Tanzania has opened talks with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on widening job opportunities for women and young people through deep-sea fishing and the blue economy, according to Daily News.
Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba raised the plan in a meeting with IFAD Vice-President Geraldine Mukeshimana on the margins of the Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday. The dialogue, a gathering on global food security and agricultural development, opened on October 20.
According to Daily News, the prime minister expressed Tanzania's appreciation for IFAD's financing of deep-sea fishing projects run under the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, and for the fund's support of blue economy work through Zanzibar's Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries.
He said those projects carry greater priority because they generate employment for women and young people.
Why it matters
The blue economy β the use of ocean and coastal resources for growth β has become a central plank of Tanzania's development planning, and the government is now tying it directly to job creation for groups that struggle most in the labour market.
The meeting also placed Tanzania's record as a food producer at the centre of the conversation. Dr Mukeshimana credited the country with helping feed its neighbours, calling it a dependable source of food production for the region, Daily News reported.
Her remarks on the prime minister's background added a second thread. She noted that his time as agriculture minister, followed by his tenure at the finance ministry, gives Tanzania an edge in tackling development challenges, according to the report.
IFAD's stated priorities
The IFAD vice-president said the fund will keep financing projects that aim to cut hunger and poverty, with a focus on rural communities. That support, she said, includes helping those communities reach markets and making their livelihoods more resilient to climate pressures.
The exchange took place at a forum named for Norman E. Borlaug, the agronomist whose work underpins much of modern crop research. The Des Moines event draws governments, development agencies and agricultural stakeholders to discuss food security and farming development.
Daily News reported that the prime minister thanked IFAD for its backing of the fisheries portfolio, framing the projects as a priority area for the government.
What to watch: whether the talks produce a formal financing agreement, and how quickly any new deep-sea fishing investment is translated into jobs for women and youth.
