Promoting youth engagement in agriculture through land titling programs: evidence from Tanzania
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Date
2024
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
In many African countries, land access and tenure insecurity pose significant challenges to
agriculture, in particular for the youth. As the farming population ages, young people are ex
pected to take over, but they don’t often show much interest in farming, which could harm the
future of agriculture in Africa, where the population is the youngest. Land reforms and titling
programs are suggested as amongst strategies to make agriculture more attractive to investors and
promote youth involvement. As a result, majority African countries undertook reforms such as
land titling, ownership mapping and market facilitation as policy prescriptions for promoting
youth involvement in agriculture. Nonetheless, the impact of these programs is not well docu
mented in the body of literature thus constraining policy decisions. This study examines the
impact of land titling on youth participation in agriculture in Tanzania, using 2020/2021’s wave
of Tanzania national panel survey data with a sample size of 2725 youth households from 419
enumeration areas. The study finds that land titling is a critical factor in promoting youth
participation in agriculture in Tanzania, with young people who have titled land tending to
allocate more resources (time) to farming activities. The study also identified farm size, educa
tional level, and land dispute experience as significant factors influencing youth participation in
agriculture. Based on these findings, the study recommends interventions to promote youth
participation in agriculture in Tanzania, including investing in land titling programs that spe
cifically target young people and promoting educational programs that equip young people with
foundational skills. The study also highlights the need for tailored interventions that address the
specific needs of different groups of young people. Overall, the study underlines the importance of
promoting youth participation in agriculture in Tanzania and by extension to other African
countries to contribute to food security and rural development.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Land titling, Youth, Participation-agriculture, IPWRA, Land tenure security, Tanzania
Citation
Corresponding author. Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture, Gashora, Bugesera, Rwanda. E-mail address: hajimsangi91@gmail.com (H.A. Msangi). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29074