun away from
agricultural sector.

Figure 1: Project Area Base.

Initially the project will be piloted in Mvomero District followed by Kilosa District before being ultimately implemented
in the other regions on the map. Mvomero District is on the river valleys and basins of agro-ecological climatic zone
of Morogoro Region. The topography of these areas is predominantly plains with rainfall ranging between 900 mm
and 1400 mm annually. Temperatures in this zone are high with an average of 30 degrees Celsius due to its lowland
nature. The zone is densely populated in the upper parts of the valleys and sparse in the inner parts. Major food
crops include maize, paddy, sorghum, beans, cassava, fruits and vegetables. Cash crops are cotton, sisal,
vegetables, oil seeds, sugar cane and coconuts. With rainfall being seasonal and inadequate irrigation infrastructure,
agriculture production in Mvomero has not yet realizes its full potential.

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND JUSTIFICATION

Over the past few years, youth unemployment has become a critical problem in Tanzania. Mwanjali (2005) points out
that the unemployment rate increased by 1.5% from 3.6% in 1990 to 5.1% in 2000. Government statistics indicate
that the country’s unemployment rate stood at 11.7 per cent in 2016 from 13.7 percent in 2012 that most consist of
youths between the ages of 17-34 years than in other age groups (NBS, 2016).
Agriculture remains the principal employer in our country accounting for 62.3% and 68.5% of men and women
respectively. TCCIA (2001) argues that the lack of enough resources and incentives for improving the agriculture
sector, have made the majority of the youth to run away from farming activities, viewing the sector as a non-
remunerative activity and thus migrating to nearby urban centers.
The trend shows massive movement of unemployed youth from rural areas to the informal sector in urban areas in
the hope to gain some formal employment but they are likely to end up being unemployed or work long hours earning
low incomes and being exposed to health risks. For young people, agriculture is also the biggest employer that is
characterized by limited incentives and negatively affected by the impact of climate changes (YUT, 2005).
The initiative deems agriculture as arguably to be the only sector that can accommodate and employ most of the
unemployed youth in Tanzania as all immediate resources to start farming are ensured ranging from fertile soils,
water resource, appropriate technology, financial information and reliable crop market. There is a need for a
paradigm shift amongst unemployed youths in particular from thinking of white colar job into agricultural
entrepreneurship (agri-prenuership). The shift can be initiated through raising awareness and capacity development
and providing the support for the youths to engage in farming. All this support will start from land preparation right
through to marketing and selling of products. The use of irrigation will make the practice annual and not seasonal
thereby ensuring a stream of income throughout the year. More graduates migrate to cities after college completion
looking for a job and it can take those 3 up to 5 years securing a job. Instead of losing the time looking for job, the
massive production in agriculture would be realized and improve the economy.
Previously, traditional, rain-water harvesting and improved irrigation scheme adopted as intervention to curb the rain-
fed agriculture to small farmers/peasants in rural areas-Tanzania. According to URT (2009) vows that these schemes
have informal, weak and inefficient irrigator organizations, inadequate skills on operation and maintenance resulting
in water use inefficiency as well as inadequate environmental consideration during the planning and implementation
stages. Irrigation holds the strategy to stabilize agricultural production in improving food security, increasing
productivity and income generation through producing higher valued crops (PADEP, 2001).
The project is connected to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) especially goal #1 End poverty in all its
forms everywhere and #2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable
agriculture. This is equivalent to National policy for Five Year Plan with key targets to real growth rate of 7.6%; GDP
share, 24.9%; share of total exports, 24.9%; share in total employment, 56.5%.

The project is very crucial to youth and other peasant individuals through job creation, income earnings and food
security to their household members that is the same to policymakers in enacting the legal and regulatory framework
for irrigation development that associate young generation to agricultural progress.

PROJECT DETAILS

Project Goal
 To eradicate extreme poverty among the youths and other peasant individuals through increasing
productivity in the targeted areas.
Project Objectives
 To raise awareness on the significance of agriculture as an empowerment tool
 To build the capacity of youth on effective and sustainable agri-prenuership practices
 To sensitize value addition for the produces and create market linkages
 To mainstream gender and HIV and AIDS issues in the agriculture ventures
EXPECTED RESULTS

The initiative will awake interest in farming activities for youth and other individuals through training skills and
experiences that will be provided at practical stage where demonstration on improved farming technology and better
farming strategies will be shown. Through these skills and experiences, youth and other peasant individuals will form
their own agri-ventures using the same knowledge and technology to operate farming activities and apply marketing
strategies for agricultural crops as informed.

INNOVATION

A. This initiative is very unique in term of farming technology; It uses electric pump, solar panel and drip
system in the farming activities. These equipments are very important in the full course of implementation;
solar panel is responsible for converting sun lights into electrical power that later on will assist a water pump
to collect water from the river and passing them to tank where will be mixed with plant vitamins through drip
pipes then flowing to plants.
 B. This initiative has developed Agri App that has been featured with (Question& Answer, Article, Sell Product,
Harvest Report, Fertilizer Report and Loan Information). Through that Agri App youth and other peasant
individuals shall ask questions and get answers relating to farming sector, read agricultural articles, advert
and sell their farm produces, read harvest and fertilizer report as well as loan information. This application
will be accessible in and out of Africa helping youth and other peasant individuals to have agricultural
information basing on the features that have been installed.

C. This initiative shall use Agricultural Solution for field scouting, weather forecasting, soil pH value, budget
control, alarm for pest and weed detection. The concept of ICT in Agri- Sector shall be connected to this part
informing youth and other peasant individuals to use information technology for agricultural development.

ACTIVITY AND TIMEFRAME

PHASE TIME FRAME

ACTIVITY 2018 2019

A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J

1 Awareness on Agricultural
information: Challenges and
Opportunities; Giving information
through local meet-ups, seminars,
workshops, field visit and social
media

2 Development of farm/field training;

For demonstrating improved
farming technology and better
farming strategies

3 Connect trained individuals:;

(youth and other peasant
individuals) to financial institutions
or companies like SACCOS and
banks for loan or farming tools
access
The overall budget for initiative (USD 8551)

To implement this initiative, the following is budget outline;

 USD 1331 for local meeting, workshop, social media and group formation

 USD 887 for preparing TV/Radio Agri-Talk Shows

 USD 1800 for purchasing solar panel to generate power for pumping

 USD 3284 for purchasing of drip set up system to distribute water into plants

 USD 444 for purchasing seed and pesticide & insecticides packages

 USD 444 for facilitating internet services and local visit

 USD 133 for facilitating local group registration

 USD 228 for blog development and information provision

This organization is seeking for individual groups, government, private organizations and other important
development stakeholders to involve into initiative through partnership to make youth working in agricultural sector as
a means of employment and food security. If you are qualified individual group, government, private organization or
other important stakeholder write a Letter Of Interest (LOI) via email explaining your background and pledge to 1346
USD as a part of partnership commitment. The initiative is expected to commence from April, 2018 to July, 2019.

Contact; lenecorgz@gmail.com or +255 625 432556, Morogoro-Tanzania.

OTHER PARTNERS;