Browsing by Author "Urassa, J.K"

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Agricultural value chain incubation programmes and youth employment: a case of the Sokoine university graduates entrepreneurs cooperative, Morogoro, Tanzania
(TAJAS, 2021) Donge, H; Urassa, J.K
Youth unemployment is on the rise globally Tanzania inclusive. Nonetheless, for Tanzania, the agricultural sector has a potential for employment creation at the various nodes of the agricultural value chain. Therefore, the study generally examines the contribution of the Sokoine University Graduates Entrepreneurs Cooperative (SUGECO) in enabling its graduate’s self-employ while creating employment for others. Specifically, the study examines the contribution of the above- mentioned programme to youth’s employment; identifies challenges facing the programme, and examines the policy gaps. The study is based on the cross-sectional research design whereby data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 88 respondents. In addition, data were collected from five key informants. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPPS and qualitative data through content analysis. Generally, study findings show that SUGECO has the potential to support young entrepreneurs’ development and job creation in Tanzania. Findings also show that SUGECO offers a variety of trainings which equip its graduates with business management and employment skills. In addition, marital status and being trained in agribusiness were significantly (P≤0.05) associated with the graduates’ employment creation. However, the findings show that SUGECO and its graduates face a number of challenges including lack of funding, lack of commitment among the graduates, and unsupportive government policies. Therefore, SUGECO needs to adhere to its pre-defined criteria when selecting candidates for incubation programme so as to only recruit the committed ones. In addition, the Government and non-governmental organizations should collaborate and put some efforts to promote the SUGECO agribusiness incubation programme as it has the potential for employment creation and poverty reduction among the youth.
Influence of social capital on adaptation to climate variability and vulnerability in farming households in Chamwino district, Tanzania
(Tanzania Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2022) Tumaini, A.T; Urassa, J.K; Moshi, J.A
Adaptation to climate variability results from an interplay of livelihood capitals. These capitals (social, financial, physical, human and natural) prevail within climatic and non-climatic conditions. Vulnerability to climate variability intensifies when people are socially disadvantaged. The study assessed the influence of social capital on farming households’ adaptation to climate variability and vulnerability using two villages in Chamwino District, Dodoma Region. A cross-sectional research design was employed, whereby data was collected from 160 randomly selected households using a questionnaire. In addition, data was collected from 32 focus group participants and 5 key informants. Findings show that a farmer's adaptation strategy can influence the accumulation or depletion of capital to adapt to climate variability. In addition, poor farming households (23.12%) have limited livelihood capitals thus, creating adaptation failure and reliance on less paid agricultural adaptation-based contracts to adapt to climate variability. A chi-square test results show no association between poor households’ adaptation strategies and their income (p>0.05). Therefore, it is concluded that adaptation is not one size fits all; availability of livelihood capital within the household defines the context of adaptation. Therefore, it is recommended that to absorb the vulnerability in adaptation to climate variability, there should be an active and sustained engagement of public and private stakeholders with the local community in prioritizing the adaptation needs of all socio-economic groups to enable them adapt to climate variability.